Editorials
Beyond Elm Street: 8 Great Robert Englund Roles That Aren’t Freddy Krueger
Happiest of birthdays to Robert Englund, and Happy #RobertEnglundDay!
Hollywood Dreams & Nightmares: The Robert Englund Story is now on SCREAMBOX, coinciding with the horror mainstay’s 76th birthday. The documentary was shot over the course of two years, highlighting the life and career of the classically trained actor and director.
Featuring interviews with Robert Englund and his wife Nancy, as well as fellow genre icons Lin Shaye, Eli Roth, Kane Hodder, Tony Todd, Adam Green, Bill Moseley, Heather Langenkamp & more, the documentary follows Englund’s career from his early days in Buster and Billie and Stay Hungry (starring with Arnold Schwarzenegger) to his big break in the 1980s as Freddy Krueger to his directorial debut with the 1988 horror film 976-EVIL to his iconic acting status in current roles such as Netflix’s hit series “Stranger Things.”
To celebrate, here are eight of the prolific actor’s best roles in the genre… beyond Elm Street and Freddy Krueger.
V – Willie
The 1984 miniseries “V” introduced a reptilian alien race masquerading as humans that use a request for aid to invade Earth. The miniseries, followed by a TV series and a prequel miniseries, saw a faction of humans create the Resistance to expose the Visitors and reclaim the planet. Robert Englund’s breakthrough role as Willie, a Visitor, deflects to join the humans in their battle. Englund’s Willie is an empathetic Visitor with a solid moral compass that leaves him caught between two worlds, and it marks the actor’s first breakthrough role ahead of his more iconic turn as Freddy Krueger.
Nightmare Café – Blackie
This short-lived anthology series created by Wes Craven centers around a mysterious café that grants second chances after death. The magical café and its employees help avenge wrongs or offer redemption. Robert Englund starred as the Nightmare Café’s enigmatic proprietor, who also narrated the series. Though there are mischievous aspects to both Blackie and Freddy Krueger, “Nightmare Café” gave Englund a chance to play the antithesis of his most iconic role, but the series was unfortunately cut far too short.
The Phantom of the Opera – Erik Destler
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers director Dwight H. Little aimed for a more horror-centric adaptation of Gaston Leroux’s classic novel. That included enlisting Englund, no stranger to playing haunting characters, as the eponymous character. This character iteration isn’t nearly as romantic; he’s far more maniacal and deranged. Despite a disfigured appearance similar to Freddy Krueger, they’re worlds apart. Englund shows range by introducing another horror villain with a distinctly different persona.
Strangeland – Jackson Roth
Dee Snider’s 1998 horror movie about an online predator who mutilates his victims sees Englund play Jackson Roth, a community activist who takes matters into his own hands when the killer, Carlton Hendricks (Snider), escapes conviction for his crimes. Roth leads the charge in vigilante justice, only to spiral dangerously out of control. Englund’s role harkens back to the concerned parents in A Nightmare on Elm Street and the vengeance they unleashed in murdering Freddy Krueger.
The Mangler – Bill Gartley
Tobe Hooper’s adaptation of Stephen King’s short story takes on a haunted laundry press. Or rather, a possessed piece of heavy machinery develops a taste for human blood. Robert Englund always gives good villain, and his scene-chewing turn as the greedy laundry press owner opposite Ted Levin’s Officer John Hunton makes for a fun time.
Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon – Doc Halloran
Behind the Mask is a hysterical deconstruction of the slasher formula set around an aspiring slasher icon, Leslie Vernon. Leslie gives a documentary crew exclusive and intimate access to his life, walking them through his training and detailed plans to slay a group of teens and enter the slasher pantheon. Enter Englund’s Doc Hallorann, the take-charge psychiatrist determined to thwart Vernon. Englund channels Donald Pleasence’s Dr. Loomis as he refreshingly plays against type here.
Masters of Horror: “Dance of the Dead” – The MC
Robert Englund reteams with Tobe Hooper in this season one episode of “Masters of Horror.” The actor plays the boisterous, commanding MC of the Doom Room, a seedy bar that draws crowds over its zombie dance performances. The MC is a savvy, ruthless businessman above all else, and Englund steals every scene.
Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer – Professor Crowley
Professor Crowley (Robert Englund) enlists plumber Jack Brooks (Trevor Matthews) to help unclog a pipe. Instead, it unearths a malevolent presence, which winds up possessing Crowley and transforms him into a monster. The irreverent, infectiously amusing creature feature lets Englund run wild as a stuffy professor turned insatiable creature, giving fans a new monster to love.
