Alex Ward and A Nightmare on Elm Street

Kid a Pete Helly here, welcome to you ain't seen nothing yet the movie podcast where I chat to a movie lover, but a classic god beloved movie they haven't quite got around to watching until now. And today's guest comedian Alex Ward, all below.

I want to stay here with you, gay little jobber? Why hate snake shucked my hail?

They couldn't haven't any right now?

You ain't seen nothing year.

I've done Alex Ward for over a decade now time flys when you're having fun. Alex has been killing under stand up scene around the cities and states of Australia for over ten years, but it's been the last couple of years it's really seen her trajectory get steeper and step as she rises and rises. Her ascent to right at the top of the comedy tree has been very

Hello. My name is Alex Ward. My favorite three movies are e t oh, oh my god.

He's talking. Oh et.

Et oh, get out.

I don't answer to anyone right, oh no. Sometimes there's too many white people are getting nervous, you know.

Oh no, no no no no no no no no no.

No no no, no no no.

And the wedding singer that time.

In Puerto Rico when we picked up those two. Uh they were prostitute, but I don't remember days.

Okay, how about how about that.

I'm a person too, Bob, goddamn it, I'm a person too.

You're a moore and up until last night, I had not seen the movie Nightmare on Elm Street.

Yes, there are boiler rooms, creepy addicts, alleyways at nighttime, empty school hallways. In Where's Cravings nineteen eighty four horror classic A Nightmare on Elm Street, Tina is having nightmares featuring a great grotesque sweater wearing Fredora Loving Raise, a claude character by the name of Freddy Krueger or fred Krueger initially, Yes, this is the movie that gave us one of the most memorable and perhaps parodied villains of all time, a former sex offender now a barbecued freak show.

Only in my dreams, and they're not nightmares. I can tell you that I wished, honestly, when I was at the age where like the most I could muster was a phone called in my crush, I'm pretty sure I would have been, like, if you could just stick your tongue through this thing, I would be in heaven without actually having to look you in the eyes.

I mean, I have many I have many years on you. So even that was the side of a landline phone kind of freaky enough in itself.

Not quite. I'm older than you'd think, and I did have a landline growing.

I did have a landline.

Yeah, I had a fax machine and landline, so I did live through that world. I was definitely the millennial that saw both. Like I remember discovering the computer, so it wasn't that wasn't, you know, too shocking to me seeing the landline. The tongue that comes out of that phone is incredible. It is probably the fakest moment in the whole movie. I would say that tongue because some of the other stuff I was quite impressed by.

Well, like I said, a pretty well load bunch of the entire movie and a pretty low budget dedicated the special effects. I think they do a wonderful job. We won't get too much into the weeds for a Nightmare on Elm Street. But some people were loath to watch horror films, both for in their own time or for a podcast where do you sit?

Love it?

Love it? I actually love it. I didn't even know that about myself growing up. I did pick I Sorry, I shouldn't say a pick I started a bit earlier, scared myself. Someone shouldn't have let me watch Urban Legend, which is quite a terrible horror movie that came out in somewhere around the two thousands. I think it was actually New Year's Eve. The parents were on the balcony so weren't watching me, and I got a little sneak in to watch Urban Legend and then had nightmares for a good six months.

I reckon, I suspect you're not alone in watching something you shouldn't have been allowed to watch on Year's Eve. Yeah, I feel like, you know, maybe a lot of kids down in the rumper's room while the parents are on the balcony or in the living area enjoying drinks or out at the neighbor's house, take the opportunity a lot of the neighbors to watch a horror film, yeah, or porno, whatever it might be.

One of my experiences was turning on SBS and that was the first time it's in the same sex relationship, and I was like, what is happening here? These two men are very angry at each other. I've been thinking that. But I was also another barbecue. That was it. Those are my two experiences. I was like, a barbecue at the neighbors or something. Yeah, yeah, But I mean, I'm fine, nothing wrong with me. I only try to make a career and stand up comedy. The sickest thing you can do.

So, okay, so you like you're up for horror now.

I'm very much up for it. I struggle to find people who will watch them with me. Yes, that's my main issue. So I do end up seeing movies alone, like I saw Hereditary alone at the cinema.

I don't think I'd ever go to watch a horror film by myself. Stephen Gates gatesy from Tripod, been on this podcast before one of my very good man's. We often would go on a date night to watch horror movies together. I need that comfort.

Yeah, my partner absolutely zero will not will not like it's not even can't even fathom the idea of that. It would ruin our lives anyway. I'd have to stay up all night charting or something ridiculous. And even a lot of friends. I struggle to find friends that even the most you know, stereotypical masculine guys will not that I'm friends with, will not watch horror with me.

So how did you watch this one?

