PopHorror Let's Get Scared
I’m not sure if there ever was as much anticipation for a sequel as there was after the release of Wes Craven’s 1984 sleeper hit, A Nightmare on Elm Street. Craven always gets credit for reinvigorated the horror genre with Scream, and rightfully so. However, his biggest contribution was taking the slasher film to a whole new level, one that hasn’t been replicated yet. He nailed the film zeitgeist of the early ’80s with an indescribable hybrid of a monster/slasher film: special effects that gave the gore but defied the natural order of physics, rotating rooms with splatter-defying gravity, and a killer that was inescapable because everyone has to sleep sometime.
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge, which released a year later on November 1, 1985, wasn’t part of any master plan. Craven himself thought the first film was a one off creative outlet for him, but New Line couldn’t ignore what monetary possibilities lay ahead after such unexpected windfall box office returns.
I’m going to say it up front that Part 2 is my favorite of the series. There’s always something special about the second installment of an iconic franchise. I almost always like them the best of all the other installments. Evil Dead 2, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, Phantasm 2… all were departures from the sleeper success of the originals. The only difference between them and A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge was that the original director/writer didn’t come back. Because of that, A Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge isn’t afforded the misstep protection of the others. It’s usually seen as the the most significant detour in the franchise before Dream Warriors (1987 – read our retro review here) brought it back around. Truth is, it still had the indie tone of the first with the classic, fade in New Line Cinema logo and midnight movie feel that the others sequels lost with the added sheen of bigger budgets.
I only have my opinion, but I can say that as a middle schooler in the fall of 1985, I was beyond stoked to see it in the theater and rented it countless times thereafter. The gender swap of final girl to boy really didn’t affect my opinion of it either way. I liked Jesse. Now, it resonates in another way that I’m sure everyone expects me to get to, and I will in the next paragraph or two.
Where it went was about the only place it could go without committing to other films. Building the mythos of Freddy was an unavoidable part of it that fans of the first expected, but the air of uncertainty of whether the series would go on any further merited using the safety net of staying in Springfield and even at the same house. Since the setting is suburbia, casting had to get some more fresh-faced all American kids.
I’ve watched Never Sleep Again, and I do know that Brad Pitt auditioned for the role of Jesse. I’m glad he didn’t get it. Mark Patton (Come Back to the Five and Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean) was perfect as the guy that wasn’t the pretty boy next door that Glen was or the delinquent persona that Rod projected. He was normal in a way that made him the catalyst for everything to happen around him.
Watching Mark Patton now on social media, he seems so genuine and kind, and as a I look back on how he portrayed Jesse, that role wouldn’t have worked with anyone else. The fact that he didn’t set improvised explosive devices around the house made him easier to worry about and a wild card on how he would end up. He was trying to do the right thing amidst insurmountable odds but still needed saving by someone who loved him. That theme usually only gets used in werewolf films, but it’s such great element for an ending that it should be done more.
Kim Myers (Hellraiser: Bloodline) was cast because she looked like Meryl Streep. That choice always puzzled me because Meryl Streep was never a draw for the target audience. What made her work so beautifully was that she loved Jesse, and even though she definitely could’ve afforded a more acceptable means of transportation, she still rode in the guy’s beater car. She was impossible not to fall in love with. Making her the hero was a bold choice that slasher fans may have not been entirely ready for. As for the other cast, I’m up for any ’80s film that has Robert Rusler (Vamp) and Clu Gulager (Return of the Living Dead) in it. Period.
As for all the homoerotic subtext, I didn’t see it then. Like I said, I was a middle schooler. I do see it now, but it’s not all I see. For me, it adds to mythos of the enigmatic second film of the series. A Nightmare On Elm Street Part 2: Freddy’s Revenge almost always sits in its own special category. I highly recommend Mark Patton’s documentary, Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street. Not only is it a time capsule of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, but most importantly, it gives Mark Patton a chance for catharsis on how A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge has affected him over the years and what it means to be a horror celebrity. I’ll leave you with a quote from him about greeting fans at conventions.
“If you’re going to do this, be really professional. It may be the only time they get to meet you, and it’s a big deal. I’ve had people say to me, ‘If I could meet you or Brad Pitt, I would meet you.’ They’re nervous and they’re scared, and it’s a lifetime memory. It only takes one second to ruin that. If you think this is whorish for you to do this, then be a good whore because you’re taking their money. They want you to be a movie star.”
That gave me goosebumps the first time I heard it and brings the Brad Pitt casting question full circle. A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge was far from a misstep.
