Twenty-Five years ago this week, Wes Craven’s New Nightmare was released in theaters. Looking to end the franchise on his terms, Wes Craven returned to the directors chair in the hopes of making Freddy Krueger a character to be feared once again. This time, instead of haunting the dreams of Elm Street children, Freddy would enter the “real” world. A demonic force chooses the character of Freddy Krueger to break into our reality. The films and its audience were acting as the bottle, keeping the genie from escaping. But, as the franchise fades, the demon plans to break out of its confines and terrorize those he associated with his misery, namely the actors from the films. Wes Craven, playing himself, hopes to re-contain the demon with an all new “Ultimate” Nightmare film. But the demonic Freddy begins his assault, wreaking havoc on the life of Heather Langenkamp, who portrayed Nancy Thompson in the original and third films. Ultimately, he views Heather as the gatekeeper, preventing him from escaping into the world. While the setup seems initially confusing, as the film unfolds, the story comes into its own for a genuinely solid and scary end to the series. The film also updates Freddy’s look a bit, changing his traditional burned make up to add more defined scarring, giving him a new glove, as well as adding a trench coat.
NECA Toys is releasing a New Nightmare Freddy Krueger in their 8″ scale retro cloth figure line. The figure includes a removable trench coat, a fedora, and swap out regular and demon portraits. Ultimately, this is likely to be the last Freddy Krueger they are able to release for a while. The U.S. film rights to the character and the original film have reverted back to Wes Craven’s estate, causing licensing issues for new product development. We picked up this figure from sponsor Entertainment Earth. We have a full photo gallery and review. You can check them out after the jump.
Related Entertainment Earth links: New Nightmare 8″ Freddy, Freddy’s Furnace Diorama, All NECA Freddy Krueger Items
