We’re supposed to be concerned about a real child molester today, but let’s consider the new trailer for the remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street. I knew that there was a reason for revamping the look of Freddy Krueger. Specifically, the new facial make-up for the legendary slasher was meant to look like an actual burn victim. I was told that this would make Freddy seem more sympathetic—which I took to be a nod to how some burn victims had once (reasonably enough) complained about how Freddy Krueger’s monstrous looks didn’t help their own rehabilitation.

I didn’t think that Freddy Krueger would need to look sympathetic because the Nightmare remake would present him as an innocent nice guy who was burned alive by a lynch mob looking for vengeance upon a child molester. For those who don’t remember, the Krueger of the ’80s series was definitely guilty when he was set on fire. That’s why it was so creepy when Freddy almost got an endorsement deal with Doritos.

Anyway, this new trailer strongly suggests that the Krueger of teenage nightmares began as a poor misunderstood soul. We got that with How the Grinch Stole Christmas, too. Also, consider that Nightmare co-scripter Wesley Strick wrote this film. The truth is probably that Krueger’s innocence will be determined by audience testing. Still, I’m curious to find out more about the character that’s being played by Clancy Brown. He’s the (really fine) actor you see leading the lynch mob hunting down Krueger at the beginning of the trailer. We’ll know where the script was going if Brown’s character turns out to be some kind of local family-values figure.

 

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