This one? I just watched in the land room. I was home, you know, home alone. I watched in the lound room. I did go in thinking because it was older, it might be less scary. For anyway. But I mean I but I survive the scariness, as in, even if I'm scared, I know I'll be okay when it ends. That's the thing. Some people take that with them, whereas I'm quite good at being like, okay, once this ends, maybe I'll have one thought at night in the dark,

I think that's a very good point. Yeah, I always at times will remind myself on watching a movie just like this is a movie, and this one I must say, we won't getting too I want to talk with your three favorite films, but this one was a little bit easy to remind yourself it was a movie because there were a lot of things going on. It was made

Yeah. Yeah, I mean it's as I felt shameful I was saying it, but.

No, it's safe space. It's a safe space.

There's something about that movie that is just oh, like I've watched it so many times. To me, was so funny, so heartfelt. It was a world when I was growing up. When I watched it, I hadn't seen the I was born in eighty nine, so I was the end of the eighties, so I hadn't really seen the eighties, So it was a world I hadn't really seen. I'm just and I think genuinely the morals in that movie are great, but it's also just so funny. It's got great music, and I loved it.

It's funny and Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, you know, so watchable. Yeah, and it's a good story and it's like they're the best kind of Adam Sandler films. I know it's one of his biggest ones, so I'm not saying anything controversial, but I like it when he's in that world. I think the wedding Singer and often it's with Drew Barrymore. I think fifty First Dates is one of his.

Yeah, And for me it was very because I know, I said, I you on the podcast, you put me on the spot because you'd forgotten to mention to pick these. But it was very hard for me to pick between the Wedding Singer and Big Daddy because I also think right Daddy is right up there in terms of his quality work.

Yes, for me, yeah, I would say the other one would be Happy Gilmore. Which there's rumors that Adam Sandler's talking about a sequel that I.

Just read today, whoa so probly big that it.

Could be huge. Sadly Carl Weathers won't be there, he pass away.

It's a big political commentary. It's Saudi Arabian. It's like, okay, I.

Would love to see almost like a mockumentary based on Adam Sandler's trying to get Happy Gil or two up, but making it political.

And yeah, that would be fantastic.

That would be an amazing thing to watch. Yeah, I like, I love Adam Sandler and I do love it. What have you made of his dramatic jaunts when he's gone into have you seen uncut Gems.

Or I've done? I think like it's just a to me, it's a testament to his creativity and how good he Like often you know, comedians are just the funny one, but it's like a lot of work goes into it, and you can see that when he applies the work anywhere else, it's almost as good. Particularly, Yeah, Uncut in particular, I thought, really, I really enjoyed that movie.

That was a tense movie.

That was more upsetting than any horror film I've ever That sort of tension actually is what really boils up for you, you know, like.

Yeah, because you got to feel it. Like often horror films there's a jump scares, you know, and some people think they're cheats and whatever, but you know, I think they had a fun part of horror films they have those little jump scares and then you might have a moment of feelings and tension. But a movie like Uncut Gems was tense the entire time. I think it's one of the tensest films I've ever seen.

Yeah, and that's going up against movies that are like so obviously, like Speed or something where it's like, yeah, if we start, we'll die. Like it was tenser than that.

It really was. If you haven't seen Uncut Gems, do you have a favor? E t What a miraculous film. I remember seeing this. I've spoken about this so many times. I won't go into it. When I was eight years old in the city, cried my eyes out. What the movie?

How did you go as an eight year old? Because it's quite as it is quite confronting.

I burst into tears, like I was just an emotional wreck. It's the movie. When I think about crying in movies, it's Et and far Lap would be the other one, yeah, the Strange Horse movie. And I watched at with my kids probably when they were a bit young, because my oldest son just like he could not see Et with that freaking out, could not even here, I think because

Oh. I couldn't sleep with the doors open after seeing some episode of Unsolved Mysteries where they said some guy came out of the closet and an attack, So it's like, is it believe it or not or something, you know, something like that, where then I couldn't sleep with the cover door open for the next decade of my life. So yeah, absolutely, the wardrobe in the bedroom is one of the most frightening places ever.

Yeah, it's your imaginations a child, which is whatrror films and you know, in films like eighteen horror film obviously, but it plays on your imagination running wild, and it leans on those things that are part of our lives and not mare own Street. I think does it really well and we'll get to that soon. But so when you say, did you see it young or do you catch up with it?

Yeah, I was quite young. I wasn't maybe I must have been about it didn't. It didn't scare me. I just remember it's just a movie that I've watched almost yearly. Yeah, Like there's a few movies like this and Home Alone that I watched as a kid that just were a big part of my childhood. Like it was a yearly film for me, that more more than yearly. But absolutely just love how child driven it is, you know, like as a kid, you're like, they are the stars of

Know, like it's funny that Spielberg uses some of thoserror tropes, doesn't it, Because that's that's very much a horror trope, isn't it, Like is it just horror out of that? But that the kids, it's the kids it's the adults. The adults never believe the kids or disconnect between the kids and the adults that they're busy at work, so the kids are left alone to solve mysteries or to you know, whether it be a clown in the drain or somebody appearing in their nightmares or an alien.

