INT. KAREN’S DORM ROOM – NIGHT
Karen lies in bed, under the covers. She holds the picture
of herself, thirteen years old. She stares at it. Still
that missing piece.
Karen puts the picture on a nightstand and closes her eyes.
INT. SCOTT & JACOB’S DORM ROOM – NIGHT
Scott lies on the top of a set of bunk beds. Jacob is on the
bottom and already looks asleep.
ON SCOTT
He’s still awake. Maybe he’s starting to believe some of
Jacob’s ramblings, because he nervously fidgets in bed.
SCOTT
Freddy Krueger. Yeah, right. Years ago
some sicko gets fried and now he comes
back to stick it to you when you’re
snoozing. Stupid bedtime story.
he sighs, looks at his wrist, but his watch isn’t on. Then:
SCOTT (cont’d)
Hey, Mr. Creepoid, you still up?
(a beat)
Yo, Jacob?
There’s still no answer. Scott rolls and peeks over the edge
of the bunk bed. And Jacob’s not there.
SCOTT (cont’d)
Huh?
Scott sits up, looks around. And FALLS right through the
middle of his bed, NOT appearing underneath the top bunk. He
just disappears.
EXT. NIGHTMARE SPRINGWOOD – SOUTH STREET – NIGHT
Scott falls out of a tree and lands with a THUD. He groans,
slowly gets to his feet and takes in his surroundings.
The road is dark and desolate. The street lights emit a grim
brown glow and there are no stars or moon in the sky.
SOUNDS echo through the trees and buildings. Weird MOANS,
odd GURGLINGS, eerie WHISPERS, and an occasional unearthly
HOWL.
This does not comfort Scott.
SCOTT
Oh, this is lovely.
He starts cautiously walking down the sidewalk. SOMETHING
flies by with a FLAPPING. Scott ducks. Was it a bird or a
bat or what? It’s already gone.
Then a craggy voice calls out from behind a tree.
BUM
Hey, buddy?
SCOTT
Yeah, what?
Scott is understandably jumpy. The dark figure of a BUM
starts walking towards him. Scott backs away.
BUM
Can you spare some change?
SCOTT
Um, well, let me see…
Scott starts sifting through his pockets, and the BUM steps
out into the light.
He has THREE EYES and a HUMP BACK. Scott YELPS.
SCOTT (cont’d)
Holy Jesus Christ.
The Bum grins and Scott starts stumbling away, his voice
trailing off:
SCOTT (cont’d)
I’ll catch you next time, buddy.
The mutant bum belches.
EXT. NIGHTMARE SPRINGWOOD – PARNELL AVE. – NIGHT
Karen rounds a corner. She walks nervously down the middle
of the street. There are no cars, and she wants to keep as
far away as possible from the houses on either side.
There is a CREAKING sound from one of those houses. Karen
turns her head to look.
A craggy OLD WOMAN is rocking back and forth on her front
porch. She’s eating something, something stringy and slimy.
She munches away with a vacant look in her eyes.
The something in her hands MOVES slightly. The old woman’s
meal is still alive.
Karen gags and walks faster. And a PANTING sound is heard,
like two dogs. Someone is walking their pet down the
sidewalk.
It’s the MUTANT WOMAN from Jacob’s opening nightmare:
straggly hair, oozing sores, limping. The source of the
multiple paintings is her single dog, all two heads of it.
The mutant woman waves unpleasantly at Karen. Karen whimpers
and starts to RUN.
WITH KAREN – RUNNING
She stumbles quickly down the street. We catch fleeting
glimpses of other horrors, twisted shapes, bent shadows.
Karen rounds a corner, and SCREAMS when she bumps into
someone. It’s Scott, out of breath from his own sprinting.
KAREN
Scott! You’re here.
SCOTT
Yeah. Fun town. Talk to any of the
neighbors, yet? They’re a swell bunch of
folks.
KAREN
Uh-huh. Real friendly, too.
SCOTT
So this is a dream?
KAREN
And I’m in it with you. Convinced?
SCOTT
Maybe I’m just dreaming bout being here
with you. Wouldn’t be the first time.
KAREN
Nope. I tired that one already. Doesn’t
work. Come on, we have to find Jacob.
Scott nods and they take off down the street. A cat with
three tails slithers by.
EXT. NIGHTMARE SPRINGWOOD – MAIN STREET – NIGHT
Jacob is standing motionless in the middle of the road. He
stares down into the darkness, a wooden expression on his
face.
Karen and Scott are running up behind him.
KAREN
Jacob! Thank God!
SCOTT
So this is the place, huh?
Jacob’s eyes are steady. He hasn’t yet acknowledged the
other’s presence. He eyes are fixed on the gloominess in
front of him. A look of vengeance beginning to grow as our
SHOT MOVES IN on him.
JACOB
I’m home.
Karen and Scott are next to him now. They stand silently
with Jacob for a few seconds. Then:
KAREN
What now?
JACOB
Scott, are you with us?
SCOTT
A deal’s a deal.
JACOB
Then we wait.
