A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 5: THE DREAM CHILD is well known in the Freddy franchise for a lot of good (and bad) reasons. But there’s one tidbit about the 5th installment I’m willing to bet a lot of you missed; no matter how many times you’ve seen it. As a matter of fact, every time I bring it up to someone, they’re actually surprised they missed it- and it’s the moment in the film where the franchise actually admits to Freddy being a pedophile.

The only reason I bring this up is that despite the large Freddy fandom, and the first film premiering over 40 years ago (wow I feel old), this is STILL a debate amongst some fans. I guess some people have never seen the NEVER SLEEP AGAIN doc that actually goes into this subject. But anyway, the now-famous viral panel interview with Robert Englund addressing the million-dollar question with vagueness hasn’t helped the internet debate either. Although I don’t blame him much as he is probably sensitive about the topic. I’m sure he doesn’t want his greatest movie role that he made iconic to be remembered as being a child molester.

But, here we are. I guess if you blink while watching THE DREAM CHILD, you’ll miss it, but I’m one of those people that looks around the screen at things in the background, especially now rewatching older movies to catch glimpses of nostalgia or things I may have missed the past 5,000 times I’ve watched it prior. And a few years ago, I actually caught this.

More than halfway through THE DREAM CHILD, Alice (Lisa Wilcox) and Mark (Joe Seely) are seen in Alice’s bedroom discussing how to move forward after realizing Freddy is after Alice’s unborn child. Mark brought over a bunch of old newspapers ranging from the demise of Amanda Krueger, to the trials of Freddy and behold- this screenshot from the ending of that scene:

There’s no denying it. It’s as they, “all there in black and white.” I mean, I hate to even be writing this or putting it out there, but the debate has to end. It’s not like me, a Fred head myself, wants to be one to actually say it out loud. I don’t think any of us do. And I personally think it’s one of the (many) reasons why the 2010 remake failed so tremendously. I mean, besides the horrific makeup, the way they made Nancy into such a weak bitch, and the center plot stating the dirty secret outloud. There’s a big difference between subtle hints throughout the franchise and blatantly being so in your face about it. To throw in another cliché saying, “ignorance is bliss”; if we don’t talk about it, it never happened. Even though we all know deep down, this was always the premise for the Springwood Slasher. But, to be a true Fred Head is to be in the know. And now you know.

For those who have still been in denial about it, I hope I didn’t ruin your day.

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