Forty years after Nightmare on Elm Street premiered, Heather Langenkamp and Robert Englund are reflecting on their time as co-stars and what the experience was like filming horror. They also opened up about working with director Wes Cravens, saying he was fun to collaborate with.
Heather played Nancy Thompson, who was one of the teenagers getting haunted by Robert Englund’s Freddy Kreuger, who later realizes they are related. They discussed with The Wrap ahead of Halloween, which is a good time to stream the 4K UHD version by Warner Bros.
Heather Langenkamp and Robert Englund look back on ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’
Heather recalled the strictness that came with creating the spooky classic, saying they had to be thorough with their lines as they could only do a maximum of three takes. Robert said the movie budget was low, and they could not employ much technology; hence, he had to retake some of his parts multiple times for the perfect scenes.
Thankfully, working was much easier and fun with a boss like Wes, who died of brain cancer at 76 in 2015. He knew how to douse their tension with humor and his charming personality. Robert shared his encounter during a visit to Wes’ bachelor pad at the top of Nichols Canyon, where he had cool books and albums.
Heather Langenkamp and Robert Englund now
After beating over 2000 people to land the role of Nancy Thompson, Heather delivered an impressive portrayal that earned her status as a Hollywood scream queen. She received accolades and awards for the role, which opened doors to more horror films and reprisal of her role in subsequent franchises.
Robert played Freddy in seven consecutive franchise films after the debut installment Elm’s Street, after which he starred in series, TV dramas and as an animation voice actor. The 77-year-old also explored directing within his signature genre and released his memoir titled Hollywood Monster: A Walk Down Elm Street with the Man of Your Dreams in 2009.