Either you want to hear some behind-the-scenes details on 976-EVIL, or you don’t. For those who do, I wholeheartedly recommend HOLLYWOOD MONSTER: A WALK DOWN ELM STREET WITH THE MAN OF YOUR DREAMS, the too-long-titled autobiography of actor Robert Englund, forever beloved as horror icon Freddy Krueger.
With the help of co-writer Alan Goldsher, Englund gives us his life story, starting with a more-or-less happy childhood growing up in Los Angeles, and ending with FREDDY VS. JASON opening to killer box-office returns. That’s not exactly climactic, but anyone wanting to know more about the man behind the makeup will indeed get exactly that.
Although the early, pre-fame chapters are a little repetitious, and the later, Freddy-era chapters are heavy on name-dropping, the whole of the bio is a good time for film fans, particularly those drawn to big-screen horror. Stories from his struggling days of interest involve prostitutes and Burt Reynolds (not at the same time, sadly), but it’s not until he lands a high-profile role as Willie on the sci-fi TV series V that things really start picking up.
And then when Wes Craven gives Englund the role that defined his career and made him a household face (albeit behind tons of fake burn scars), I couldn’t lap it up fast enough. Englund quickly goes through the making of all eight A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET films, with most of the sequels being greeted with more success than the one before it.
Interspersed along the way are remembrances of his non-Freddy roles in films like THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, THE ADVENTURES OF FORD FAIRLANE and THE MANGLER. Other high-profile flicks are strangely ignored, including WISHMASTER and URBAN LEGEND.
Englund enjoys a friendly reputation, and that genial quality shows through his story. HOLLYWOOD MONSTER is the new I AM JACKIE CHAN. By that, I mean it to be a pleasant Tinseltown bio free of scandal and sniping. It’s not particularly deep or insightful, but it will please its target audience. Luckily, I happen to be part of that club. —Rod Lott
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
His carrer peaked when he was in ‘V’
After hearing Englund’s ignorant politics I will no longer patronize anything he does.
I wasn’t aware of his politics, so I had to Google it. I found this Huffington Post piece:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-englund/five-things-that-scare-me_b_340024.html
Is that what you refer to? If so, I have to side with Freddy on this one: Fear is not a healthy element in discussion and debate.
I have to think that if we based our entertainment options on politics, they’d be cut in half. I try to keep all that separate, but it’s not always easy when celebrities make such opinions known.
Is it just me or do you have to pretty much be to the right of Genghis Khan to take offense to the mildly liberal sentiments expressed in Englund’s brief post?
But then again, what did the American Liberal call the Canadian Conservative? “A fucking communist!”
too bad it stops at Freddy Vs Jason-his recent work in Zombie Strippers and Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer are some of his best roles (and in the case of ZS, the saving grace)
I’d also like to have seen his FEAR CLINIC web series and the new ELM STREET remake covered.