And not for long. FLASH! In three bursts the Dream Police
appear directly across from the teenagers. Scott and Karen
jump back. Jacob hold his ground.
SCOTT
Whoa!
The threesomes stand face-to-face in two parallel rows.
SCOTT (cont’d)
Nice outfits.
POWER COP
Is this all?
JACOB
All that’s left.
SOUND COP
It’ll have to do.
SCOTT
We can always come back later. Like when
it’s daytime.
POWER COP
It’s always night here.
JACOB
What’s the plan?
BLADE COP
We need you to draw him out.
SCOTT
Terrific. We’re supposed to be bait.
SOUND COP
Essentially.
JACOB
Then let’s do it.
KABOOOOOOOOM! A huge BRICK WALL, ten feet high and spreading
out across the street and through the houses, BLASTS up from
the asphalt. Right between the Police and the kids.
ON THE DREAM POLICE SIDE
The three cops crouch into battle positions.
ON THE TEENAGER’S SIDE
The three of them have hardly any time to react before three
perfectly round HOLES open up underneath each of them.
And Scott, Jacob and Karen fall into darkness.
ON THE DREAM POLICE SIDE
Sound Cop stands up and his body begins to VIBRATE. A new
noise emits from his mouth: a HIGH PITCHED SQUEAL.
And like the walls of Jericho, the bricks in front of them
fall apart and tumble to the ground. Dust settles and the
Police walk over the rubble to the other side. The kids are
gone.
BLADE COP
Fan out.
The Dream Police break formation and scatter.
EXT. A STREET
A hole opens up in the road and WHOOSH, KAREN is elevated up
into the scene and the hole seals up instantly.
She jumps a few feet and drops to her knees, holding onto
the ground. She looks up at a street sign. It reads: ELM
ST. Karen stands up and heads down the road.
EXT. ROCHESTER AVE.
Another hole, and VOOM, Jacob is shot up into the street. He
spins around, trying to get his bearings. It doesn’t take
him long. He knows exactly where he is.
JACOB
Oh no…
He starts to run and we FOLLOW him.
Jacob jumps over a procession of RATS making their way across
the street and just keeps on sprinting. Until he reaches a
certain house. He catches his breath as he looks at the
building, pain registering on his face.
JACOB (cont’d)
Mom…
Jacob runs towards the house as our shot MOVES IN CLOSE to
the mailbox and ate name printed across it. It reads
JOHNSON.
INT. NIGHTMARE JOHNSON HOME – ENTRYWAY
Jacob bursts through the door. He turns on a light switch.
A lamp SPUTTERS into semi-life, and keeps sputtering, casting
a candle-like glow over the interior.
Cobwebs and dust cover everything. Rats and tarantula
spiders skitter about. Jacob grits his teeth and walks in
deeper.
EXT. SPRINGWOOD TAVERN
Scott BLASTS out of the asphalt. He staggers for a few
seconds from the ride, then looks at the building in front of
him. A puttering neon sign, ‘SPRINGWOOD TAVERN’, marks the
local saloon. Muffled MUSIC and VOICES seep through the
cracks of the double doors.
Scott looks around, then shrugs. He heads for the entrance.
INT. SPRINGWOOD TAVERN
Dump is too clean a word, dive is too nice, abomination is
more like it. A greenish haze covers everything. Instead of
sawdust on the floor there is a collection of debris that
looks like a compilation of human teeth, crushed bugs, and
pools of unmentionable goo.
Then there’s the people.
Imagine any profanity, any obscenity,any blasphemy, add them
all up – then double them. It wouldn’t even come close to
the patrons of this joint.
They dance, they yell, they drink bloody bubbling mixtures.
There’s a guy to the right that doesn’t seem to mind that
half his brain is showing. That girl over there has no jaw.
In a booth is a couple that are connected at the lips. A
ventriloquist on stage is entertaining the troops with his
hand up the back of a real body.
Scott steps through the door and blinks about a dozen times.
Then he decides that the smart course of action is to turn
around and go right back out.
A MUTANT BOUNCER, half his face a skull, blocks Scott’s way.
MUTANT BOUNCER
Two drink minimum.
SCOTT
Ah, that’s okay. I think I’m underage,
anyway.
MUTANT BOUNCER
Two drink minimum.
SCOTT
No, really. I’m driving.
MUTANT BOUNCER
Two drink minimum.
The bouncer with the limited vocabulary seems adamant. Scott
backs off and turns around. He carefully moves forward. A
MUTANT WAITRESS with three breasts slips next to him.
MUTANT WAITRESS
Can I get you anything?
SCOTT
That’s okay. I’ll just sit at the bar.
MUTANT WAITRESS
Alright, honey. You call if you need
anything.
SCOTT
You bet. You’ll be the first to know.
Scott turns away, trying to keep his eyes in their sockets.
He slides up to the bar next to a MUTANT BUSINESSMAN. The
man’s head is on backwards, his arms lean on the bar while
his face looks out into the crowd. He has to twist his neck
to sip his vile drink.
A BARTENDER, surprisingly normal-looking, steps up to Scott.
BARTENDER
What’ll it be?
