is a 2015 nonprofit, short fan-film based on A Nightmare on Elm Street, and a loose adaptation of the short story The Life and Death of Freddy Krueger. Made with the intent of undoing the years of Villain Decay and Flanderization of the titular character, it chronicles his Start of Darkness through a confession to Lt. Thomas Russell.The Confession of Fred Krueger provides examples of:
- Adaptational Heroism: "Heroism" is entirely the wrong word here, but Freddy's given Freudian Excuse is somewhat more valid and he doesn't appear to be a child molester this time around, whereas he's explicitly stated to be one in the 2010 remake and is implied to be one in the original series.
- The Alcoholic: Underwood, and Freddy, in his adulthood.
- Arc Words: "Future". Lampshaded by Russell, who notes that Freddy keeps using that word.
- Armor-Piercing Question: After Russell has had enough of the interrogation, he gets up to leave, asking another officer to take Freddy back into lockup, but one simple question is enough to not only stop him dead in his tracks, but burrow deep under his skin.Freddy: Do you know where your children are tonight, Detective?
Russell: What did you just say to me?
Freddy: Little Andy and blue-eyed Mae. Do you know where your children are… Right. Now?
Russell: How do you know my kids' names?
Freddy: Because… they were supposed to be Victims 21 and 22. (laughs at him) - Attention Whore: Freddy immediately admits to Russell that he is the Springwood Slasher, and proudly describes his murders and his life overall in detail, as though he's expecting to gain something out of it.
- Berserk Button:
- Because of his past abuse, Freddy is visibly enraged when Russell refers to his victims as "poor, innocent children".
- Freddy purposely hits Russell's by gloating to him that not only did he know the names of his two children, but had been targeting them for some time.
- Bottle Episode: The film mostly takes place in the interrogation room of the Springwood Police Station.
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: When Don Thompson tries to attack Freddy for killing his daughter, Freddy simply asks, "Who the hell was that?" This is particularly strange, seeing how he knew all his victims and their parents by name and face before then.
- The Cameo: Don Thompson makes an appearance near the end and tries to beat up Freddy for killing his daughter, Sarah.
- Card-Carrying Villain: While he takes a liking to his nickname, Freddy says he prefers "Springwood Butcher". He also refers to himself as a serial killer.
- Chekhov's Gun: Near the start of the interrogation, Freddy asks Russell for one cigarette, but leaves it on the table in front of him the entire time they're talking. It doesn't come into play until the final scenes.
- Child Hater: Freddy loathes children, especially those he sees as having a future.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Implied to be what Freddy did to Sandy Gray.Russell: What did you do to her?
Freddy: Wouldn't you like to know?
Russell: We were only able to identify her from her dental records. - Darker and Edgier: Probably the most dark and disturbing portrayal of Freddy to date.
- Deadpan Snarker: In place of his usual goofy one-liners, Freddy demonstrates a bitter, sarcastic sense of humor.
- Deconstruction: Of the Lighter and Softer entries in the Elm Street franchise. Freddy still displays Large Ham tendencies, but when he does, it only makes him scarier, and in place of his increasingly comedic personality, his humor is dry and angry.
- Destroy the Abusive Home: Freddy admits that he finally had enough of the abuse and torched Underwood's house while he was asleep, walking away after setting the fire. He doesn't know if Underwood survived, and doesn't care one way or another.
- Destroy the Evidence: At the end of the film, after Russell has punched Freddy and been dragged out of the room by his fellow cops, Freddy takes the tape reels out of the recorder and burns them with the cigarette Russell gave him.
- Dirty Cop: Detective Jim Doyle is implied to have been one of Underwood's clients who raped Freddy in his youth. Freddy also mentions a police chief who was even worse than Underwood.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Due to the miserable childhood he endured and his adult life on the streets, Freddy believes that he doesn't have a future. He chooses to make up for this by stripping other children of theirs.
- Enfant Terrible: Freddy used to mutilate animals as a pastime when he was a child.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Unsurprisingly, Freddy is an awful person, but he still finds Underwood pimping him out to his clients to be utterly distasteful and acknowledges what a horrible excuse for a father figure and a human being he was, though obviously, a large part of it is because he was on the receiving end of the abuse.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: It's Freddy Krueger telling a detective all about his life and crimes.
- Fat Bastard: Detective Jim Doyle, who's implied to be one of the men that Underwood pimped out Freddy to in his youth. Freddy even calls him this verbatim. Underwood himself is also rather hefty. Freddy also described one of Underwood's poker pals as a fat police chief who was even worse than Underwood himself.
