This week’s #ShortMovieMonday takes us back to Springwood and more specifically to Elm Street for Krueger: A Walk Through Elm Street. This is the 3rd entry into the KRUEGER series from writer / director Chris R. Notarile. Previous entries include Krueger: A Tale From Elm Street and its follow up Krueger: Another Tale From Elm Street.

The description from the director:

In Springwood, long before he became a demon of dreams, Freddy Krueger stalked the streets under another name – The Springwood Slasher. Our third story centers on the inner working’s of Freddy’s mind. What makes him tick and how does he view the world? Edited to reflect his fragmented way of thinking, we follow Freddy on a walk through Elm Street as he interacts with a soon to be mother, outside of a very familiar house.

SPOILER ALERT: This review WILL talk openly about the plot of this short film (which will be shown in its entirety below). If you’ve not watched it yet, scroll down, check it out and then come on back.

Krueger: A Walk Through Elm Street gets into Fred’s head. The entire short (6:21 including credits) is narrated by Freddy. We see him meet Marge Thompson who’s super pregnant. Fred asks if they’re ready to be parents and inquires if they’ve picked out any names. Marge says it’ll be Donald Jr. if it’s a boy and… Nancy… if it’s a girl. They’re standing on location at THE Elm Street house which is bad ass!

There’s a super creepy scene in here where Freddy gets on his knees and is talking to Marge’s baby bump. Seeing Freddy Krueger talk to Nancy Thompson in utero is really weird, but knowing what we know about these characters its outstanding.

During this entire short, Freddy is talking about how easy it is for him to blend in to the community. At one point he says “I’m Freddy… Husband, father, 2 time bowling league champ“. I don’t think he’s being literal here, but the point is well taken. He blends in, looks like every other guy you see in your town and no one is the wiser that he’s in fact The Springwood Slasher. He’s shown drinking coffee, nodding to folks, sitting on benches and walking around town.

Once again, Notarile shows just how easy a child can be abducted. Mikey (Jacob Flowers) needs to use the restroom but it’s locked. He ducks behind the building to relive himself and Fred pounces like a wolf. Just as with Krueger: Another Talk From Elm Street, Notarile is really exploring the grittiness of child abduction. If you’re a parent and you really think about what’s going on here, this will really chill you to the core.

The score here is amazing as it builds throughout the film. No real A Nightmare On Elm Street audio callbacks here, but they’re not necessary for this particular short. What Steve Joblonsky has put together is masterful and fits perfectly.

Once again, Robert Lombardi is amazing as Freddy Krueger. He’s not doing a whole lot in this one other than being creepy and some voice work but he portrays that “vibe” that we got so brilliantly from Robert Englund in the early Nightmare films. The scene in front of the house where he’s chatting with Vera Vanguard as Marge is wonderful. The fact that he’s playing such an iconic character but I’m not seeing Englund is the highest compliment I can give.

Speaking of Vera Vanguard. She does a nice job here. She really does portray the “housewife of the 70’s” to a T. From the way she’s dressed to the naivete of sharing personal information she fits right in to the KRUEGER universe that Notarile has developed.

And as for the Elm Street universe… it was AWESOME to see that this was filmed at the actual Elm Street house from the films. I’m not sure I’d ever want to live at 1428 North Genessee Avenue in Los Angeles, CA, and I’m not sure what (if any) hoops the production needed to jump through to film on the sidewalk in front of the house, but it was well worth it.

My only real problem with this film is the same issue I had with the original short Krueger: A Tale From Elm Street. It’s almost as if we’re TOO tied to the source material here. If you watch all of Notarile’s films, you’d be led to believe that Freddy has some sort of supernatural bond specifically with Nancy Thompson as if he’s waiting for her to be born to torment her.

With that small negative aside, this is a great little flick. It’s not much for non NOES fans and we’re not getting a whole lot of action, but if you’re a fan of that franchise this is definitely recommend. It’s super quick and you really do get to see inside Freddy’s head and get to know the guy that will eventually become the Springwood Slasher. You can find Blinky Productions on the web at www.blinky-productions.com as well as on the film’s Facebook fan page. Tell them ScareTissue sent you!

Check out the full film below and let us know what you think!