Posted in: Movies, New Line Cinema | Tagged: a nightmare on elm street, Curry Barker, Freddy Krueger, New Line Cinema, Ossgood Perkins, Robert Englund, wes craven

A Nightmare On Elm Street: Should It Even Come Back?

Should anyone really try to bring A Nightmare on Elm Street back? Or should we just leave it alone once and for all and let Freddy rest?

Published Fri, 15 May 2026 07:47:11 -0500

by Jeremy Konrad

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Article Summary

A Nightmare on Elm Street is back in the conversation as Curry Barker joins a growing list of directors eyeing Freddy.
The 2010 reboot failed to revive A Nightmare on Elm Street, raising doubts that Freddy should return at all.
Robert Englund remains essential to Freddy Krueger, and without him, fans may reject any new Elm Street movie.
Osgood Perkins feels like the best fit for A Nightmare on Elm Street, but Freddy may be better left buried.

A Nightmare on Elm Street is in the news again, as Obsession director Curry Barker is the latest voice in horror, saying he would love a crack at the franchise. He is going to be busy with a different horror property soon, but he is just the latest in a long line of the new generation of horror directors who have thrown their hat into the ring to get a crack at what was, at one time, the biggest name in horror. Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees dominated the 80s. While Jason is finally returning in a real way this year, Freddy remains dead and rotting, the 2010 reboot failing to sustain the franchise's momentum.

Robert Englund Shares His Reaction to Seeing Freddy for the First Time — New Line Cinema

A Nightmare On Elm Street Might Just Need To Stay Buried

A Nightmare on Elm Street was arguably the greatest creation of horror icon Wes Craven (a case can be made that it was Scream), and of course, the only man who does the character justice under the make-up is Robert Englund. That abysmal 2010 remake proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt. So, why does everyone in horror keep bringing it back up? Well, we know the answer, it's money, of course. But taking that out of the equation for a second, why would you want to take that on? Englund has said he's done going under the make-up and that he's too old to get in front of the camera as Freddy, but said he would love to voice him in an animated project. Without him, would fans even embrace any attempt to return to A Nightmare on Elm Street?

The obvious choice to shoulder that responsibility, if you ask me, is Osgood Perkins. His films have been hit or miss with me, but one thing he gets that reminds me of a young Wes Craven is a terrifying sense of atmosphere and dread. That first film is still scary if you revisit it. That is because it has a certain restraint when it needs to, and Perkins is great at letting a scene breathe and finding terror in places where others would cut away. They could both be as gory as anyone else, but they know there's a certain kind of effective horror that plays on the anticipation of something terrible happening. Also, I am pretty sure he would have the same attitude Wes had: he would do whatever he wanted and go off to make the film he wanted, screw what everyone else thinks.

That said, this is all wishful thinking, as I don't think Freddy is coming back anytime soon. Nor should he. Sometimes, to quote another horror icon, dead is better.