SCOTT
Um, a beer, I guess.
The bartender fills a twisted glass with a sickly brown
liquid. Chunks of matter float amongst the foam. Scott
takes the drink warily and looks up at the businessman next
to him. The mutant smiles at him.
BARTENDER
Go on. Puts hair on your back.
SCOTT
And that’s all?
The bartender returns. Holds one of those half pineapple
type drinks in his hand, except this one has the back end of
a wriggling lizard sticking out of mucousy fluid under a tiny
umbrella. He gives it to Scott.
SCOTT (cont’d)
That’s okay, this’ll be plenty.
BARTENDER
No charge. Compliments of the man at the
end of the bar.
The bartender walks away and Scott cranes his head to look
down the bar.
SCOTT’S POV
The crowd blocks his view, but we can see a gloved hand with
four blades strapped to it tapping nonchalantly on the
surface of the wood.
BACK TO SCOTT
He picks up his drinks, holding the moving one at arm’s
length, and heads down the bar.
AT THE END OF THE BAR
sits Freddy Krueger. He sips coolly on some hideous
concoction as Scott sits down in the chair next to him and
lights a cigarette, trying to look equally cool.
FREDDY
Welcome to my favorite haunt.
SCOTT
So you’re the man.
FREDDY
At your service.
SCOTT
What’s on your mind?
FREDDY
A deal.
SCOTT
A deal’s what got me into this.
FREDDY
Bring Jacob to me.
Scott, valiantly holding on to his nerve, raises an eyebrow.
SCOTT
What’s in it for me?
FREDDY
Power. You don’t need to hang out with
those losers. You’re a take-charge kind
of guy, Scott. Like when you took charge
of your father.
Suddenly Freddy is spinning a gun on the bar with his free
hand. Scott grimaces.
SCOTT
Leave my father out of this.
FREDDY
I’ll make you mayor of Rosedale.
SCOTT
After you make it look like this?
FREDDY
You can have Karen.
That was Freddy’s trump card. It really hits a nerve in
Scott. Karen’s everything he’s ever wanted.
SCOTT
Alive?
FREDDY
Any way you want her.
SCOTT
(after a beat)
Okay.
FREDDY
Shake?
Krueger holds out his knives. Scott shakes his head.
SCOTT
No thanks. I trust you.
Freddy laughs.
INT. NIGHTMARE JOHNSON HOME – ALICE’S BEDROOM
Jacob opens the door into darkness.
JACOB
Mother?
He turns on the light and a RED HAZE blankets the room.
Jacob looks up. The dish-like ceiling lamp is filled with
blood.
Jacob walks into the room, tears welling. He walks by
Alice’s vanity, her makeup still sitting there as if she
might show up and use it at any moment.
He steps up to a wardrobe closet and touches the edges of it
lightly. He reaches out and slowly, almost reverently, opens
the doors.
Dozens of writhing SNAKES drop out of the closet and slither
onto the ground.
Jacob jumps back and SCREAMS.
Then he just stands there in the middle of the teaming
reptile mass, not giving a shit anymore, going insane. His
fists clenched, his head tilted back, as he YELLS into the
air like a wolf baying at the moon.
EXT. SPRINGWOOD TAVERN
Scott steps off the sidewalk and looks up and down the
street. He thinks and we MOVE IN on him.
SCOTT
Mayor of Rosedale.
Scott sneers.
SCOTT (cont’d)
What a crock of shit.
We PULL WIDER as Scott cups his hands around his mouth.
SCOTT (cont’d)
Hey! He’s over here. Yo! Dream Police.
Hello! Come on. Move you collective
asses.
CLOSE ON SCOTT
He puts his hands on his hips and sighs.
SCOTT (cont’d)
Never a cop around when you need one.
GLITCH! a stabbing sound of flesh, and Scott JERKS violently
as our shot PULLS BACK to reveal:
Freddy behind Scott, his deadly fingers buried in the boy’s
back. Scott chokes on his own blood as Krueger growls.
FREDDY
I hate a snitch!
Freddy pulls out his blades as Scott falls forward and with
his final breath utters:
SCOTT
Eat shit…
His body hits the ground with a THUD as a sudden ROAR fills
the air. Freddy looks around for its source. And Sound Cop
drops down on him with a SMACK.
The two of them tumble, then both jump up. Freddy laughs.
Sound Cop looks down at Scott’s body, then back up at
Krueger. His body is shaking with fury,and he opens his
mouth.
The loudest sound yet comes from Sound Cop. KABOOM! A blast
of air at Mach 3 smacks into Freddy and sends him sailing
back, SMASHING right through the Tavern wall.
INT. SPRINGWOOD TAVERN
Freddy flies sideways, right through the bar, destroying
chandeliers as he careens through and punches yet another
huge hole through the opposite wall.
The nightmarish customers don’t even seem to notice.
INT. NIGHTMARE JOHNSON HOME – ENTRYWAY
Jacob is shuffling down the stairs as a SONIC BOOM of noise
echoes through the streets outside.
He knows exactly what that sound means as we MOVE IN on his
face.
