Freddy Krueger Toys and Collectibles

Freddy Krueger from “A Nightmare on Elm Street” is one of my favorite fictional serial killers. Never mind that he was a child killer and pedophile. I enjoy his razor gloves that slice and dice through the dreams and nightmares of unsuspecting victims. Being the geek that I am, I also love toys that are from horror movies. Unfortunately, places like Burger King don’t see the value in mass marketing (especially around Halloween) the way they do with Star Wars. I’m not comparing the two, but I also don’t understand why horror toys are stockpiled in places like Spencer’s gifts (or online) when I can barely find any McFarlane action figures at Toys R Us.

The cool thing is that no matter what, manufacturers still make some weird shit when it comes to horror collectibles. Those toys, figures and whatnot are just hard to find. Suncoast (if you have those) sometimes has a good selection - fyi.

Back to Freddy Krueger, though. If it weren’t for Freddy, we’d have no New Line Cinema. New Line used to just distribute movies to colleges around the country and A Nightmare On Elm Street was its first foray into movie making. They lost their distributor during filming and basically had no funds to pay anyone for a couple weeks. Luckily, they found a new taker and as they say, the rest is history. Have you noticed over time that Freddy Krueger has become more of a bad pun kinda slasher than the bloodthirsty, sadistic child killer of legend? Obviously it’s not such a bad thing considering how popular he has become. Favorite creepy shot? Definitely in the first movie where Freddy is coming down the alley with the super long arms. They were so long that they had to be worked like a marrionette to get the effect. It worked. I’d LOVE to see that toy, but I haven’t. I did find some fun stuff on eBay, but that changes all the time. I also enjoyed this great post on x-entertainment about some of the best rare Freddy Krueger collectibles out there. Be on the lookout for some additional rarities and really cool collectibles: the Freddy Krueger/A Nightmare on Elm Street pinball machine (with giant speaking Freddy head), hand-made razor gloves, Freddy pajamas (this makes total sense), A Nightmare On Elm Street snowglobe, Freddy Krueger tombstone (also a Freddy vs. Jason tombstone) and a belt buckle with the razor fingers.

p.s. - fun trivia - the movie Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) watches to stay awake is horror classic “The Evil Dead”. Some of the other actresses to audition for the part were Courtney Cox and Demi Moore. Weird.

Robert Englund Freddy Krueger 12-inch Figure This toy is Freddy Krueger before he was burned. Freddy appears as he did in the opening scenes of the film Freddy vs. Jason. Freddy has a hat, leather jacket, an articulated fingered-glove, newspaper with Freddy headlines, a cigarette, and a 12-inch figure display base.

The History of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

What is the real story behind The Texas Chainsaw Massacre? Pretty much anyone that has seen the Texas Chainsaw Massacre makes the assumption that it really happened. Between the marketing spin masters and director Tobe Hooper, we’ve all been led to believe that the history of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Leatherface and all the grisly events that happened - were true.

Well, the film is some fiction and some fact. Ever been in a crowded department store during the holidays? Ever wanted to just grab a chainsaw and plow your way through the crowds? That sounded a little morbid, didn’t it? My point is that Tobe Hooper was tossing around an idea for a movie - one based on the isolation someone feels in the dark and creepy woods in the middle of nowhere. So, that spark of an idea was in his mind as he went to the crowded mall that day and stood in front of the chainsaws. What a beautiful way to cut down the masses and get through the checkout line quicker! The “history” of The Texas Chainsaw massacre and its legend was starting to come together.

Infamous sick bastard and serial killer Ed Gein served as another inspiration for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Most people know or have heard of the legend of Gein, a recluse that lived in a small Wisconsin town in the 50s. He got his kicks wearing the skins of his victims - on his face, on his body, as his underwear. He made lampshades and decorative items out of them. He was a cannibal - and he was the first to hit mainstream America. Perhaps that’s why he has influenced the silver screen in ways other than The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Gein also inspired “Psycho” and the character Buffalo Bill in “Silence of the Lambs”. Precious.

Hooper took the actions and strange habits of Gein and created Leatherface and his sadistic, face chomping family. He also sold the bill of goods as “based on real events” on the back of the videos when they were released years later. Long story short is that an actual Texas Chainsaw Massacre did not happen, but it was influenced by many grisly things that did.

Halloween Weekend: What’s Playing

Every year I look forward to all the monsterfests and creepshows on t.v. for Halloween weekend. I’m curious what horror picks the networks think the general public might be interested in. Unfortunately, I’m disappointed just about every year. This year isn’t much better. Let’s take tonight for instance. John Carpenter’s Vampires is on. This movie is just horrible. No, not horrible, but really bad - and really boring. I can forgive a horror movie that is bad due to acting, effects, whatever, as long as there is something remotely interesting or different. That’s not the case with this movie. First of all, James Woods is NOT cool in this movie. Washed up Daniel Baldwin just looks like a mean-tempered drunk. Yet, these vampire hunters are supposed to be cool. Nope. And I’ve seen episodes of Buffy that were much scarier. Way better done was From Dusk Til Dawn. Watch that instead.

Among the other flicks on this weekend are Friday the 13th (and all the ones after that), Scream (AGAIN), Scream 3, Scary Movie and Urban Legend. Two bright spots were The Omen and The Shining. I did catch most of the special about “The Curse of The Exorcist”. A lot of misfortunate things happened on the set and to the people involved in the movie including fires, deaths and accidents. Mostly though, it just makes the case that director William Friedkin was a total asshole who mistreated his cast and crew.

Since I don’t want to sound crabby about the Halloween horror picks, let me toss out a few movies that I just love and I highly recommend. Watch Tim Burton’s “Sleepy Hollow”. It’s really one of his best. Since we’re on the subject of Tim Burton, also give “The Nightmare Before Christmas” a viewing. Make it a Timmy night! A couple other fairly recent movies I like are “Cabin Fever” (grab the barf bag during the shaving scene) and the new “Dawn of the Dead”. For many more recommendations, visit Socreepy’s must-have horror movies!