Krueger: The Slasher from Elm Street

This review will be completely focused on the KRUEGER series as a whole.

I am a Freddy Krueger fan, always have been, always will be. The first film always being my favorite, but still liked the sequels....except for that poor excuse of a turd remake that Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes released a few years ago, but I'll get to that in a minute.

Do you remember a time when every year from 84 - 91, us Nightmare fans had a new Freddy Krueger film released? Those were great times. But then after, Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare, was released....the monster that we all loved was gone ( I always thought that it was funny that a movie villain who was in fact a child killing pedophile was embraced & loved worldwide by a legion of child fans.) Sure, he sort of came back in Wes Craven's New Nightmare, which in itself was a great film, but it just wasn't the same. And sure, we got the ultimate movie killer showdown with Freddy VS. Jason....but "We" wanted more. Freddy VS. Jason would be the last time that we would see our beloved Freddy Krueger played by Robert Englund. It had finally come time for Mr. Englund to hang up the glove.

It seemed that we would never have another Nightmare On Elm Street. Then came word that Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes had bought the rights to remake A Nightmare On Elm Street....after having seen the company's previous remakes, I was very unhappy with the idea of them destroying another franchise....but there was a little ray of hope that shined through. It was announced that Jackie Earle Haley would be donning the glove, the famous sweater, and the trademark fedora. Mind you, this was around the time that Watchmen had been released and I was a fan of his portrayal of Rorschach...which was brutal. I waited in anticipation.

Finally the day had come....Platinum Dunes' A Nightmare On Elm Street was released and I was one of the first in line, knowing that somehow little Bad News Bears Jackie Earle Haley would be a great Freddy Krueger. Boy, was I wrong. 2 hours later, I stormed out of the theater and was completely heartbroken that Platinum Dunes had just completely crapped all over my childhood. I felt raped.

I finally gave into the thought that Freddy Krueger was finally gone. That is until I stumbled across a fan mini film on youtube. It was called Krueger: A Tale From Elm Street. I said, "What the hell, let's check it out." My love of Freddy was instantly restored. This was amazing. Here is a fan film that not only was a prequel to the original film, but completely took Freddy back to his dark roots. He wasn't the funny tagline spewing comedian that he became in the sequels....he was pure evil again and I was on cloud 9.

Let's not forget to mention Roberto Lombardi's portrayal of Freddy Krueger.....I admit, I was one of those guys that said "If it's not Englund, I don't care.", but that instantly changed. I was not only impressed, I was drop jawed. Lombardi was phenomenal & had that evil Robert Englund charm in the way he played Krueger. The overall flow of the story was so great. I felt like that 3 year old little kid seeing A Nightmare On Elm Street for first time all over again.

After seeing that short, I watched the credits...Written & Directed by Chris. R. Notarile....instantly I jumped on facebook and found his page. I thanked him and told him to please keep making these videos & how much I enjoyed the mini film. Soon after, I found another video...KRUEGER: Another Tale From Elm Street....at that moment it became clear that Freddy was back and being done right.

2 more mini films in the series have come since...."A Walk Though Elm Street" & "The Slasher Of Elm Street".....and I am still hooked & begging for more. I think that if Mr. Notarile is given the chance to make a complete prequel film...it would be one of the highest regarded films in a Nightmare fans collection. The Notarile & Lombardi team up is just the stuff that great filmmaking is made of, much like Burton & Depp....they just work so well together.

I hope that the KRUEGER series continues and gets more attention from fans & film companies. These short films are that stuff that Nightmares are made of.

My Hellsing Review Rating is: 2 Devil Horns Up x10!

So pull up a seat, turn off the lights, and Welcome To Prime Time, Bitch!... In the words of Kincaid from A Nightmare on Elm Street 4.... "FREDDY'S BACK! FREDDY'S BACK! FREDDY'S BACK! FREDDY'S BACK!"

When I was in the 4th grade, A Nightmare on Elm Street part 2 was released. My best friend at the time told me it was stupid so I didn't go see it. It wasn't until the fourth installment came out that I finally went to see a Freddy movie. Boy was my friend wrong! Why had I listened to him? I fell in love with it and immediately went out and rented the first three on VHS. Over the years, I watched as each new installment came out with a roller coaster ride of varying results. Then the franchise went away.

I stumbled upon these fan-made movies by Blinky Productions and immediately my heart leaped! Freddy is back in a major way. Roberto Lombardi is the perfect Freddy Krueger portrayal. If it wasn't going to be Mr. Englund, it could only be Roberto. He has that creepiness factor that I missed when that remake was put out. The way he stands, walks, talks, tilts his head...everything drips evil. That is the way Freddy should be! I can't wait to see if Chris R. Notarile will make a full- length prequel to the series, but if he does, it will completely revitalize the series.

I love the direction that was went with this. It would be seriously so amazing to see this as an actual full series on everything that led up to before Freddy started killing kids in their dreams. It would be really interesting to see the parents finding out, finding the evidence, the detective work, the court case be dragged on, etc.

The actor who plays Freddy really embodies everything that he is. In my opinion, I don't see anyone who can play him better besides Robert Englund himself.

What a great web-series so far! The story is fantastic in of itself. The acting is very superb. Roberto Lombardi has that look a feel of a dark and creepy Freddy Krueger that Robert England had back than. The setting and theme of this and the whole web-series have a great setup for something final. I hope this web-series continues to a feature if possible. I am really not a big fan of Freddy and his back story is a very big talking point in today's society, but this version of Freddy has taken it to the high extreme to show how he became sadistic and creepy. The acting for all actors/actresses is very good in this story. The blocking and staging for this short fan film is one of the best that Chris Notarile has done so far. He directs his actors/actresses the right way and its very fluid with motion and emotion that flows freely. The ADR for each character is somewhat on point but is a little off by a few milliseconds but still is pretty good without dialog, I.E movement, staging and blocking with Freddy and Mikey in the beginning. With only a few draw backs, Krueger: The Slasher from Elm Street is a piece of fan-film cinema that a fan of the Freddy Iconic Legend should definitely watch to get a great back story without watching the Freddy movies.