"Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy" is a 2010 documentary about the Elm Street horror film franchise.
Following its Blu-Ray debut yesterday, the director of the cult classic slasher films, Wes Craven, sat down with reporters to discuss his reaction to "Never Sleep Again" and his thoughts on his creation.
On the topic of Freddy Krueger and "Nightmare On Elm Street" becoming cultural icons, the director told Entertainment Weekly, "It's a compliment. That and 'Scream', I think are the only two things [I've done] that have become part of the global culture."
He adds, "I was watching National Geographic just three nights ago and there was a thing on the African lion being the perfect killing machine and they were talking about the claws being something that would intimidate Freddy Krueger. And I just sat there and was thinking, it's amazing how deeply into the culture that film has penetrated."
In an interview with Miami New Times, Craven expounded on creating the character of Krueger through the actor, Robert Englund.
"With Robert Englund, I always encouraged him to make [Freddy] his own. In fact, from casting on, I realized the power of that man. He was ready and enthusiastic about exploring that persona in a way that came from his own imagination as well as mine. The physicality of the character, for instance, was not necessarily on the page; much of it was Robert experimenting and improvising based on a theme," the director said.
When Bloody Disgusting asked Craven which installment in the franchise did not live up to his vision, he answered, "I thought the first sequel was the weakest of the lot...I read the script and gave notes and I knew they were in a big rush to get it out around the same time the original was released. I wasn't up to it so I just passed."
He adds, "It brought Freddy out of dreams and running around suburban neighborhoods. It just felt like Freddy wasn't strong. Not to point at anybody, I think it was rushed...Certainly as the series went on it got more bizarre and Freddy got broader, but I've said enough about that in the past."