JACOB
Krueger…
Jacob races for the front door.
INT. SPRINGWOOD TAVERN
The dust is just starting to settle as a THUD is heard coming
from the hole in the opposite wall. Quickly followed by
Freddy’s soaring body. Krueger SMASHES into some tables and
slides across the floor. Power Cop steps through the hole,
his fists clenched. Freddy stands up and dusts himself off.
FREDDY
Lighten up, bone brain.
Power Cop has no intention to. He bolts over, grabs Krueger,
raises him over his head like a wrestler, slams him down on
the bar, and SHOVES Freddy, knocking glasses and ashtrays
aside until he SMACKS into yet another poor wall.
Krueger barely gets back on his feet when Power Cop is right
on him again. The big man in black SWINGS, but this time
Freddy DUCKS. CRACK! a support column bursts into dust.
Freddy twirls around. And the two of them start to PUNCH
each other.
It’s a barroom brawl between non-humans as Power Cop and
Freddy Krueger exchange multiple blows.
SMACK SMACK SMACK! Freddy nails Power Cop, whose head barely
seems to budge from the hits.
POW POW POW! Power Cop lays into Krueger, sending him
spinning and tumbling only to pick him up and start the
process all over again.
This goes on for a while, and Krueger is losing.
The mutant bouncer finally steps up to Power Cop to try and
put a stop to all this.
MUTANT BOUNCER
Take it outside!
CRUNCH! Power Cop puts a stop to the bouncer with a vicious
elbow in the chest. All this gave Freddy a few seconds to
grab a chair and crack it ineffectually over the Cop’s head.
The pummeling begins again.
THWACK THWACK THWACK! Power Cop is punching Freddy towards
the door.
EXT. SPRINGWOOD TAVERN
Like in an old wester, Krueger flies out of the double doors
and somersaults onto the pavement. Sound Cop is a few yards
away knelt down next to Scott’s dead body. He looks up as
Freddy sneers.
FREDDY
No more playing around.
Freddy raises his left fist and it begins to EXPAND. It
grows like an inflated beach ball, except it doesn’t look
soft at all. Freddy slides up to the side of the entrance,
and raises his giant hammer hand. Power Cop steps through,
looking for blood. Sound Cop tries to warn him.
SOUND COP
Kincaid!
Too late. BAM! Freddy’s fist slams down on Power Cop’s
head. He’s actually shoved down into the ground a full two
feet – trapped at the legs.
BAM! Freddy hits him again. Power Cop is down to his thighs
and he can’t get out.
A RUMBLING is heard. Freddy turns to see Sound Cop starting
to open his mouth. Krueger instantly reaches down and grabs
a brick from the rubble and THROWS it at Sound Cop.
FREDDY
Put a lid on it!
THUNK! The brick lands squarely in Sound Cop’s mouth,
stretching it painfully and blocking it completely. Sound
Cop reels from the impact. Tries to pull out the firmly
wedged plug.
Freddy turns back to Power Cop, BAM! Hits him down to his
hips. The giant fist swings, BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM! like
hammering a nail until Power Cop DISAPPEARS into the ground.
Freddy’s hand deflates to regular size as he turns to the
struggling Sound Cop.
Sound Cop’s head is EXPANDING. Pressure seems to be building
up, something’s gonna blow. Freddy picks up a boulder from
the street rubble. He catapults it with both hands at Sound
Cop. The boulder hits Sound Cop’s head and takes it CLEAN
OFF.
Sound Cop’s decapitated skull tumbles away with the brick
still stuck, as a blast of air shoots up from the stump of
his neck with a SCREECH.
Sound Cop’s body stumbles for a few seconds, then falls over
limply.
Freddy LAUGHS and laughs and laughs… KACHUNK! until a KNIFE
embeds itself in his back. Krueger spins around.
CHUNK CHUNK CHUNK! Three more knives slam into his body as
he staggers back in surprise. Blade Cop stands twenty feet
away reaching into thin air and whipping out knife after
knife, flinging them at Freddy. They sail like flying
bullets.
CHUNK CHUNK CHUNK! Krueger falls back from the sheer force
of the onslaught, at least a dozen blades sticking out of his
body.
Blade stops. She stands there for a beat, waiting to see what
Freddy will do next.
Krueger sways, looking like an inhuman pincushion. Then he
grins. His body steadies, and he suddenly poses like a body
builder and flexes every muscle.
POP POP POP! The daggers shoot out of his torso and limbs,
CLATTERING to the ground.
The girl in black steps back and raises her arms. SHINK
SHINK! Two-foot-long sabers jut out from her forearms.
They’re not held by her, they’re a PART of her, exiting from
the tops of her wrists under her clenched fists. She crosses
the blades in front of her.
FREDDY (cont’d)
(smiling)
Ah… a girl after my own heart.
KACHINK! Freddy shoots out his finger knives and they EXTEND
to double their normal size. He raises them and takes on a
fencing stance.
FREDDY (cont’d)
En guard, bitch
SWOOP/CLANG! A swordfight ensues. Freddy swinging his four
long knives. Blade slashing her rapier-arms. They lunge,
they parry, they leap, they duck.
