Max Landis — son of the legendary filmmaker John Landis (An American Werewolf in London) — has an intriguing idea for a horror mashup featuring the likes of Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Chucky, and the Cenobites.
Speaking on The Writer’s Panel podcast, the writer, director, and sometimes actor explained his idea which involves a young orphan taking up residence with the Lantz family, who are the parents of Johnny Depp’s ill-fated character from the original A Nightmare on Elm Street. When the orphan suddenly slips into a coma over family dinner, he enters the dream world of Freddy Krueger (via CinemaBlend):
“He starts walking up the street, he hears weird music, there are kids running–it’s like fall. He’s like WTF is this. And, at the house he was in, one house over, there’s three little girls. And they are doing jump rope. He’s like, ‘What the fuck is this.’ And he hears, ‘One, Two, Freddy’s coming for you.’ So the street’s Elm Street, Freddy stalks the kid, pops out, claws to the face. Dead instantly. Except he’s not. Freddy can’t get his claws out of the kid’s face. And the kid is like, ‘What the fuck are you?’ Freddy’s like, ‘What is happening?’ All of a sudden chains, like the movie Hellraiser–like the cube chains–go all around Freddy, pull him up like that, like he’s a scarecrow, and lock him. In the hospital room, which the foster parents have closed off, they’ve drawn the Hellraiser symbol on the floor, under the bed. The kid’s heart rate spikes and one of [the adults] goes, ‘We got him.'”
The story goes on to reveal that the Lantz family are part of a cult worshipping Pinhead and the Cenobites, as well as being responsible for the murder of Freddy. The cult wants to end Freddy’s reign of terror once and for all, and Freddy and the orphan end up teaming with Jason Voorhees and Chucky before journeying to hell to battle Pinhead and the Cenobites, thereby defeating the cult.
In the age of shared universes, a franchise featuring all of the iconic slashers feels like a no-brainer. You may recall that a similar idea was brought to the screen in 2003 in the form of Freddy vs. Jason. While we will never see that canned Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash film that was rumored ages ago, this could be the next best thing.
What do you make of the concept? Let us know in the comments below…
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Originally published October 26, 2017. Updated December 18, 2019.
