‘Hollywood Dreams & Nightmares’ Review: Steady Krueger

Like a 10-page diner menu, an extreme willpower is at play in “Hollywood Dreams & Nightmares: The Robert Englund Story,” a vexing documentary about Robert Englund, who even horror haters will acknowledge because the man who performed Freddy Krueger within the “Nightmare on Elm Street” movies.

What the administrators Gary Smart and Christopher Griffiths made is a documentary in spirit. But it’s actually extra of an annotated oral historical past of Englund’s complete, in depth IMDb web page — nearly movie by movie, in chronological order, for greater than two hours. It’s exhausting.

And it’s a disgrace, as a result of Englund comes throughout as a devoted skilled and a complete ham (and horndog) deserving of a meaty documentary. Watching Englund be such a goof in his early motion pictures is a deal with, like when he wrestles a faux alligator in Tobe Hooper’s “Eaten Alive” from 1976.

Englund’s profession skyrocketed when Wes Craven solid him as Freddy in 1984. As the horror director Eli Roth factors out within the documentary, not like actors who performed Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees, Englund was known as on to behave by shifting and talking menacingly. Englund did so splendidly, one purpose Freddy’s reputation endures.

Hardcore “Nightmare on Elm Street” followers — and actually, that’s the viewers right here — may suppose this film’s a dream. But like a current documentary in regards to the Chucky franchise, the fabric could be extra palatable re-edited as Blu-ray extras.

Hollywood Dreams & Nightmares: The Robert Englund Story
Not rated. Running time: 2 hours 14 minutes. Streaming on Screambox and obtainable to hire or purchase on most main platforms.