I think you nailed it. They're not like they haven't gotten to that part, Like we said, the wardrobe scary until now at this age of the wardrobe is like, oh, I still haven't cleaned out those jackets. Like you just change as you get older. You're not busy with work, you don't have to be worried about money. Yeah, so you're so available to be open minded to it.

Yeah yeah as.

A child, and then watching that, you're still in that frame of thought. So you're like, why wouldn't they believe these But then when they do believe, they want to just do tests onthing. It's like this is our friend.

Yeah, absolutely, it's so sad, And I mean it's just we an Elliott, I mean Elliott, you know when he's saying goodbye and it's just and Drew Barrymore is so amazing.

She is so yeah. Yeah, as a US role. It's incredible.

I think she does a better first role as Johnny than Johnny dep didn' not Mary Alm straight get out. Great film by the great Jordan Peel. This is his first when you're from peen Keel and then he comes out that makes this movie that kind of blows everybody away. I don't follow him enough to know if this was expected or not, but it seemed like a complete surprise.

I didn't expect it either, but it makes I mean, they say horror and comedy are pretty similar in terms of the I'm sure. I don't know if you've heard that. You know the setup and reveal. Yeah, it's like always meant to be a surprise. Horror is the same, and they've set up something and then they surprise you with something else. So I think that's why he can transition so easily. I just thought it was one of the best modern day horror, like horror thrillers I guess that

I think it was a cool concept that had something to say, but it's it's messaging. Never got in it in the way of you having a good time in that mood.

It's hard to do. I think people go either way. Sometimes there's too much message.

And you're right, it was funny. You had the friend of character, your.

Friend at home trying to hold it together. Wasn't feeding an animals on official something going on? Yeah?

Yeah, And the performances were just amazing. It's a stunning film. I've seen it now three or four times, and yeah, I still love it, and I feel like I need not watch it for a while so I can kind of forget it and where it goes, so I can try to enjoy it again.

It's sort of annoying because you attempted to keep watching it, but then you will, You'll ruin it field, I know, But.

The older I do realize you can actually there is a point where you can watch a movie and go I kind of forget where this goes. I've done this lot for this podcast where I'm like, even not me on arm Street, because I saw it when I was younger, and I was like, I've.

Got to forget how this is one of the joys of aging. Yeah, no, it's actually pretty bring five years even five years ago, i'd be watching it and be like, I don't remember this movie. As soon as the press player was like, oh I do remember it now, but now I play and I'm like, it's still not clear. So it's good.

Seriously, you get to the end of the film, go I think I may have seen that before.

That is the first image of all of us in an old folks home one day and we're just watching the same movie every single night as well, Like, I don't remember this at all?

Is that one of the things in fifty first dates to go make that I'm saying, and Drew berrymore, I think she watches something that movie, the same movie over and over again. What a joy that would be, Alex Ward, let's get into it. Let's have a chat about the movie we hear the chat about from nine to eighty four, directed and written by the Great West Crave and so he'd done The Hills have Eyes before this and stars mostly people who are unknown outside of Johnny Depp.

So The Hills Have Eyes came before this.

Yeah, that was in seventy seven, So there are.

A remake or something because it sounds later to me.

Yeah, No, Hills Have Eyes. There was a two thousand remake. I'm absolutely sure there definitely was, and I I'm running saying it was in the two thousands.

Can I just say I was surprised I hadn't seen this movie, as in, when I chose to do it, I was like, how have I actually not seen this? But I think I've seen so many references to it. I thought I had seen it.

I think there were some films that live so heavily in our pop cultural psyche and in the zeitgeist that you feel like, I'm not surprised you felt like you'd seen it, not Mare and Elm Street. Yeah.

And then when I'm watching, I'm realizing I've seen every other movie that's referenced and I hadn't seen it. I was like, oh my god. Time every ten minutes, I thought I'd click in and be like, oh, you have seen this, yeah, but no, no, you had unless that to mention it's.

Kicked in, but let's both get checked outfter The podcast stars Heather lagging Camp as Nancy. Robert England plays the great Freddy Krueger. I've mentioned Johnny Depp, Amanda Wise plays Tina Gray, Alex Ward did you enjoy and not me? And Elm Street from nine and eighty four?

I enjoyed it. I really did enjoy it. I actually yeah, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it too.

And some of the films your reference have been more recent horrors. Have you like gone back to watch the Halloweens and that those Halloween.

Not within a few years ago. Yeah, so I have gone back and watched a few of the old ones. Trying to think of some of the other ones.

Polter Guist.

Yeah, I've done the podcast on The Exorcist. I've done all of those. The Rings, I've been Rings a bit later, but I've done all of those. This one was you know, I like the silly ones as well. It is a bit these days we would say it's silly. I'm sure at the time it wasn't considered silly. Yeah, but I loved I love it, Like I wasn't like laughing at it during the film. I wasn't like, well, that's ridiculous sort of you know, lack of CGI or whatever. But yeah, I generally wasn't I really got into it.

