I'll never forget the first time I saw Freddy Krueger.
I was around 11 or 12 years old, and my brother Derek (who's three years older than me) had recently purchased Nightmare on Elm Street 1 and 2 in a double format VHS case.
Ever since I can remember, my brother has always had a huge passion for horror movies and punk rock. Of course, when I was a young impressionable kid, I wanted to be just like him so I naturally gravitated towards the same kind of entertainment that he liked. Some of his favourite movies that I distinctly remember from that time period were the Evil Dead trilogy, all of the Friday the 13th movies, and Halloween 1 and 2.
For whatever reason, when we sat down to watch Nightmare on Elm Street, we decided to watch the sequel instead of the original. In hindsight, I think it was probably because Derek had already seen the first one and simply didn't want to watch it again. While I hadn't seen the original movie yet, that didn't matter to me. I was just happy getting to tag along and hangout with my brother while watching scary movies that my parents didn't know we were watching.
Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge is a bit of a 'hit or miss' movie. It's generally considered the black sheep of the series and people seem to either love it or hate it with no in between. I personally really enjoy it, but that's primarily because it was a formative watch for a young Tyson. I remember once we finished it I was left afterwards with not just many a nightmare, but also a deep seeded appreciation for the horror genre. That appreciation still firmly resides in my brain to this day.
If you're wondering, Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors and it's sequel Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master are my favourite entries in the series. I even have a full sized poster of Dream Master proudly pinned up on my living room wall in my condo.
The scene I vividly remember the most from that first time watch of NOES 2 with my brother was when Freddy suddenly emerges from inside of Jesse's body and kills his best friend Grady who's fallen asleep next to him. Freddy would then go on a rampage at a pool party and slaughter a bunch of party goers before escaping into the night.
Robert Englund was legitimately terrifying as the villainous dream demon Freddy Krueger. The way he would attack his sleeping victims with his razor glove while they were defenceless haunted my childhood dreams for years, which to me shows just how incredibly effective the character created by Wes Craven truly was.
To put this as bluntly as possible, I don't get starstruck at all. I don't really care to ever meet any celebrities, but if the opportunity arose to get my original Media release VHS tape of NOES signed by Englund at a movie convention, I wouldn't hesitate to go and wait patiently in line for however long it took.
Englund really meant so much to my childhood; in the same kind of way that Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr., and Boris Karloff must have meant to previous generations.
Tyson Whitney is an award-winning journalist who was born and raised in Port Hardy. His family has lived in Port Hardy for more than 40 years. He graduated with a degree in writing from Vancouver Island University in 2008. Email: editor@northislandgazette.com
