Sunday 25 September 2016

POP! Movies -- Freddy Krueger

Series: POP! Movies
Company: Funko
Year: 2011

Freddy Krueger – in a world of mute murderers like Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees and Leatherface, he stands out as one of the most distinctive villains from the slasher era. I mean, Pinhead has a bit to say for himself, but he's distinctly less...amusing...in the process. 

More than 30 years after his cinematic debut in A Nightmare on Elm Street, he’s still incredibly popular. He may not have had a film in the cinemas for a while, but the plethora of Freddy merch littering the shelves suggests that there’s still a substantial fanbase out there. Will we see Robert Englund play him again? Probably not, but the character lives on nonetheless.   

Though this figure was released under the Nightmare on Elm Street banner, this is not Freddy from the first film. His appearance has remained pretty consistent over the years, but has undergone a few subtle adjustments over the years. I would guess that this is based on the third or fourth film, based on reference images online. Maybe Freddy Vs Jason? Others more familiar with the character will have to make that call.

Considering how early this figure came in Funko’s run of POPs, it’s surprising how excellent it looks. The fedora also appears to be a solid piece, which gives the whole thing a nice weight. The paint could definitely be better, but the main area you’ll notice an issue is the left hand, which is a totally different colour to his scarred face. Perhaps it’s a more realistic take on burns damage, but it looks weird and incongruous in this format.

As a side note, the box depicts Freddy with painted eyebrows, but while the sculpt includes them, they’ve been left unpainted. I think was a better decision, as the “real” Freddy doesn’t have any. Also, pick your figure carefully in-store – the claws on his right hand are frequently a bit warped. It’s probably fixable with the hot water and ice trick, but I haven’t tried it myself.   

Freddy isn't the only horror villain with large claws.
There is a variant available too – a glow-in-dark one. Though I was fortunate enough to stumble on the Jason Voorhees variant in the wild, I suspect you’ll have a tougher time tracking down the Freddy one, unless of course you’re willing to pay crazy eBay prices. There's also been a syringe-fingers version of the character to -- this is apparently from a scene the third film. It's an interesting take, but not really as iconic as some of his other looks. 


Of all of the big horror villains, I’m probably the least familiar with Freddy Krueger. I’ve seen the first and second Nightmare on Elm Street films, Freddy Vs Jason and the 2010 remake – but with the possible exception of Freddy vs Jason, none of them are really representative of the popular image of the character as the sinister wise-cracking sadist. Nonetheless, the first film is a slasher classic, and indeed much better than some of its peers and predecessors. I’m sure I’ll get to the other films eventually, but in the interim still Freddy deserves his spot on my horror shelf. 

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