Back in 1991, New Line Cinema decided that the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise had run its course, so they tried to kill it off with Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare (watch it HERE). The movie ends with the dream stalker Freddy Krueger being dragged into our reality and blown up with a pipe bomb. The heroine smiles, “Freddy’s dead.” Roll credits. But more than thirty years later, director Rachel Talalay has confirmed that an ending was shot for the movie that would have shown the Dream Demons that gave Freddy his supernatural powers finding a new host!
Refresher
In addition to directing the film, Talalay also crafted the story with New Line executive Michael De Luca. Freddy’s Dead has the following synopsis: Murderous ghoul Freddy Krueger has slaughtered every last child in his hometown. He ventures on to a new location, scouting fresh young victims to hack up with his finger blades. He arrives in a small town in which his long-lost daughter, Maggie, works as a therapist for troubled youths. He attempts to recruit her for his dastardly pursuits, but she has other ideas. Father and daughter meet for a bloody showdown that will determine Freddy’s fate once and for all.
The film stars Lisa Zane, Shon Greenblatt, Lezlie Deane, Yaphet Kotto, Breckin Meyer, and Ricky Dean Logan, with cameo appearances by Johnny Depp, Roseanne, and Tom Arnold. And of course, Freddy Krueger is played by Robert Englund.
Lost Ending
In a video posted to her YouTube channel, Talalay reveals that she recently found proof that they filmed a coda for Freddy’s Dead that had “the demons from Freddy going into another boy’s body, and the cycle perpetuates. Very horror film sequel. Actually, we cut the sequence out of the film almost immediately, so we never even tested it. It was pretty much agreed universally that you can’t call the film Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare and market it as ‘The Final Nightmare’ and then have a coda like that.”
Talalay shares a shot of a script page (with this coda, the last line in the movie would have been the Dream Demons asking, “Hey, kid… you want a job?”) and a couple of images of the kid that would have been Freddy’s replacement. Unfortunately, that may be all we ever see of the scene, as the footage has been lost.
Would you like to see this footage? Do you think Freddy’s Dead should have ended with a scene setting up a new host for the Dream Demons? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.
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