Yeah, I think one of the and this is not a criticism, I think one of the joys of this movie is I don't think where's Craven is trying to say much here at all? If anything, I think he's just trying to scare you and have you to have a good time in the cinema. I really believe that because there are things like with Tina and Nancy grabs the crucifix from the wall and that's when the war kind of comes in, which was done by Spandex, which is a new product at the time.

I was kind of say, I remember when I was watching it, I went, how did they do that? Because it's actually like, that's actually a cool feature. I don't know how they did that pushing through the wall. I was like, is that because I didn't know if that was like a screen or a sheet.

Yes, a Spandex was just pretty new on the scene, so it was kind of cutting edge technology. And then you kind of think, okay, there's you know, the Exoss kind of played a lot with Crucifix, and there's times when she is CHRISTI fix there, but it doesn't really go anywhere. No, but there are things that kind of happened in this movie that don't really.

There's a lot of things that don't really go anywhere. Even the ending men I've talked about later. I'm sure, but I have no idea what happened there. But I kind of just bought into it. I was kind of like, all right, let's just take that as an arty moment or a symbol of the fear yep. And I mean sure everyone listening has watched this movie, but it's all kind of set in a dreamscape, so you really are unlimited with what you want to do.

That's I think that's one of the genius things about this movie is there are the horror films where it's like Jason Jason my Man Myers chasing you in Halloween, but he's kind of chasing It's like, yes, it's scary, Like if that happens in real life, it's scary because it's somebody chasing you in the hockey mast is scary, He's no doubt about it. But he's chasing you kind of slowly, and you can always find ways.

To I guess he's always standing just outside the window. He's always like looking up at you.

But with this sleep is avoidable. Sorry, he's unavoidable. So the fact that Freddie can get you in your sleep makes.

This that was the worst part of the movie to me is I love like I mean, everyone loves sleeping, but I am someone who can sleep. You know, I am childless, but I could sleep like nine hours a night and still nap. And to me, the idea of not being out asleep was the horror of it. I was like, I feel like she'd be so tired and feel sick with tiredness, and that was starting to stress me out. I was like, I probably would imagine all

No, I think potentially it is a bit of Do.

You think it's a bit of a I think it has to be because.

It's such a trope of in the movies, American movies of people in their twenties playing teenagers, like well into their twenties. I mean, look at go back to Greece, and I'm sure even before then, you know, Rizzo's close to forty, and so I think it's a bit of a wink. And part of that was, to be honest, they were after that kind of McNee look that twenty year olds developed more than you know a sixteen year

Year old Poe casting was really good because he looked young. Johnny Depp I googled him because he's so young. He was twenty one, but he actually looks about fourteen. Yeah, he looks like a baby.

Well.

I kind of had them, and I had them about seventeen eighteen. Apparently one of the scripts said that that Tina was fifteen. I kind of hope she wasn't because I don't know. I just they just didn't seem they seemed older than fifteen.

They some like sexual references.

They're having sex. Yeah, I don't really want to watch fifteen year olds having sex, thank you.

Where's to tell you, Peter? But they do. You don't want to watch it, which is good and they.

Paid the price. Don't have sex before marriage, kids.

This is what happens. You go to sleep and a man will kill you.

Well, this is actually interesting because there is I think the tripping American horror films where the sex is kind of looked down upon and there was as a sin. Often the virgin will survive. Like as soon as you see a character in a horror film have sex that they die. Yeah. Yeah, and both of them do die.

Yeah they do. It's interesting as there's no spoilers for this movie, right, No, that spoiler one.

Now.

Johnny Dent was like has a line at the start He's like, oh, morality sucks or something because he's not having sex. He's being a good guy because he's not hitting on Nancy, he's not doing that. But then he dies. Yeah, this is a movie that was That's why it's probably cutting edge. It was like, no, I'm killing the virgin too. Yeah, but he did wear a crop top, so that's enough. The cryptop is very sexy.

It was.

But it's funny because you think of horror, like if you're going to have a genre that pushes and he's more progressive about what about sexuality and sex, you think horror might be the genre that kind of is a bit more progressive about it. But it's they still seem to be stuck in at least in the eighties where if you have sex, you know, too young or before marriage, whatever it might be.

Yeah, you know what I want just one horror movie where I don't want to say the sluttiest but yeah, bunniest girl is the winner. Like, you know, we find out that for some reason, like if you're having sexual you don't get killed. Like that would be such a good twist on a film. And it was like, oh yeah.

Like let's give this slus the power.

Let's give it back, Let's give it back. This is modern Feminism's let's have the power.

Let's have eyes. Yeah, let's make that movie, Sam.

Raimie not get Out, it's cold, Get in?

What do you like with nightmare? Because I think this frames how you view this film. I certainly will have nightmares, nothing particularly bad. I remember having. I didn't realize recently that somebody described what night terrors can be, and and part of it could be just like being frozen, being frozen not being able to move, and I reckon, I've had those before.

Is that like sleep paralysis type?

Yeah, but it feels like it happens more in my dream than it does. Yeah, okay, you know, it might feel like I'm definitely awake, but that certainly happens a bit in my dreams. Yeah, but what what are your.