CLANG! They connect. SCREEEEE. Metal scrapes metal. It’s
a bastardized version of an Errol Flynn movie and Blade Cop
and Freddy are equally matched. Blade moves to get the upper
hand.
CLINK CLINK! Blades shoot out of the girl’s ELBOWS. Now
when she takes a swing with her fists, another sword is right
behind it on the follow-through.
Freddy gets caught off-guard. Gets slashed twice in the
shoulder and twirls away. Then starts to move FASTER.
Blade counters with an equally increased intensity. Freddy
ducks, SWOOPS out twice quickly. A fold of black cloth drops
down on Blade’s stomach, revealing naked skin and a little
blood. They pause for a second.
FREDDY (cont’d)
Touche.
And Blade becomes AIRBORNE putting a Samurai to shame,
twirling her legs up and out as a blade juts momentarily from
her RIGHT HEEL, chopping off Freddy’s left hand.
Krueger stumbles back in astonishment as green goo spurts out
of the stump.
Astonishment turns to rage as the two converge again,
swinging away at an incredible rate. An impossible rate.
JACOB rounds the corner. He stumbles into the action just as
the battling pair are becoming an obscure swirling GLINTING
MASS. Pieces of them start to drop away.
Blade’s foot hits the ground. Freddy’s arm plops away. A
broken sword hits the asphalt under the spinning cloud, then
one of Blade’s arms.
CLOSE ON JACOB
as he watches, his eyes dart to try to follow the action
that’s moving too fast for him to see.
Then there’s silence.
We PULL BACK and PAN to follow Jacob as he walks into the
scene of carnage. He steps up to two pills of remains: one
black and flesh colored covered with red blood, the other a
heap of red and green cloth, scarred tissues, and pukish
green glop.
Blade and Freddy have literally chopped each other to bits,
the two mounds of body parts steaming in the cold night air.
Jacob sees something else and walks over to it. It’s Scott’s
body. Jacob kneels down next to the dead teenager.
JACOB
I’m sorry, Scott.
A CRACKING sound makes Jacob stand up. Over to the now-
silent bar entrance a BLACK FIST punches up through the
cement. With a crumbling of granite, Power Cop rises from
the earth.
Something else moves behind Jacob and he turns, then SCREAMS.
Sound Cop’s headless body walks into the shot, his arms held
ABOVE FRAME over his neck.
Then Sound Cop’s arms lower his dismembered HEAD onto his
stump, push it down, twist it til it stays. With great
effort, Sound Cop yanks the brick out of his mouth.
Jacob now looks OFF SCREEN at something else, something that
REALLY makes his eyes widen. We get to see the shadow of
what Jacob sees, projected on the wall of the bar behind him.
The shadow of the pile of body parts that was Blade Cop
begins to MOVE. The pieces start to REFORM, leg to torso,
arm to shoulder, head to neck. The shadow on the wall rises
and we PULL BACK.
Blade Cop stands across from Jacob, whole again except for a
flash of exposed flesh on her abdomen to remind her of the
experience.
Jacob raises his eyebrows as the resurrected Dream Police
step around him.
JACOB (cont’d)
Okay, I’m impressed
Blade whips her visor up to reveal an upset girl’s face.
BLADE COP
You shouldn’t be.
Jacob frowns as the four of them walk over to the pile of
Freddy remains. But they’re not remains anymore. All that’s
left of Freddy is a stack of CLOTH remnants.
A WIND rises and pieces of cloth blow away into the darkness.
The other two Dream Police raise their visors, looking
equally distraught. They all face Jacob.
BLADE COP (cont’d)
This is what we were afraid of.
SOUND COP
He still exists.
JACOB
What! How?
POWER COP
We’re already dead, that’s why he
couldn’t destroy us.
BLADE COP
But he’s not dead. He’s not alive either.
He’s something in between.
SOUND COP
He’s not entirely part of reality or part
of dreams. He’s unique.
BLADE COP
WE can’t kill him.
POWER COP
We can wail away on each other until
doomsday and not do any good.
JACOB
Then who’s going to kill this fucker?
SOUND COP
YOU have to.
JACOB
How the hell am I supposed to do that?
BLADE COP
Krueger’s power comes from his rage and
the souls of children.
POWER COP
You have to find the original source of
that rage and use it against him.
BLADE COP
This town in its present condition
encompasses all evils from all times in
its history. The answer is here
somewhere…
Jacob sighs, then gets an idea.
JACOB
I think I know where…
And he starts to run down the street.
BLADE COP
Jacob, wait. We have to find him first.
JACOB
No time. You guys find Karen!
He disappears down the road as the Dream Police snap down
their visors
EXT. ELM STREET HOUSE
Karen stands in front of a rotted gate in front of a run down
building with shuttered windows and a crumbling foundation.
This isn’t just an ELM STREET house, it’s THE Elm Street
house. And for some reason Karen is drawn to it. She looks
to her let at the bent mailbox.
It has a name plate on it. Another one underneath it. And
another. It’s as if people moved in and out and instead of
changing the plates on the mailbox, they just whacked a new
one over the old. Karen steps closer to the mailbox.