It’s been 75 years since The Thing From Another World first warned us to “watch the skies”, and filmgoers have done just that by showing up to multiple instances of extraterrestrial contact on the big screen. This makes sense, as a recent CBS news poll estimated that 63% of Americans believe in intelligent life on other planets, and the ongoing disclosure movement aims to raise that number with each passing day.
With Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day leaving many genre fans hungry for more alien footage (preferably of the spooky variety), today I’d like to share a list recommending six underrated alien invasion thrillers for your viewing pleasure. After all, regardless of whether or not you believe that we’re alone in the universe, it can be fun to dream about the worst-case scenario if our cosmic neighbors ever decide to visit.
For the purposes of this list, we’ll be focusing on lesser-known invasion stories rather than the popular extraterrestrials of franchises like Alien and Close Encounters of the Third (or even Fourth) Kind. That being said, don’t forget to comment below with your own alien favorites if you think we missed a particularly thrilling movie.
While it won’t be featured in this article, I’d highly recommend checking out Dean Alioto’s UFO Abduction/The McPherson Tape if you’re up for some ufology-inspired found footage thrills.
With that out of the way, onto the list!
6. The Arrival (1996)
Not to be confused with Denis Villeneuve’s Academy Award-winning Amy Adams vehicle about learning to communicate peacefully with extraterrestrial life, David Twohy’s The Arrival is a much more straightforward (but no less entertaining) genre romp where Charlie Sheen faces a global conspiracy involving hostile alien invaders.
It’s not exactly up there with Close Encounters or even Independence Day, but Twohy’s conspiratorial thriller plays out like an exceptionally fun episode of The X-Files that I’d recommend to sci-fi/horror fans who don’t mind a little bit of wonky CGI and 90s excess alongside their alien thrills.
5. Extraterrestrial (2014)
The Vicious Brothers made a name for themselves with the success of 2011’s Grave Encounters, but that was far from the Canadian duo’s only collaboration. And while it’s not exactly a fan favorite, I always point out 2014’s Extraterrestrial as one of their most underrated projects simply because I agree with the filmmakers’ opinion that there aren’t enough ‘cool alien abduction movies’ out there.
Admittedly, the majority of the picture functions like a run-of-the-mill creature feature with paper-thin characters and familiar horror tropes, but I’d argue that the cosmically-terrifying final act elevates the experience to new and memorable heights. The movie also boasts great performances by both Michael Ironside and Emily Perkins – a combination that more than makes up for the occasionally janky CGI.
4. Alien Raiders (2008)
Director Ben Rock has gone on record lamenting how his John-Carpenter-inspired creature feature was forcefully renamed from Supermarket to the painfully obvious Alien Raiders (a change which likely resulted in many potential viewers skipping out on the experience), but the new title doesn’t change the fact that this single-location thriller is something of a hidden gem.
Taking place entirely within a supermarket, Alien Raiders tells the story of an ensemble of customers and employees who are taken hostage by a group of armed men looking for something far more dangerous than an easy payout. I won’t get into details in order to avoid spoiling the experience, but I’d highly recommend this criminally underseen flick to fans of John Carpenter and the Resident Evil games.
3. Phoenix Forgotten (2017)
You’d think that a Ridley-Scott-produced retelling of one of the most infamous real-life UFO sightings of all time would have a bigger following, but I rarely see Justin Barber’s Found Footage period piece brought up during discussions about extraterrestrial-focused horror movies.
This is a huge shame, as Phoenix Forgotten is just as spooky as it is convincing, with this well-researched dive into the Phoenix Lights incident benefiting from surprisingly believable special effects as well as an appropriately horrific finale.
2. Communion (1989)
I wouldn’t blame you for disregarding Whitley Strieber’s controversial book about his alleged close encounter as sensationalist slop, but I’d argue that Phillipe Mora’s 1989 adaptation of these events is much better than the source material. After all, the movie works as a standalone piece of speculative fiction while also benefiting from an incredible performance by the one and only Christopher Walken!
Mora’s take on Communion may not be particularly scary, but the film is still an unforgettable character study regardless of whether or not the abduction really happened. Not only that, but the flick also paved the way for plenty of future sci-fi stories where the extraterrestrial invaders aren’t as evil as they initially appear.
1. Altered (2006)
Originally envisioned as a Sam Raimi-style horror-comedy titled Probed, Eduardo Sánchez (of The Blair Witch Project fame) eventually realized that it would be much more interesting to turn the film into a serious exploration of the emotional aftermath of a traumatic abduction incident.
That’s how we got Altered, a clever inversion of the standard abduction narrative that follows a group of troubled friends as they capture and experiment on an alien in order to enact revenge for their own abduction years prior.
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