I don't have a lot. I've had nightmares, but I don't have a lot of them, and most of them are always the same. I don't want to get too dark, but it's always like a building collapsing on me. So it's got nothing to do with horror. It's like and also just like like like as if there's been a like a what's it called an earthquake? But I did have a building a wall fall down like a big side of my house once, not even during the earthquake

My wife always complained that she has boring dreams. I'll explain the dream to it, and to be honest, I don't like doing that a lot. But I'll be very quick and I'll explaining the dream this very quickly what I had, and you're go, yeah, I dreamt and I did the laundry last week.

Yeah, so with boring dreams, okay.

I think you wanted me to laugh at a spark in your dreams.

I think it's shocking. I enjoy sleeping like it's like I have to go to sleep and do chores.

I can't believe you watch a nightmare on Elm Street and then you basically dreamt about the Polar Express. I think that.

Yeah, it practically was to give at least it was like somewhere in the Scottish Highlands, so the scenery was gorgeous that I made up, but it was very boring.

I did take night because my wife asked me. Bridge asked me the next morning, how did you go at the movie? And I said, well, yeah, I said it was it was a fun watch and I said I had a very sound sleep afterwards. So I'm not sure where that's, you know, I guess seeing this movie nine and eighty four would have been a very different experience watching.

Definitely, definitely, I think if i'd seen it then I would have been absolutely, especially if I was the same age. I think if you're the same age as well as the subjects around the same age, you definitely can connect more. I spent a lot of time being like, oh, I'm closer to that mother's age, just thinking about that. That's the real horror of the film, realizing I was getting older. A lot of us was like, oh, man, I used

The mum was a character, wasn't she. She was very important to the movie. Obviously at first you think, like I said earlier, there's a bit of a disconnect between the first parent I actually want to mention is when Tina has the nightmare and then her mom comes in and then her I can only assume he's maybe a boyfriend or hopefully it's not the like maybe some kind of new kind of partner who comes on and says he come back to the sack or not.

Yeah, I forgot about that. I'd forgotten about that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think he wins the biggest.

Jerk once again, sex is bad.

Sexy is bad. Sexy unless you're married, you know.

Unless you are married. And also wasn't was Nancy's parents divorced? Yeah, that was also like that was unclear, I thought, But he was never at home.

Yes, And she was drinking but really.

Sat a weird melibu. I was like, baby, no, wonder, you're drinking a lot. That's not going to get you drunk four percent or something.

But I don't think you ever kind of saw her take a swing or anything. And she wasn't like slurring. She just had this bottle that like she actually got Judy free at the airport. Because it was a massive bottle, it appeared to be melobo. I agree, That's what I was thinking.

I never seen someone worse at hiding their booths. Because Nancy looks out the door to see if she can escape, and the mom's pulling it out of the like the where they keep the sheets and stuff, like just the hallway, and I was like, she's watching, like, you may as well just keep it in the kitchen if you're just kind of stand in.

The wall, lying in bed, and she just gets her from under the blanket.

She like twenty bottles of around the house.

I think she works for Malibu. I think she's a wrap or something. She's getting free Malibu.

She is, Yeah, she was. She just was a character that wouldn't listen to her daughter. Hey, I can't believe a woman drinking that much Malibu was able to get those bars put on the house, because it seemed like she couldn't achieve anything. Next thing, you know, she's gotten the most expensive security put in overnight. Apparently.

It's always a funny thing of when the parents don't believe. How quick would you be to believe a fanciful story you know that this was happening, that somebody was appearing in nightmares? At what point would you go, Okay, I'm going to actually listen, and you know maybe, I mean, it's it's a tricky question because in real life it does sound ridiculous. Let's be honest.

Yeah, I mean in real life, probably not very quickly. Yeah, Like, I'm the sort of person that can sleep after watching this because I clearly don't believe in it. So should this ever come up for any future children, They're screwed. I'm done and I love Malibu.

It is funny you got a metal right next year we should put that out. But it is funny is because when you watch a movie like this, you believe them. How many times have you been with to die before? You believe the kids? And then when you put it in real life terms, you're like, of course they're not believing them.

Yeah. I think maybe the part where like the Vince, I think if I saw someone had been scratched to death or something, I might be like, how did that happen?

Then?

Maybe, But like it's annoying that the one thing she had was that crappy for Dora, where she was like, oh, I pulled this out of the dream. It's like you found that in the bin. I guess the worst out of it. That's the scariest parts maybe is that for Dora it's so bad.

Well, but I think when she described there's a weird hat, it's not that weird, Like all the other things are weirder. Everything else about Freddy Krueg is weirder than the hat, I would suggest, Yeah, the burns to the face, that he's got claws, he's got tomato knives, tomato knives apparently for fingers. Oh yeah, and he's got these long arms all of.

A sudden, oh, Yeah, I loved that. I actually loved that scene that.

Was Murmber in Melbourne, but that I had a bit of a giggle at that. At that point, I.

Had a couple of giggles. That was one of them, because.

