Welcome to Elm Street : Inside the Film and Television Nightmares

Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street is one of the most inventive American films of the 1980s. Its sleeper success bred a series of film sequels and a syndicated television program while its villain, Freddy Krueger, became a Hollywood horror icon for the ages. In the four decades since its release, Craven's creation and subsequent franchise has become firmly established as a pop culture institution and a celebrated symbol of American cinema. This book takes readers on an engrossing journey through the history, production and themes of the Nightmare on Elm Street film series and its spin-off TV show, Freddy's Nightmares . It reveals new stories about the franchise's history and dives into some of the themes and ideas that tend to be overlooked. The book has a foreword by production designer Mick Strawn and exclusive interviews with cast and crew, including legendary Freddy Krueger actor Robert Englund; directors Jack Sholder, Chuck Russell, Mick Garris, Tom McLoughlin, Lisa Gottlieb, and William Malone; cinematographers Jacques Haitkin, Roy H. Wagner, and Steven Fierberg; and many more. "Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street is one of the most inventive American films of the 1980s. Its sleeper success bred a series of film sequels and a syndicated television program while its villain, Freddy Krueger, became a Hollywood horror icon for the ages. In the four decades since its release, Craven's creation and the subsequent franchise that it launched has become firmly established as a pop culture institution and a celebrated symbol of American cinema. This book takes readers on an engrossing journey through the history, production, and themes of the Nightmare on Elm Street film series and its spin-off TV show, Freddy's Nightmares. It reveals new stories about the franchise's history and dives into some of the themes and ideas that tend to be overlooked. It contains a foreword by production designer Mick Strawn and includes exclusive interviews with cast and crew, including legendary Freddy Krueger actor Robert Englund; directors Jack Sholder, Chuck Russell, Mick Garris, Tom McLoughlin, Lisa Gottlieb, and William Malone; cinematographers Jacques Haitkin, Roy H. Wagner, and Steven Fierberg; and many more"-- Provided by publisher Acknowledgments Foreword by Mick Strawn Introduction 1 Wes Craven and the Nightmare of America 2 The Monster Goes Mainstream 3 Welcome to Primetime, Freddy! 4 The Birth, the Death, and the Resurrection 5 The Main Event and the Remake 6 The Legacy of A Nightmare on Elm Street Bibliography Index of Terms