Exclusives
Here’s What Freddy Krueger Almost Looked Like! (Exclusive)
We have a very special Halloween treat for you, courtesy of Thommy Hutson (@HutsonRanch), who wrote and produced the astoundingly good Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy.
A documentary about the entire A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, created by the late Wes Craven, Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy was adapted into a book of the same name (the book extensively covers the first film in the franchise).
I’m both a huge fan of the doc and accompanying book (funded using Kickstarter and sold out), which are filled to the brim with never-before-revealed details and imagery. Stuff of legend. Stuff that belongs in a museum.
One such item of note are a series of photographs that depict the work of David B. Miller, the creator of Freddy Krueger’s infamous look.
Bloody Disgusting was able to obtain exclusive permission to share said photos that give us a look back to 1983 (approximately) when Miller was testing various concepts for Robert Englund’s Freddy makeup! Ultimately, it was a pizza dinner that provided the final inspiration for a look Craven approved.
“The final design for Freddy that went through, and this is a true story, is pepperoni pizza,” said Miller.
Miller was also inspired by Night of the Comet. He explains in the book: “I did a zombie cop makeup in Night of the Comet. Wes saw that picture and said, ‘This is very close to what I want Freddy to look like.'”
As an added bonus, there’s also a test shot of Freddy wearing a paperboy hat instead of a fedora, as well as the Springwood Slasher in the iconic red and green sweater with short sleeves (yikes!).
Freddy Krueger is quite possibly the most famous of all the 80’s slashers, and could easily be the poster demon for horror. If we see just a silhouette of Freddy, we immediately know that it’s him. It’s amazing to look back at these photos and wonder what could have been? How would a slight alteration to a design have changed the course of history? While we’ll never know, we can at least relish in these behind-the-scenes photographs from the most famous horror franchise of them all, A Nightmare on Elm Street.
Photo Credit: David Miller/Courtesy of Thommy Hutson
Exclusives
‘The Haunting of Pennhurst’ Exclusive Clip Trains Scare Actors For Historic Haunt in Tribeca Doc
The past and present collide in haunting, poignant ways in the genre documentary The Haunting of Pennhurst, which sees a Halloween haunt serve as a reclamation of true historic horrors.
Ahead of its world premiere at the 25th Tribeca Film Festival, we have an exclusive clip that sees scare actors in training for the Halloween season. The catch? This haunt is opening at the historic Pennhurst State School & Hospital site, a facility that caused immense harm to its disabled patients over decades of its operation.
In the documentary, “For over seventy years, Pennhurst State School & Hospital was called a place of care. What happened inside killed over half its population. It closed in 1987, leaving behind unmarked graves and an unresolved history. Today, on those same grounds, disabled performers – many living with the same conditions that once sent people to Pennhurst – put on their makeup, pull on their costumes, and prepare to scare people for a living.
“Through grit, compassion, and buckets of blood, the eclectic performers of the Pennhurst Asylum haunted attraction are wrestling with a space that is at once a lucrative business and a gravesite.”
The upcoming documentary hails from directing trio Nathan Stenberg, Mike Attie, and Katarina Poljak, who explore their socially-relevant subject through archival footage, first-hand accounts, and an immersive verité.
“Pennhurst has haunted us since we first passed through its dragon-tooth gates; the horrors of the institution echo through the site today. We are so grateful to bring this film to the Tribeca Festival, particularly the Escape from Tribeca section, which feels right for a story where past and present bleed together. We hope audiences leave unnerved and asking the same uncomfortable questions we did,” Attie, Stenberg, and Poljak said in a statement.
Watch the clip below that sees disabled and neurodivergent scare actors learning the ropes of a Halloween haunt, reclaiming the site’s grim history in the process.
Tribeca Screenings:
- Public 1 (Premiere) Screening – Friday, June 5 at 9:15PM at Village East by Angelika
- Public 2 Screening – Sunday, June 7 at 3:15PM at Village East by Angelika
- Public 3 Screening – Tuesday, June 9 at 6:15PM at Village East by Angelika
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