I think the only reason they had the long arms to be because they don't appear in any other part of the movie. And for no other reason, I reckon They've decided that we want to have this take place in an alleyway, and we want Freddy to scrape his claws along the wall or the fences and season sparks. So we've got those two ideas. How we can't reach out for both? How are we going to do it? Big arms?

They weren't like, should we get a smaller alleyway?

Yeah, no, No, that thought did not occur to them. They wanted they wanted this big alleyway because they need to put a goat in there or something was there goat, there's a goat somewhere. That was weird. But yeah, that, I mean that was you know that. That's one of the early that's one of the almost one of the opening scenes. Yeah, that's it's all fun, it's all it's.

All fun, Like it's all fun I love.

I mean.

Some of the stuff is do you remember, like there's the when the love interest gets killed Johnny the blood coming up through Oh yeah, it's a lot.

Yeah. That was definitely a nod to the shining I think, and that was a lot of blood. I think they go in. I think they're going with like a gurnie and somebody, what are you putting on the gurney? It's this blood? You need bags?

Yeah, yeah, I think they do. There's some good moments like that though, where they do reference it. They're not Yeah some movies you watch, they don't, you know, you've seen all this blood and then they'll go in with the gurnyeh what and whereas they were like you're going to need a mop.

Yeah, that's a mop, that's right. I think there are some Yeah, I think Wes Craven has a good sense of human that's even like down when that's a scream series is even more evident. But I think there are some good subtle gags in this. There are some moments that, like I said earlier, there's something things that happened that you're like, why did that happen? Because the point where

Because usually in a horror movie, then she turns around, he's right there. Yeah, that's what typically happens in a horror movie. And then it's like, well he's not, because I did tense up at that point because I was like, he's gonna be right, beloving, and then just know, yeah, it's broke.

The broke the method you never saw. It's like they had a day where Robin England didn't want to go through hair and makeup. Let just put you in a suit. It didn't make sense to me. There was no follow up on that idea. I'm not sure if anything happens in the sequels to help that moment out. But and then that that's not even that much of a criticism. I'll give his film a bit of a pass because it is just trying to have fun. It's not trying to make big statements or make us think too much.

The other thing that's fascinating. Is he turns out, you know, we find out the parents killed him. Yeah, because he is a sexual sex offender. But he's not trying to He's just trying to kill these kids. He's not trying to assault them sexually. Turns out, Yeah, used to be even worse.

I know, it's funny, isn't it. You like he is. I guess he's always I mean, he's always been evil. Set the backstory. I did a little bit of research the backstory of Freddie Freddie Mercury, Freddy, I know you're no longer with us, but I am not comparing you to Freddy Kruger.

I do not need someone else telling Freddy mrcury that sex is bad. He's dealt with that his whole life. He suffered the consequences. I'm Freddie young.

With you, So am I Freddy.

We're all LGBTQ plus absolutely so.

Freddy Krueger. His mother was born to an Amanda Krueger in the forties, and Amanda Krueger either worked or at some point got trapped in a mental asylum and she was raped in that asylum by many of the inmates, and Freddy became known as this son of one hundred maniacs, and then he was abused by his step farther and then and then it goes on and on. So I believe a lot of the sequels do spend a favorite time explaining.

How the monster came to be.

Yeah, which which, to be honest, look, you look at the Marvel films, and they in more recent times to put a lot more effort into having villains that you can understand the reasons why they got to a certain point. Now I'm not just saying I'm at that point with Freddy Krueger, but yeah, there is an efforts two kind of go. He's not necessarily a cartoon character.

The origin stories always but I always find that complicated though, because I don't always want to have sympathy for the baddies. But then it is we live in a world where usually, very rarely is it just some random makeup in the brain that makes someone messed up or something. It is usually some sort of trauma and annoying. It's sort of like, okay, well, let's not traumatize anyone, or is it going to get their little tomato knives out? Yeah, but talk about it, and people in the dreams talk.

About an active parents group though they were I mean they got him. Some parents would just write a letter to the council to get stuff done, or groups they literally turned into a lynch mob.

My other favorite thing about that film was the mom not wanting to talk about it the whole life, which is fair. The kid was too young to hear a nancy. But then just when a moment came, she was just like, sit down here near the fireplace, and then went into the most explicit detail of a murder I've ever heard. It wasn't like and then mummy did something bad. It was like, all right, so he used to sexually harass like it really went into the Nuncy's just like, whoa, I just.

She's under the second bottle of malibou.

This guy's just got a punchry. Now I'm like, oh God.

And she gets the globe out of the furnace, which I would have thought, have they not had a fire.

I mean, that's just part of that the flaws in this in this movie where it's it's all is it a dream? Is it not a dream? It's all very look.

Away now it doesn't matter. But even the fact she brings her down to the attic, So I know you traumatized, can't then he ad it with me.

The scary there's two scary places the basement, that's the addict. Yeah. I remember thinking when they went to the basement, the only thing scarier would be the attic.

So in Australia we don't really, we don't have addicts.