The little sign on the top reads WILLIAMS. She touches it
with her finger and it drops off, the nails holding it on
rusted away to dust. A new plate is revealed. This one says
THOMPSON. Karen picks lightly at it, and it swings away. The
name underneath makes Karen gasp.
It reads KRUEGER.
And there’s still another one under that horrible name.
Karen quickly hits the Krueger plate off. The last sign
reads UNDERWOOD.
Karen frowns. She turns back to the house, a determined
expression on her face.
KAREN
No more…
She KICKS the gate open and walks up to the house.
INT. ELM STREET HOUSE
We’ve been here before, haven’t we? But for Karen it’s the
first visit as she opens the front door and walks in. She
takes in the twisted skeleton of a home for a few seconds and
then begins to SEARCH it.
INT. ELM STREET HOUSE – LIVING ROOM
Karen races through, pulling open desk drawers, rifling
through shelves, flipping through books. She doesn’t know
what she’s looking for, but she knows she hasn’t found it
yet.
INT. ELM STREET HOUSE – KITCHEN
The intensity of Karen’s quest increases as she yanks open
cabinets and tosses plates to the floor. Still nothing.
INT. ELM STREET HOUSE – STAIRS
Karen runs up them, a girl with a mission.
INT. ELM STREET HOUSE – MASTER BEDROOM
Karen flings the door open. Nothing but a bed and a set of
drawers. No hint as to the occupant’s lives. She doesn’t
bother ransacking this one and goes on to:
INT. ELM STREET HOUSE – FREDDY’S BEDROOM
Jackpot. Karen stares through the open door at a child’s
room, a very twisted child’s room. She slowly walks in.
A bed, a desk, a dresser. There’s a Jack-in-a-box with its
head torn off. A disemboweled Teddy Bear. White puffy guts
hanging out of it. A clown doll with its face caved in. A
hanging mobile made of strange bent shapes.
And a pile of more-than-dirty clothes.
Karen goes over to the pile and picks through it with her
toe. A small pair of pants, about the right size for an
eight-year-old. A black pair of shoes. And a little
sweater, a RED AND GREEN STRIPED sweater.
Karen goes over to the desk. There is stack of drawings on
it – a child’s drawings. On one of them it looks like
someone was practicing writing their name. FREDDY UNNERWOOD,
FREDDY UNDERWUD, FREDDY UNDERWOOD over and over again. Until
the final attempt has the last name angrily crossed out,
replaced underneath by a hastily scrawled KRUEGER!!!
Another piece of paper: a set of human stick figures. A
small one is labeled FREDDY. The large one is labeled DADDY.
The Daddy figure is depicted HITTING the Freddy figure.
There are more drawings, all of them violent, the large
figure beating away at the small one.
Suddenly a CREAKING. Karen jumps. Hides behind a bookshelf.
She’s nervously trying to figure out what to do when a framed
picture catches her attention on the shelf. It’s a picture
of a tall, dark man and a little boy. Karen reaches out to
grab the picture, but accidentally knocks over a glass mug
with a CRASH.
FOOTSTEPS can now be heard tromping up the stairs.
Someone’s coming and Karen’s on the edge of panic. She looks
around and finds an old baseball bat. She grabs it and runs
to the side of the doorway as the FOOTSTEPS approach down the
hallway. Karen raises the bat.
And Jacob appears. Karen pulls back with the bat as Jacob
jumps away from her.
KAREN
Jacob! You scared the shit out of me!
JACOB
The feeling is mutual.
KAREN
Where are the Dream Police?
JACOB
I told them to look for you. What are
you doing here? Don’t you know what this
place is?
KAREN
I do now. Look what I found.
She starts to drag him over to the desk of drawings.
JACOB
You’ve got to get out of here.
KAREN
Wait. You have to see this.
JACOB
You don’t understand. The Police can’t
kill Freddy. They literally chopped each
other to pieces and he’s still alive!
Now I’m supposed to figure out how to get
rid of him.
KAREN
But I think I found the answer. Shut up
for a second and look at these.
She starts showing him the scrawlings.
JACOB
Okay, so he’s a bad artist.
KAREN
No! You told me Krueger’s mother
committed suicide and no one knows who
his father was, right?
JACOB
Yeah…
KAREN
Freddy’s been pushing all our buttons
with our pasts. These are HIS past.
Don’t you get it? HE was a foster child,
too!
She walks over to the bookshelf and grabs the picture of
LITTLE FREDDY and FREDDY’S FOSTER FATHER.
KAREN (cont’d)
Someone had to have taken care of him.
This guy…he was Freddy’s father. Those
drawings…they were Freddy’s childhood.
This house…it’s where it all happened.
JACOB
But in reality Freddy hasn’t lived here
for decades.
KAREN
Like you tried to tell me once before,
this is a dream. Who knows why this is
all here.
JACOB
All evils from all times in history…
KAREN
And isn’t this where it all started in
Springwood? On Elm Street?
Jacob thinks for a second. It’s all starting to make sense.
