A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010): 10 Things You Didn’t Know

Photo from New Line Cinema

6. Freddy was designed to look like a real burn victim, but “less realistic”.

One of the biggest hurdles in accepting the new Freddy Krueger is definitely his look. While he had the glove, the fedora, and the sweater, it was hard to process his face. It sort of came across more as goofy than scary, and the only vibe I could really get from Freddy was “utter weirdness”.

While the same SFX artists that worked on Two-Face’s design for The Dark Knight were brought in for Freddy’s look, the results weren’t as high in quality. Krueger looks, well, kind of like a giant rat more than a monster. So what’s with the odd look?

What we’re apparently gawking at is a less-realistic version of a real burn victim. The producers had intended for Krueger to look more like an actual burn victim, compared to the monster-like appearance of Freddy in the original film series. However, because they were too afraid audience members would be too disgusted with Freddy’s face to look at it, they purposely toned down the realism, resulting in facial FX work that seems to be only half-completed.

Really, they should have either made him a nightmarish monster again, or just go all the way by turning him into a legitimate burn victim. Settling somewhere in between gave us a disappointing Freddy.

Next: There's a reason that sweater looks familiar.