Cruel space is sort of yeah.

We have a rumper's room and boiler rooms. How many boiler rooms if you walk through none?

That's why Australia's scariest things is the outback. We don't literally just have nothing. But the scariest thing is more space, whereas it feels like in America, the scary thing is the small space.

For us Australians, being an attic in abasement, they'd be paradise and be away from it.

I'd be like, WHOA, this house is wild.

Yeah. Like I was saying before, the slip device is so good because it's just inescapable. Like when you're building other movies where it's a human character trying to seek revenge for whatever reason, you are limited with the what you can do as far as they're being human and human as human. With this, the power of Freddy Krueger is he can appear anytime, and that can look like anything they wanted to look like. The scope, the landscape

The wrong They saw what was one of the most attractive people in the world. Yes, and they went get in there.

Jackie Earl Haley is not Johnny Depp. He's got that more Billy Bob Thornton's kind of you know, look, he often plays, you know, kind of creepy guys he plays and this is the irony of the whole thing. He ends up playing Freddy Krueger in the twenty ten.

Oh Really reboot. Well, I guess the confident he had the confidence in him all along to be successful anyway, because he bought his friend Johnny Depp to an audition. I would not bring my hottest friend to an audition. I would be bringing my grossest friend.

Where are they all the ugs?

Shall Yeah, I'd be like, can you wait in the car, please.

Johnny, Let's have her listen to we haven't played a yet. Let's have her listen to. This is Tina and her sad demise.

Yeah, please start, yes.

Use car. This is music. What do you think the music?

I was about to say, I've realized that's something I wanted to chat to about today, but I'd forgotten until now. The music the eighty sent. Some of it's so good. Some of it is like the least scary movie music I've ever heard.

I agree. I think it's a real mixed bag. Some of it actually works really well in other other times it's distracting. The soundscape is quite interesting because you have Freddy and various voices. Tina's voice once she's dead calling Nancy, and sometimes Freddy's voices. He's got his Freddy cackle going on at the time. It's more of a clown kind of cackle. Yeah.

Absolutely, And I feel like you can hear the boiler room sometimes or something like there's a mistiness to it. There's something smoky or something going on as well. There's a scene where Nancy's running outside and that comes in proper eighty cents pop almost it's almost pop music or something like it's weird. And I remember thinking watching that, I went this music they would never play in a horror movie today, like this is too upbeat. It's quite upbeat.

I suspect if you watched any movie between between nineteen eighty two to nine and eighty four, the soundtrack would be the same. It'll be like this the eighty syinth, whether it was you know, Out of Africa or not. I'm mean on Elm Street. I reckon that that was

Yeah, yeah, I mean I liked it.

Yeah, it worked. Would you have watched that film nine and eighty four and look at Johnny Depp outside him being like as beautiful as he is in kind of going oh, well he's a star?

No?

No?

Well well, I mean I noticed straight away in the titles at the start where it said and introducing Johnny Depp, Yes, And I thought that's fascinating because you don't see that a lot. It's like, I started questioning it. I was like, did they know it was going to be huge? Had he already been in a few movies and he was big, but clearly no, he's new new It's like, did they just decide he would be famous?

Yeah?

Or so for those you know who are listening, sometimes when you see introducing, it tends to be it's a choice, it's made, and it's usually when it's somebody's debut film and there's a feeling that they've either got a prominent role enough that's you know that it feels highlighting, but there's a feeling that this person you know, could be something.

Special yeah, because they don't have to do that kind of just play the role as an unknown and then everyone's like, oh, whatever, and his role was big, but not massive. But I think he does a good job. I don't think he's bad at all. He's bad, but he doesn't even have enough lines or script to be amazing.

I think he does exactly what was asked of him. Yeah, yeah, I think you also noticed in the credits it's Robert England as Fred Krueger as opposed to Freddie Krueger.

Oh what's that about. I don't know that was he meant to just be friend?

Well, I think they're being a bit formal.

About Frederick Krueger.

Freddie's you call me Fred in the credits plan. I want to be a serious actor. One thing I did want to say, I'll come back to any scenes that really stuck out that maybe we haven't spoken about. And I do want to talk about the two actions, particularly you have a lagging camp. The boyfriend Rod who also dies. Freddie hangs him in the prisons.

He's the suspect at the stuff.

Yes, so Tina's boyfriend. I was confused because when we first meet him, he's just he's like the school jerk kind of thing. He's just kind of acting comments, sexist comments, and.

There's unquestionable covering the girlfriend's mouth so she can't talk. It's like, oh yeah, Freddy Kruegery.

And it's only when he rocks up because Johnny Dep's carry goes out to the backyard again classic horror movie trope, you know, go to where the noises are, and then he comes out. It's bit of a jump scare. Okay, it's not Freddie, it's it's Rod. And I thought, like, this annoying guy's come to hang out with them, and then it's oh no, they're their boyfriend girlfriend.

