There's only one Freddy Krueger

It’s official folks. Platinum Dunes, the production company known for horror movie remakes such as “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and most recently “Friday the 13th”, has announced that “A Nightmare on Elm Street” remake will begin production this April. Samuel Bayer, famous for directing the music video “Smells Like Teen Spirit” has signed on to direct the feature.
The question of who will portray the gloved-claw wielding villain Freddy Krueger is subject to rumor. There has been talk of Jackie Earle Haley and Billy Bob Thornton to be up for the role. But let’s face it; Robert Englund will always be Freddy Krueger.
The character of Freddy Krueger created by Wes Craven and the actor Robert Englund who brought him to life will forever be intertwined in horror cinema history. The role of Freddy cannot be replaced believably in a way that Michael Myers of “Halloween” (remade in 2007) or Jason Voorhees of “Friday the 13th”can. Those characters don’t speak and masks are part of their costumes. We don’t have “faces” to put to the names. They have no personalities. They are silent killers. They don’t know what makes their victims tick; they just know that they will kill anyone who gets in their way.
The actors who portrayed these horror icons didn’t develop the characters the way that Robert Englund did. They couldn’t. The same actors didn’t even portray them in all of the films. Also, the Michael Myers character wasn’t even in Halloween III and the original killer in the “Friday the 13th” franchise was Jason Voorhees’ mother. Englund has been Freddy in all eight films in the “Nightmare” franchise. He even portrayed himself in Wes Craven’s “New Nightmare”, the 1994 film within a film.
Horror fans aren’t attached to Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees in the way that they are attached to Freddy. Freddy has a personality. He has a voice. He has a wicked sense of humor that comes out in the dialogue of his tongue- in-cheek puns and he doesn’t need a mask. His disfigured face is scary enough. Freddy terrorizes his victims in a way that the others don’t. He psychologically tortures them. He doesn’t just go after their bodies, he goes after their souls.
Robert Englund’s portrayal of Freddy Krueger is ranked #51 on Premiere Magazine’s “100 Greatest Movie Character’s of All Time.” He is the only slasher/horror film character on the whole list. To tell you a little about where his place in character performance history stands, he is listed between Peter Finch as Howard Beale in “Network” and Clint Eastwood as Blondie in “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.” Finch won the Best Actor Oscar at the Academy Awards for his performance.
Englund is recognized around the world as Freddy Krueger. Could anyone pick the actors portraying Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees out of a line up? I think not.
The last time we saw Freddy on screen was in Freddy vs. Jason (2003). That was only six years ago. We haven’t forgotten about him. At the end of the film he winks at the camera in a playful way to let the audience know that he isn’t through with us yet. So why produce a remake of a classic horror film and replace a villain that hasn’t run his course?
The fact that Platinum Dunes has decided to produce this film without the help of Wes Craven or Robert Englund is slap in the face to two of the most recognizable horror icons of this generation. Whoever is hired to tackle the role must possess incredible skill as an actor because it’s going to take a superb talent to even attempt to fill Freddy’s claw.