KRUEGER: The Slasher From Elm Street – They Went There

We return to Springwood today for another #ShortMovieMonday!  Director Chris R. Notarile has released the 4th installment in his KRUEGER series known as Krueger: The Slasher From Elm Street.  Previous entries in the series include Krueger: A Tale From Elm Street, Krueger: Another Tale From Elm Street and Krueger: A Walk Through 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 Slasher From Elm Street was JUST released and as of this writing doesn’t have a description listed yet on it’s official IMDB page.  That being said, it picks up right where A Walk Through Elm Street left off after Fred had snagged Mikey.

I saw the following quote from director Chris R. Notarile on the film’s Facebook page before watching:

“When making a movie and posting it online for people to see, its no surprise you may get a few dislikes here and there, accompanied by the occasional negative comment. Usually it’s over something trivial and that never bothers me. But with this series, specifically part 4, I know that people’s personal limits will be pushed when viewing and for the first time, but you can only beat around the bush so many times before it gets tiresome.”

I was a little worried after reading this quote, but I dove right in… and I’m glad I did.

Plot & Thoughts

This one picks up right where the last film ended and we’re even given some flashbacks of that last film.  We see Fred (Roberto Lombardi) walking the streets and running his fingers across the wall the way Englund did.  This is a Freddy cliche that’s starting to get a little old in Notarile’s flicks, but it’s something that needs to be here to tie the character to the source material.  We then cut to Mikey running away which was a tad bit confusing as we were just shown him being drugged which typically incapacitates someone for quite some time.  I found myself asking, “How’d the kid get away?”

Mikey runs into a warehouse where a bunch of cars and trucks are parked and he’s being pursued by Freddy… wearing is glove in broad daylight?  I’ll chalk this one up to this being Fred’s private property but it was a head scratcher.  We get some cat and mouse with Fred looking for Mikey who’s hiding in a truck and as he looks Freddy once again drags his claw across the hood of a truck.  As I said before, these Freddy cliches are getting a bit grating to me at least who’s watched all of the flicks.

We get some great camera work here as we’re shown Mikey in the foreground with Freddy popping up behind him out of focus.  The chase is back on with Freddy catching up to Mikey and tackling him.  He says, “Scream for me” and at the 3 minute mark plunges his claw presumably into the boy’s stomach and we cut to black.

We’re then introduced to Freddy’s daughter (?) Katherine Krueger played by Danica Metzger who is cute… as… hell.  I have to admit that I’d forgotten that Freddy had a daughter so I had to look up that piece of the back story.  That said, it was a nice way to introduce the character into Notarile’s Krueger-verse.  Lombardi once again shines in the role of Freddy Krueger.  I’ve gushed in previous reviews about how awesome Roberto is and how he embodies Krueger in a way that calls back beautifully to the Englund portrayal while not being overshadowed by it.  Bravo once again sir.

Katherine and Freddy chat for a few minutes and we cut back to the Mikey storyline.

HOLY SHIT.  They went there!!!  After the cut, we’re shown the claw going into the boy, him spitting up blood and Fred covered with blood.  Honestly up to this point I wasn’t really loving this entry… this scene changes everything.  It’s clear this is the scene Notarile was referencing in the quote above.  I can’t ever recall a child death being shown in the films and while hinted at in Notarile’s work it’s never been shown either.  A big risk showing it here and for this fan it pays off BIG TIME.

We then cut to Fred and Katherine sitting in a diner having a bite to eat.  Freddy overhears a mother crying about Mikey who’s been missing since Sunday.  After a brief discussion the mother says to Freddy, “Look after Katherine –  don’t let her go,” to which Freddy replies, “I won’t.”  Super creepy.

We end with a scene of Freddy walking the street at night.  He sees a “Missing Child” flyer with Mikey’s picture on it.  He adjusts his fedora and continues to walk down Elm Street as we fade to black.

Recommendation

Once again, this won’t be much for non NOES fans, but if you’re a fan of the franchise I’d highly recommend it.  This one builds on the previous films in the series in a big way so I’d highly recommend watching those as well.  Run time is just shy of 9 minutes (including credits) but once again Notarile packs it in and in this installment he really goes for the gore which was a nice twist.  The kill scene in here completely sets it apart from the other films in the series and if Notarile chooses to step back from the Elm Street universe would provide a nice cap on the series.  Give it a watch.  You’ll be glad you did.  Check out the film’s Facebook fan page. Tell them ScareTissue sent you!

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