Everyone’s favorite shit talking slasher Freddy Krueger celebrated 40 years of ‘A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET’ and we got to see the film on the big screen along with some cast & crew from ANOES films. The Alex theater is a gorgeous theater in Glendale California that opened its doors in 2021 and has been thriving ever since. I’ve been to a handful of screenings for Nightmare before but none were like this. We had special guests in attendance including: Charles Bernstein Composer of Nightmare 1, Steven Fierberg Cinematographer of Nightmare 4, John Skipp Writer of Nightmare 5, Rodd Matsui Special FX supervisor of Nightmare 6 & ‘FREDDY’S DEAD’, Miko Hughes who played Dylan in ‘NEW NIGHTMARE’ and ‘DYLAN’S NEW NIGHTMARE’, Zack Ward who played Bobby/Nightmare Freddy in ‘FREDDY VS JASON’, Writers of ‘FREDDY VS JASON’ Mark Swift & Damian Shannon, Jeff Freilich co-creator of ‘FREDDY’S NIGHTMARES’ and Andrew Kasch director of ‘NEVER SLEEP AGAIN: THE ELM STREET LEGACY’
The marquee was ready to go and it was showtime! The screening was packed with Freddy fans, some cosplayers and of course Nightmare shirts from all 7 movies! There was even a ‘THE EVIL DEAD’ shirt was a nod to Raimi’s first feature that Wes included in Nightmare because Sam had a ripped up poster of Wes second feature ‘THE HILLS HAVE EYES’ and it was a fun treat to see Nancy watching it while trying not to fall asleep. After the screening there was an extensive Q&A with all the special guests and hearing stories from almost every nightmare movie AND tv show was a dream come true. Learning about the behind the scenes process of the make up fx, what shots were cut from the films and most importantly how incredible of a guy Wes Craven was. Hearing stories about Wes makes me wish i had the chance to meet him. He’s forever in our hearts and Freddy will never die!
