The late 70s and the 80s delivered countless memorable horror films, which were often released with a string of sequels. But despite being considered incredibly iconic today - not least Poltergeist, Friday the 13th, Hellraiser and others - few of them have been given a new lease of life.
Although Hollywood's lack of imagination has led to an eagerness to revive everything old, horror classics have largely been left untouched, with a few exceptions that have generally been unsuccessful. Hollywood has often tried to make modernisations that are far too serious and brutal, thereby completely forgetting that the originals never took themselves too seriously and were made with a wink and a sense of fun.
This is particularly true of another 1980s classic, A Nightmare on Elm Street. Hollywood has made no attempts to revive Freddy Krueger since 2010, when the reboot was met with scathing criticism. It also lacked charm, and the original actor behind Krueger, Robert Englund, said to Variety the other year about what went wrong:
"...when they made Freddy a child molester [in the remake], that's not what Freddy is. By taking it to such a dark place, there's no room for the personality of Freddy to be exploited."
But perhaps there is hope for a more successful return for the film series. Chuck Russell is a familiar name to fans, having made what is often considered the best of the series, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors from 1987. He now says in the podcast Dread Central's Development Hell that, under the right circumstances, he would be willing to make another A Nightmare on Elm Street film (thanks Fortress of Solitude):
"I'd love to do another Elm Street if there was the full support of everybody. Patricia Arquette has said she'd like to do it again... I still think Robert, for me, is the only Freddy."
The only catch is that Englund recently said he is done with the role of Freddy Krueger. After all, he is 78 years old. Fortunately, a possible replacement of the perhaps slightly more unexpected variety was discussed, namely Jim Carrey. When he was suggested, Russell said:
"Yeah, that would be great. Jim, in my opinion, could almost do anything if he put his heart into it. For Jim to do it, we'd have to do something that was another leap in the Elm Street series—a little bit like what Wes did with his very meta New Nightmare."
In fact, Jim Carrey and Chuck Russell have worked together before when they made The Mask in 1994, which was a huge success. The duo are therefore familiar with each other, which further strengthens the chances of a good result.
Carrey would undoubtedly be someone who could turn Kreuger into the entertaining nightmare demon that he once was, but what do you think, would he be the right man for the job?