A lot of people these days on the Internet and elsewhere seem to have
an unquenchable thirst for celebrity biographies. A large number
of DVDs come with special features that are biographies of the
actors in the film. One most often sees these celebrity
documentaries about actors such as Henry Fonda or Audrey Hepburn.

In this regard, HOLLYWOOD DREAMS & NIGHTMARES is just feeding that
appetite. Here the biographer is telling the history of Robert
Englund, who in his fifty-year career is best known for the role of
Freddy Krueger. Englund is not so glamorous a star as Fonda or
Hepburn, but he comes from an impressive background of horror
films, and his hand with knives has become an icon of the horror
genre. (Although, as Peter Atkins observes, a monster character is
made iconic not by the writer or the director or even the make-up
artist, but by the actor themself.)

In telling the story of Englund's long acting career, one sees not
just him but dozens of actors who are much better known to us
today. Also included is a collection of anecdotes about how it is
to work with Englund and to be in the community of actors about the
same age, as well as a lot about advice and praise he got early on.
(There is maybe a bit too much of the "everyone is wonderful" sort
of clips.) We get both Englund's reactions to other people and
other people's reactions to him. And there are people from the
horror film genre discussing the dynamics of the stories in the
films as well.

Three-dimensional monsters have been done very little since
Universal Studios, but Englund manages to bring this depth to his
characters (not just Freddy, but all of them). [-mrl/ecl]

Released streaming on Screambox 6 June 2023. Rating: high +1 (-4
to +4), or 6/10.

Film Credits:
<https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10172168/reference>

What others are saying: <https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/hollywood_dreams_and_nightmares_the_robert_englund_story>

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)