The Bloody Scene In A Nightmare On Elm Street That Almost Ended In Disaster
"A Nightmare on Elm Street" is as iconic as it is bloody. Its entire premise hinges on the fact that audiences will never sleep again as they ponder a boogeyman lurking in their subconscious. Full of gore and substance, the film paved the way for an '80s slasher infusion filled with menacing murderers built on morally reprehensible backgrounds. The first film in the "Nightmare on Elm Street" franchise instantly became a hit upon release. At the time, horror fans already had the unstable Michael Myers, cannibalistic Leatherface, and vengeful Jason Voorhees to contend with. While each carries his own mystique, none had a personality to speak of — much less dialogue. Freddy Krueger's (Robert Englund) appearances lead viewers into a strange combination of nervous laughter and revolt.
Even with his wisecracks, scenes from "A Nightmare on Elm Street" upped the level of gore and intensity. The mere thought of Freddy haunting dreamscapes with his razor sharp glove and equally pointed dialogue should be enough to inspire terror. Director Wes Craven took it even further; the man behind "Last House on the Left" went for the jugular as he crafted sequences based on equal parts imagination and fear. While the film is littered with memorable moments, none comes to mind quicker than a bed doused in blood. Add in one popular heartthrob of the decade and you've got one of horror's most standout moments. But fans may be surprised to learn how poorly that iconic scene could have ended.
Glen's bloody bedroom scene
In "A Nightmare on Elm Street," when Glen (Johnny Depp) goes to bed with headphones on, viewers know something is up. Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) is desperate to get this attention but it doesn't take a horror fan to realize the character is about to meet his demise. What happens next becomes genre legend, but something behind the scenes made it equally as memorable. Anyone who has seen the film knows blood gushes from Glen's bed in a torrential output. What they might not know is that it is far from what was planned.
A mishap during filming sent blood in numerous directions and led to behind-the-scenes drama as it shorted out electrical equipment, according to Freddy Krueger actor Robert Englund. "There was this two-inch tsunami of blood," Englund told Rolling Stone. "The floor of every soundstage I've ever been in is covered in electrical cables, so I ran like a girly man. I grabbed Heather's hand and we ran into the corridors of Desilu studios." Craven revealed he was left hanging in a harness chair on the set, as the electricity failed, while Englund and Langenkamp ran for their lives. Instead of cleaning up, or even reshooting the doomed scene, Craven chose to use the filmed chaos in the finished cut. What remains in the film is the bloody mess fans love to talk about today.