Yeah. Yeah, but then she's like, don't leave me with this creep. But then but then I think she's I think it is just slightly misleading acting or something or scripting, because it's it is like she's saying that she does actually want to go to the bedroom with him. Yes, I think it's just a bit confusing there.

And I do think you need to make him where's Craven's defense, But you do need to make him kind of unlikable because you need for the town to suspect him having murdered Tina.

I almost would have loved to have seen a version of the film where we didn't see so much about her murder, and maybe I did suspect it was him, like, which is a very traditional way of doing it, because they do just show straight up. This is a very silly I think film like. It's very just like to the point they show the invisible murder like they just

Yeah, that's a really good point. Heather A lagging Camp plays Nancy. I thought she's really good.

I think she's great. Yeah, I think she's wonderful.

Eighties dialogue is different. I think if this film was made now, I haven't seen the reboot in twenty ten, it wasn't successful, but there is a certain dialogue that going on in the a certain acting style the way there was in the sixties, you know, seventies and fifties. So forgiving all of that, I thought she was good.

Yeah, it was. It felt very rush to the end of this movie. It felt very She's like, hang on, I just don't need to believe in you. And that's fine that that worked, but you're right, it didn't work. Early on it's working, and then at the end do you find out maybe it didn't work? Is that weird twist? She's getting in the car and then he's there and it's like is this Real's? Yeah, are you dreaming again? What's happening here?

Like, you know, it's just so confident that it's going to work this time much she'd worked it out, But it's like, no, you'd worked it out earlier, and I completely agree it.

I also don't think the moment she works it out is obvious enough in terms of like how did you work that out? Yeah, she sort of just has an idea and it's like, that's the one.

I do think we asked more of Our movie is now in a good way and has been made and it was hugely successful. People love it, so we need to build on that. It's like with comedy that yeah, there were some jokes in the eighties that we don't do anymore, and we've evolved and we build on those things. So I think that's not criticizing a nightmare elm Street. That's just saying, of course, we want movies to have progressed and evolved in the forty years since. But I

That's cool? And he listened.

Yeah, I must say when she was running, I thought she could have run. She could have run faster. She was she was a healthy you know, she was tired. She was she hadn't slept. That's a very good point.

Yeah, she was so tired.

I'm so bloody Judgy, we love a fun fact on this show. Casting head of Lagging Camp, I think they made the right choice. But there were some people up for the role Courtney Cocks that could have been Jennifer Gray, considered Demi Moore.

Oh wow, okay, some big have you hit it?

Heavy hitters and also Tracy Gold from Growing Pains.

And had Heather Is that the character's name or the nancy was Heather famous yet been.

I don't, I haven't, I haven't gone down.

The sounds like, oh, maybe none of the others were either.

Yet No, because there's a thing, you know in horror films where it's almost a deliberate thing not to cast famous people because they can be distracting. I've just heard people talk about her and say that she is very grounded and very funny and reflective on the roll and speaks really well about it, which had more time's running out of gone through. There is maybe the most interesting fun facts. This is kind of based on a true story.

That's spooky, there must, I mean, the logic or the brain of mind is trying to find you know, like we're trying. Have you seen someone who has rabies? They do some crazy stuff. I want to believe it's some sort of disease that is just fairly unknown. Yet part of me wants to believe, as a man in a Fedora.

Good horror films need a kernel of something that preys on our vulnerable part of our minds, that you kind of go, this could actually happen, or that this is maybe based on something like an urban legend that you may have heard about. Is it true? Is it not true? But I think the genie of a nightmare in Elm Street is you can't run away from sleep. You just cannot.

No.

Yeah, and you're right, And I think that's why I despite all it's not flaws, just it's wackiness, or it's silliness. It's still a good film because I think at the bones of it are good.

One final fun fact is that Nancy is watching a Sam Raimi film, The Evil Dead, and she's struggling to stay awake. So that was a little bit of a dig. I think Sam Raimi and West Graving a good friend. So this is in tongue in cheek and good humor. Well, that seems like a good place. And this podcast comes with homework. And I know you are bloody busy are you? Are you performing around the country at the moment? You know what it's like a comedy concert.

You know, this is my first year off I've chosen to do the podcast. Why do you think I was able to watch Nightmare on Elm Street on a Tuesday night? You know I'm free, Look that I'm always performing around Melbourne and onhe of my God, I've probably got things coming out. Look, I'm always performing around I'll be around Melbourne.

Yeah, what's your Instagram? Had war?

Do you know like Wardy?

You know Wardy? You know follow Alex one of the best in the biz and absolutely kicking goals right now. Thanks for watching a Nightmare on Elm Street by yourself?

No worries. I loved it. It made me feel twenty years old.

Ooh, scary stuff that was Alex Ward really loved hanging out with Alex. She's been killing it on the Aussie comedy scene for a while now. And it's interesting because Alex is somebody that I haven't necessarily sat down to talk movies a lot, so it was fascinating to find out that she is a bit of a horror movie lover and yeah, and some of her favorite movies I're also some of my favorite movies too, So lots of fun. Thank you for everybody who has supported this podcast. I