Trivia / Wes Craven's New Nightmare

• Acclaimed Flop: This film is often considered to be the best Nightmare sequel aside from Dream Warriors. It's also the lowest grossing of them all.
• Acting for Two: Robert Englund plays Robert Englund, Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger and Freddy Krueger As Himself.
• Creator Backlash: A mild example; in the documentary Never Sleep Again, Wes Craven admitted that he "goes back and forth" on whether the change in Freddy's makeup design was a good idea, or if it would have been better to retain his classic look.
• Creator's Favorite Episode: Robert Englund has stated that this is his personal favorite of the Elm Street series.
• In Memoriam: The film is dedicated to the production designer Gregg Fonseca.
• Real Life Writes the Plot: The 1994 Northridge earthquake was written into the story after it occurred in the middle of filming.
• Reality Subtext:
  • In the 1984 "Making Of..." documentary for the first Nightmare film, Langenkamp noted that the cast and crew of the film really started having nightmares about Fred Krueger.
  • Heather Langenkamp actually suffered a stalker in real life.
• Refitted for Sequel: Freddy invading "our" world was considered as far back as A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, and was realized in this film.
• The Red Stapler: For a limited time, Horror Decor sold replicas of Rex on their website.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Craven wanted to have Johnny Depp appear in the film, but was too afraid to ask; after the film's release, Depp met with Craven and said he would have gladly made an appearance.
  • A scene was written wherein Freddy, appearing as a giant spider or something similar, confronted Robert Englund, but plans for it got scrapped.
  • A scene in which Wes Craven, terrified of his own creation, has cut off his eyelids to stay awake (a la one unseen victim mentioned in Dream Warriors) was also scrapped, in part because Wes didn't think he was up to selling such a performance. Michael Berryman was supposed to make a cameo as a a limo driver who is driving Craven around town as Craven tries to finish the script.
  • The premise for the movie — Freddie escaping to the real world — was intended for A Nightmare on Elm Street 3, but New Line Cinema requested something else.
  • Julie the babysitter was going to be a Mole working for Freddy, making her brutal death at Freddy's hands a case of You Have Outlived Your Usefulness. Wes Craven ultimately decided that her death was more effective if it was the tragic death of a truly good and innocent person, so her surprise villainy was cut. Still there was a scene or two that suggest something is off about Julie which makes her almost a case of a Red Herring.
• Working Title: A Nightmare on Elm Street 7: The Ascension

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