Robert Englund Suits Up as Freddy Krueger Once Again for ‘Nightmares in the Makeup Chair’
Over the course of the eight Nightmare on Elm Street films, Robert Englund turned dream stalker Freddy Krueger from a slasher-film specter into a major cultural icon. His sartorially questionable striped sweater/fedora combo, the pepperoni-like complexion, the razor-blade gloves — it’s all been enshrined in the horror hall of fame for years. He officially laid his signature character to rest with 2003’s Freddy vs. Jason, turning the role over to Jackie Earle Haley for the 2010 remake, but a new project indicates that Englund and Freddy can’t get rid of one another that easily.
The upcoming documentary Nightmares in the Makeup Chair chronicles the laborious process by which a fleet of makeup technicians headed by expert Robert Kurtzman regularly transformed Englund into the famed monster. In the recently surfaced trailer above, Englund invites you to join him on a jaunt behind the scenes of the slasher landmark and see how hours of careful prosthetic-setting, latex-detailing, and makeup-smoothing can make a mere mortal into the stuff of nightmares. (No hiding Englund’s instantly recognizable aquiline nose, though, as much a part of the Freddy look as anything else.) In the trailer, Englund promises that he’ll confide some juicy anecdotes from his time on Elm Street as well.
The film will also pay tribute to the late Wes Craven, horror icon and creator of the Nightmare on Elm Street series. In the trailer, Englund looks back fondly on his memory of the time spent with Craven, and considered the man a friend up until his sad death last year. It could provide a nice little emotional foundation to an otherwise informative look into a key horror franchise.