KRUEGER: The Legend of Elm Street – The Dream Demon Arrives

Back in Springwood today for another installment of #ShortMovieMonday! This one is a long time in the making as I’ve had it in my drafts since the film’s release in May. Bad blogger Chewie… bad blogger.

Anyhow, Director Chris R. Notarile has released the fifth installment in his KRUEGER series known as Krueger: The Legend of Elm Street.  Previous entries in the series include Krueger: A Tale From Elm Street, Krueger: Another Tale From Elm Street, Krueger: A Walk Through Elm Street and Krueger: The Slasher From Elm Street.

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: The Legend of Elm Street follows the chronology of Notarile’s universe. Fred Krueger has just been released from jail I’m guessing after the events of the first film. Chris had this to say about this installment:

“This video was principally made due to the overwhelmingly positive response both Roberto Lombardi and I received from this series. We were quite content with leaving things open ended with the last installment “The Slasher from Elm Street”, but people kept demanding to see more – specifically Freddy’s trial by fire. This of course intrigued me as I too wanted to see that play out more than anything, but for the longest time, I was hesitant to make part 5 because I was unsure as to whether or not I could pull off the special FX.”

Did he pull it off? Let’s find out.

KRUEGER: The Legend of Elm Street Plot and Thoughts

The film opens with Freddy, once again played flawlessly by Roberto Lombardi, and his lawyer (Christian Chase) on the steps of the police station addressing the media upon Fred’s release. Knowing what we know about Krueger, Lombardi’s performance here is even creepier including an evil glance at the cameras that will send shivers down your spine. Freddy then heads to his boiler room where the angry parents of Springwood show up do what they do. We get sort of a disjointed scene here with Freddy in the afterlife where he’s visited by a demon who gives him his iconic glove. For fans of Notarile’s non-KRUEGER work you’ll recognize the actress playing the demon.

Cut to Mikey’s (from the previous films) mom played by Jessica Buda. She’s in a therapy session and we quickly learn that her doctor was a fellow participant in a night by the fire with Freddy. They’re working with some hypnotherapy and she falls asleep. Yep… she’s fucked. From here we get the first dream version of Freddy in Notarile’s universe and it’s simply awesome. Up until now, Freddy has been alive an well in Notarile’s films. If you’ve been waiting for the dream demon the wait is over… and it was worth it.

KRUEGER: The Legend of Elm Street Recommendation

As with the previous entries in the series there’s probably not much here for non A Nightmare on Elm Street fans. That being said, these continue to be the absolute best NOES fan films out there. If you’re a fan of the franchise or of the Freddy character this is a strong recommend. Run time is just over 13 minutes (including credits) and once again Notarile packs it in. It is the first time in this NOES universe where we see Krueger’s dream murders which is the version of the character we all know and love. It also delves into why Freddy chose the kids rather than the parents, a piece of the back story that I don’t remember explained quite so succinctly in the Craven-verse. I’m thrilled to see the Mikey story being carried forward as his arch was so very moving in the previous films. You can get more information on The Legend of Elm Street as well as previous entries in the series at the film’s Facebook fan page. Tell them ScareTissue sent you!

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