- Faux Affably Evil: Initially, Freddy is calm and cooperative with Russell, but he snaps a few times during the interrogation, and finally goads Russell into beating him up.
- Freudian Excuse: Freddy had a rough childhood, to say the least. He grew up never knowing his real parents, living in and out of orphanages where he was abused, and was eventually adopted by the janitor of one of these orphanages, an alcoholic Fat Bastard pimp named Underwood, who, in addition to beating him with a belt and cutting him with a straight razor, would often let his friends molest him.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: See the tagline on the poster.
- Hidden Depths: Freddy is justifiably Book Dumb after living on the streets with no formal education, but is definitely smarter than he appears to be. His whole confession may also have been a Batman Gambit for him to be released.
- Homage Shot: The poster hearkens back to the portrayal of Freddy in the first three films' posters, with the skeletal face and right hand and the metal plates simulating the framework of the glove.
- It's All About Me: A good chunk of Freddy's confession is him pitying himself for his abusive childhood, and he refuses to acknowledge that anybody else knows what it really is to hurt but him.Freddy: *mockingly* THOSE POOR, INNOCENT CHILDREN! WHAT DO THEY KNOW ABOUT BEING POOR?!
- Jerkass: Freddy gleefully recounts his crimes to Russell, demonstrating not only pride, but an absolute Lack of Empathy for his victims, or for anyone but himself.
- Large Ham: Freddy, though not in the Laughably Evil manner he has become known for.
- Mythology Gag:
- This take on some of Freddy Krueger's crimes includes the fact that two of his victims were named Sandy Gray and Sarah Thompson, the latter of which was the daughter of Don Thompson. This was a reference to a deleted concept from the first film, in which some of Freddy's victims were older siblings of the main characters, which further fueled the parents' need for justice, and their ultimate decision to take the law into their own hands when Freddy was released on a technicality.
- After Russell brings up Freddy's 11th victim, Sarah Thompson, Freddy muses, "She was one of my favorites." He said something very similar regarding Nancy in the 2010 remake.
- Near the end, Freddy gloats to Lt. Russell that his two children were supposed to be his latest victims. This is incredibly similar to the pilot episode of Freddy's Nightmares, in which Freddy was arrested while targeting Lt. Blocker's twin daughters, Merit and Lisa.
- At the end, as Freddy burns the recording of his confession, he sings Bing Crosby's "Have You Ever Seen A Dream Walking?", which was played in the end credits of A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge.
- Named Weapon: Downplayed. Freddy doesn't actually name the glove, but he does call it "[his] friend" a couple of times.
- Never My Fault: In the comics, Freddy tells his victims' families that they have themselves to blame for not watching over their children more carefully. Though arguably, given the message the original film was trying to get across, it may also be a case of Villain Has a Point.
- Nothing Is Scarier: It's never detailed just what Freddy puts his child victims through, but it's implied to involve Cold-Blooded Torture.
- Papa Wolf:
- Donald Thompson bursts into the interrogation room at one point in an attempt to attack Freddy as revenge for the murder of his daughter, Sarah.
- Russell punches Freddy after the latter mockingly reveals to him that his two children, Andy and Mae, were going to be "Victims 21 and 22" had he not been arrested.
- Serial Killer: A surprisingly realistic depiction of an iconic fictional one, at that.
- Start of Darkness: Details Freddy's miserable life, which led to him becoming the horrible Serial Killer known as the Springwood Slasher.
- Straw Nihilist: Freddy believes that he has no future, and as such, wants to steal the futures of the happy, innocent children of Springwood.
- This Means Warpaint: A very malevolent take. Freddy has what appears to be black greasepaint smeared all over his face. A later scene reveals that he does this before starting to hunt his victims in the boiler room.
- Tragic Villain: Heavily downplayed. Freddy's early life was horrible and was definitely enough to turn anyone into a monster, but his utter self-centeredness, Lack of Empathy for the children he killed just for having a brighter future than him, and how gleefully he recounts the details of his murders strip him of any sympathy points he might be given. In the end, it's enough to completely justify Russell's assault on him.
- Villain Has a Point: The comic shows the parents of Springwood torturing Freddy in his boiler room, he calls them out on their own failures as parents. And the thing is? He's not wrong in the least.
- Villain Protagonist: Freddy, technically, since this film is him chronicling his life story
- Wolverine Claws: Freddy reveals why he made the glove in the first place. He was attacked by a group of five boys while trying to sleep, and was able to catch and kill one of them while the other four ran away in terror. He would go on to create a weapon with four blades as an homage to those four boys and their fear.
- Would Hurt a Child: Freddy loathes children with happy homes and futures and thus has no qualms about torturing and murdering them.