JACOB
But what does this do for us?
KAREN
There’s got to be a way to use it against
him.
JACOB
Okay, but we’re not going to stand around
here to figure out how. It’s too
dangerous.
He grabs her hand and pulls her towards her door.
JACOB (cont’d)
Let’s get out of this house.
They head out to
UPSTAIRS HALLWAY
And Blade Cop is standing in the middle of the corridor. The
two teenagers stop.
JACOB (cont’d)
Thank God. Freddy’s going to show up any
minute.
KACHINK! A knife shoots out of Blade’s right hand, ready for
action. (but wait a minute, her uniform isn’t ripped
anymore…) Karen and Jacob make their way to the stairs.
He turns to Blade.
JACOB (cont’d)
Where are the others?
Blade walks up to him and stands there. Then JAMS HER KNIFE
into JACOB’S GUT. Karen SCREAMS. Jacob chokes. Blade Cop
shoves the knife in further until it juts out of Jacob’s
back. She turns.
Then BECOMES FREDDY.
FREDDY
Time to join your mommy.
Krueger yanks his finger blades out and Jacob’s limp body
falls at Karen’s feet. Karen shrieks and cries, dropping to
her knees to hold him.
KAREN
No no no no no no no…Jacob…
He looks up at her, slowly dying. She strokes his forehead
while Freddy laughs at the sentiment.
FREDDY
Young love…ha!
JACOB
Karen…dream…powers….
And Jacob is gone. Karen sobs, so torn apart that she is
ignoring the incredible danger above her. But not for long.
Krueger grabs Karen by the neck.
FREDDY
It’s past your bedtime, young lady.
And he starts to DRAG her, kicking and screaming, her body
scraping across the floor towards the
MASTER BEDROOM
Freddy drags Karen in and TOSSES her across the room. She
lands with a THUD on the bed. He saunters over to her and
climbs up on the bed next to her. Gets on top.
Karen yells and hits him uselessly with her fists and it’s
horrible because there he is, pressing down on her, right in
her face, mounting her as if he’s going to rape her.
FREDDY (cont’d)
Aw, sweetheart. This won’t hurt a bit.
She screams as he presses even harder.
FREDDY (cont’d)
Come on. Be Daddy’s little girl.
And the last three words of that sentence seem to ECHO
through the room, swirling around Karen. DADDY’S LITTLE
GIRL. “Daddy’s little girl.” Karen twists her head away.
And Freddy’s become Karen’s FATHER. He looks down on her
with a lecherous grin.
KAREN’S FATHER
That’s my baby. That’s Daddy’s little
girl.
Karen stops struggling. The realization grows on her face
with the resurfacing memory.
KAREN
Oh no…
KAREN’S FATHER
(Freddy’s voice)
Now do you remember?
She does. And she has an answer for him.
KAREN
You’re NOT my father.
KAREN’S FATHER
But we’re going to have the same fun!
Karen stares at him defiantly. And a HAND grabs Karen’s
Father, and yanks him away. We PULL BACK.
KAREN’S MOTHER is next to the bed. Furious.
KAREN’S MOTHER
That’s enough!
And she SLAPS Karen’s Father. He stands up, SLUGS her across
the jaw. She tumbles back. Karen sits up.
KAREN
Mommy, no!
Karen’s Mother gets up, a defiant look just like Karen’s on
her face.
KAREN’S MOTHER
You’re never going to touch her again!
KAREN’S FATHER
I’ll touch what I want!
BAP! He strikes her again, sending her right out the door.
He follows her. Karen stands up and runs after them.
IN THE HALLWAY
CRACK! The man hits the woman down to the floor. Karen’s
mother stands up, just taking it. She’s at the top of the
stairs. Karen’s Father swings his arm back, and Karen jumps
on him. He shrugs her away violently.
WITH KAREN
as she hits the ground and the wall next to Jacob’s body.
She looks up.
WIDER
And Karen’s Father is now FREDDY again. He swings his fist.
SMACK!
Karen’s Mother reels from the hit, falls backwards. Karen
jumps up to try and help her, reaching past Freddy. But it’s
too late.
Karen’s Mother tumbles down the stairs, head hitting, bones
cracking, disappearing into darkness.
Freddy grabs Karen by the neck and lifts her. DANGLES her
over the top of the steps.
FREDDY
Be honored, bitch. You’re the last soul
I need.
And Jacob RISES UP behind Krueger. GRABS him. Freddy DROPS
Karen. She hits hard and rolls down the steps as Freddy
turns, his knives swinging out and SLAMMING Jacob’s gut one
more time, IMPALING him against the wall. Jacob gasps out
his final breath.
JACOB
I’ll be back…
FREDDY
I’ll be waiting.
Freddy pulls his blades out of Jacob and the wall. The boy’s
body hits the floor for the last time. Freddy turns back to
the stairs and looks down them.
FREDDY (cont’d)
Where’s my little pumpkin?
He strolls down the steps.
DOWNSTAIRS HALLWAY
Freddy walks down and no one’s there. Karen’s Mom was just
an illusion, but Karen herself, dead or alive, is nowhere to
be seen.
