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The Story of How Robert Englund Almost Didn’t Play Freddy Krueger!

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Robert Englund

Robert Englund is of course best known for playing Freddy Krueger in all seven original Nightmare on Elm Street films, as well as reprising the role in Freddy vs. Jason. Needless to say, it’s highly likely that Freddy would’ve never become the iconic pop culture figure that he did if it weren’t for Englund, and for that reason and that reason alone, we should all be kissing the man’s feet.

While it’s almost impossible to imagine anyone in the role other than Robert Englund – let’s pretend that remake doesn’t even exist, shall we? – an interesting bit of trivia connected to the Elm Street franchise is that Englund actually wasn’t Wes Craven’s first choice to play the nightmarish dream demon. That honor instead belongs to English actor David Warner, who donned the Christmas sweater in the early going. Yes, Freddy was almost an Englishman.

The origin story of the Freddy Krueger character is tied to a memorable event in Craven’s childhood, where he heard strange noises outside of his house one night, and upon looking out the window, saw a creepy old man walking past in a fedora. As if sensing a young Craven’s fear, the man looked up into the window and spooked him something fierce, leaving an indelible mark on the director’s life. Craven was particularly struck by the way the old man seemed to get enjoyment out of scaring him, which became the general basis of Freddy Krueger.

Conceived and written as being an old man, Craven naturally auditioned older actors for the role and it was David Warner who stuck out to him. Warner, who had previously played Jennings in The Omen, was originally cast to play Krueger, going so far as to sit for makeup tests (above). Proving that it just wasn’t meant to be, Warner soon thereafter dropped off the project, due to scheduling conflicts.

It was then, and only then, that Craven met Robert Englund, whose audition so impressed him that he had a complete change of heart about the character, deciding that a younger actor could pull it off just as well, if not better, than an older one could – after all, once the makeup is on, you can’t tell the age of the actor underneath anyway. And so, with Warner no longer attached, Englund was hired to take his place, and Freddy Krueger – as we know and love him – was born.

(Interesting to note that over a decade later, David Warner appeared in Scream 2 as drama teacher Gus Gold, at long last working with Wes Craven.)

All due respect to Warner, but I am incredibly happy that things worked out the way they did, as again I truly believe that Freddy just wouldn’t have been Freddy, without Englund underneath the makeup. As we saw in that awful remake, just because you’re a great actor doesn’t mean you can handle the role, and though I’m sure Warner would’ve done a fine job, I’m willing to bet that Freddy would’ve never become as iconic as he did if he didn’t leave the project, and pave the way for Englund to come in.

 

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Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released

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In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.

The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.

The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.

Here is the fresh trailer:

According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.

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Woman Brings Corpse Into Bank To Sign Loan Papers

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Warning: This is a disturbing story.

You have to be pretty desperate for money to do what this Brazilian woman did at the bank to get a loan. She wheeled in a fresh corpse to endorse the contract and she seemingly thought the bank employees wouldn’t notice. They did.

This weird and disturbing story comes via ScreenGeek an entertainment digital publication. They write that a woman identified as Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes pushed a man she identified as her uncle into the bank pleading with him to sign loan papers for $3,400. 

If you’re squeamish or easily triggered, be aware that the video captured of the situation is disturbing. 

Latin America’s largest commercial network, TV Globo, reported on the crime, and according to ScreenGeek this is what Nunes says in Portuguese during the attempted transaction. 

“Uncle, are you paying attention? You must sign [the loan contract]. If you don’t sign, there’s no way, as I cannot sign on your behalf!”

She then adds: “Sign so you can spare me further headaches; I can’t bear it any longer.” 

At first we thought this might be a hoax, but according to Brazilian police, the uncle, 68-year-old Paulo Roberto Braga had passed away earlier that day.

 “She attempted to feign his signature for the loan. He entered the bank already deceased,” Police Chief Fábio Luiz said in an interview with TV Globo. “Our priority is to continue investigating to identify other family members and gather more information regarding this loan.”

If convicted Nunes could be facing jail time on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and desecration of a corpse.

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