Remember the Freddy Krueger Music Video?
“Grab a hold of your friends, it’s Krueger time!”
The year is 1988, and Freddy Mania is at its peak. With a fourth film at the cinema and a TV series pending, there’s little else a popular horror villian can do than than branch out into the world of music.
Freddy’s third film, Dream Warriors, was a huge success, fans loved it, critics praised it, and its sound track included the theme song, “Dream Warriors”, which was written and performed by the American heavy metal band Dokken. The single, like the film, was a big hit, and this led producers insisting on another original track for the next film in the franchise.
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master was released at the cinemas in April 88, and a single, “Are You Ready for Freddy”, arrived around the same time. Performed by the The Fat Boys, Robert Englund’s Freddy Krueger popped up to chase the hip hop trio through the music video, and even rapped through-out the song. Yes, Freddy Krueger rapped in his one and only musical appearance. Love it, or hate it, it was a genius move that failed to pay off. The single just failed to hit the heights of “Dream Warriors” success, and even the film was met with harsh criticism from fans.
This was not the end for Krueger, who went on to star in five other films. It did signal the end of original music, as A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child dropped original content for a sound track with exiting heavy metal, hard rock and hip hop songs. His popularity gave us something wild, crazy and entertaining and no other horror villain has ever made such a bold move.
