Robert Englund’s unsung contribution to ‘Halloween’: “He conned me”
Out of all of horror’s many villains, Freddy Krueger, the sharp-fingered, stripy jumper-wearing killer, is easily one of the most iconic.
With his disfigured face and top hat, he is instantly recognisable, but under that make-up was Robert Englund, who was cast in the role back in 1984 and has continued to return to the franchise over the years, truly owning the character.
Englund likely thought his career was going to go in a completely different direction when he found himself trying to break into Hollywood by auditioning for the role of Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, which he, of course, did not get. Instead, horror came calling, and he has since dominated the genre with parts in countless scary movies, the first of which being Tobe Hooper’s Eaten Alive. He played Buck, who – fun fact – delivered a line that Quentin Tarantino loved so much he put it in Kill Bill: “My name’s Buck, and I’m here to fuck.”
While that was a pretty iconic line, Englund will forever be tied to one of horror’s greatest menacing forces, Freddie Krueger, the defining figure of evil in Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street slasher franchise. Yet, before he became a slasher icon, he actually contributed to an entry in the genre that came in the late 1970s, six years before Craven’s popular Johnny Depp vehicle which gave Englund his big break.
Englund had only starred in a few movies at this point, but when the filming of Halloween began – John Carpenter’s revolutionary indie horror – his friend convinced him to get involved. Unfortunately, Englund didn’t make a cameo in the film, which would’ve elevated his horror resumé even higher, but rather, he helped to bring the movie to life with the help of some old leaves. It was a rather random contribution to bring to the film, but one that proved to be incredibly necessary.
Halloween began filming in the spring of 1978, but the movie is set in the autumn, of course. To give the film an authentic look, Carpenter had to have people believe that these events were actually taking place on Halloween night – lots of dead leaves were brought in, and it was Englund and his friend who were responsible.
Talking to Access Live, Englund explained, “It’s so funny, I actually had a roommate, back when they did the original Halloween… the John Carpenter one. And he conned me into going to Pasadena one day, with garbage bags full of dead leaves. And we were working on the set of the original Halloween, throwing the dead leaves around. So it looked like autumn… it looked like fall back in the Midwest.”
Unfortunately, Englund has never been offered a role in a Halloween movie, despite the fact that he has played Krueger opposite other villains, like Jason Vorhees. I mean, we don’t need any more franchise-blending horror spin-offs, but the fact that Englund’s only contribution to Halloween was the dead leaves is pretty disappointing. Those leaves were pivotal in making the movie look like it wasn’t set as summer was approaching, after all.
