In a recent conversation with one of my friends, I noted how our horror icons are all in the twilight of their careers and their lives.
In the past decade, this has brought retrospectives that remind us why we admire these actors, directors and franchises.
Regarding Robert Englund, it is important to understand he is much more than Freddy Krueger. Primarily, Englund is a great storyteller, so hearing just a handful or more of his anecdotes will be catnip to fans.
This extensive documentary, from the makers of retrospectives on series such as Hellraiser, Fright and Stephen King’s IT, is probably their best to date.
Filmmakers Chris Griffiths and Gary Smart are really honing their craft, meaning this is all killer no filler here.
We do of course have focus segments on the Nightmare series with contributions from the likes of Heather Langenkamp, Tuesday Knight and Miko Hughes, but Hollywood Dreams & Nightmares is so much more.
Other contributors include Doug Bradley, Kane Hodder, Lance Henriksen, Tony Todd, Bill Moseley and Eli Roth. Spoiler, Englund has stories about working with all of them.
Hearing Englund talk about roles he didn’t get in Apocalypse Now, Star Wars and Kill Bill is just as endearing as hearing him speak about films such as Urban Legend, 2001 Maniacs and Behind the Mask: The Rise of Lesley Vernon.
What really comes through is Englund’s respect for the genre that has kept their career going, right up until last year’s cameo in Stranger Things 4.
Englund doesn’t shy away from the notion of typecasting from his role as Freddy, plus his work on the convention circuit, which is considered to be some of the best of the horror icons.
Hollywood Dreams & Nightmares is a fitting retrospective to the genre icon that is Robert Englund.
Hollywood Dreams & Nightmares: The Robert Englund Story is available now on Screambox.
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