FREDDY (cont’d)
Play time is over, bitch.
He walks down the hallway. Eyes darting. Until a BOOMING
VOICE is heard from the kitchen.
VOICE
FREDERICK!
Freddy cocks his head and frowns.
VOICE (cont’d)
Frederick! What have you done?
And, amazingly, a look of FEAR crosses Krueger’s face.
Something about that voice has struck terror in the heart of
the creature that fears nobody.
Krueger turns to the kitchen door. A man steps out of the
shadows, a big muscular man with a horrifying look in his
eyes. A man we’ve seen somewhere before – in a picture.
It’s FREDDY’S FOSTER FATHER – MR. UNDERWOOD. And he looks
pissed beyond belief.
Freddy shrinks back, eyes widening.
FREDDY
Daddy?
MR. UNDERWOOD
Don’t you “Daddy” me!
Mr. Underwood raises his arm and SMACKS Freddy across the
skull. Krueger tumbles back into the hallway.
Freddy scrambles to his feet. Shakes with dread. Looks like
a scared little boy. Mr. Underwood advances on him.
FREDDY
No, Daddy. Please…
Freddy turns and bolts for the front door. He flings it
open. Power Cop stands in his way and SHOVES Freddy back –
back in front of his foster father.
PUNCH – a vicious blow from Underwood sends Krueger into
THE LIVING ROOM
where Freddy falls over a couch. Underwood stomps into the
room. Krueger scrambles up and heads for the archway leading
into the dining room.
BLADE COP blocks the escape. The ripped flap of her uniform
proving she’s the real one. She KICKS Freddy back and into
Underwood’s hands. The man picks up Krueger and HITS him
again. And again. And again.
FREDDY (cont’d)
Stop. You’re hurting me. Stop.
Freddy wriggles away and opens a window. Sound Cop fills the
window, cutting him off. Pushes him back inside.
Mr. Underwood grabs Krueger and slaps him over and over.
Slugs him. Gives the beating he’s got coming to him.
And Freddy MOANS and YELLS like a blubbering child. Shrinks
into a corner but is yanked out for more pummeling.
Power Cop stands at the exit to the hallway. Blade Cop
continues to obstruct the dining room arch. Sound Cop steps
through the window and stands in front of it. The Dream
Police just stare in silence.
It’s not a street fight, not a punching match. Just a
ruthless thrashing that would be hard to watch if it weren’t
for the fact that we are all cheering because no one in
history has ever deserved it more.
Underwood stops the whipping and stands over Krueger who is
lying on the ground whimpering, pleading for mercy.
FREDDY (cont’d)
Why, Daddy? What did I do?
MR. UNDERWOOD
You took some things that don’t belong to
you!
And with that, Underwood brings his fist down and JAMS it
into Freddy’s stomach. Right THROUGH IT. Shoving it into
his very body.
Freddy SCREAMS. Underwood violently pulls his fist out and
there’s SOMETHING in it. A shimmering flowing thing.
Crackling with unworldly LIGHT. It’s a SOUL. It’s Wesley’s
SOUL. Underwood flings his arm out and lets go. Wesley’s
soul flies into thin air and DISSIPATES.
Krueger’s father brings his hand down again and RIPS out
GINA’S SOUL. Again. JACOB’S SOUL. Freddy opens his mouth
and shrieks. As Underwood raises his arms and begins to
SPARKLE. FLASHES of light bounce around his body. He’s
changing.
And something’s happening to Freddy’s too. Steam is rising
from the creature. His feet are starting to flatten as he
lays on the ground and BLACK GOO oozes from his pores.
He’s melting. And still screaming as he watches his foster
father’s image turn into:
KAREN. An aura of LIGHT vanishes around her body as she
lowers her arms with a victorious yet sad look on her face.
Freddy DIES.
A look of horrified realization burns in Krueger’s eyes as he
sees Karen and CONTINUES to scream inhumanly.
His body dissolves, all of it liquefying into BLACK SLIME.
Gone. Just a bubbling black puddle of gunk is left. His
SHRIEK echoes through the room and everywhere else.
Then the GUNK grows and changes into a dark cloud that begins
to EXPAND.
Power Cop runs up, grabs Karen and yells.
POWER COP
We gotta get outta here!
Karen, almost mesmerized by the black cloud spreading in
front of her, stumbles away with Power Cop.
EXT. ELM STREET HOUSE
The Dream Police and Karen bolt out the front door and run
down the street as a RUMBLE joins Freddy’s thunderous SHRIEK
and the entire town begins to SHAKE.
We stay with a shot of the house as the noise and vibrations
continue.
And the Elm Street House EXPLODES. The BLACK CLOUD punches
out the roof and the walls, sending wood and debris flying
everywhere.
The rubble flies into the air, hangs there for a beat, then
falls to the ground.
All is SILENT. And the dark cloud turns WHITE. The milky
fog spreads out.
EXT. ELM STREET INTERSECTION
Karen falls to her knees on the pavement, not looking back at
the destruction one block away.
The Dream Police stop running to turn to face her. Karen
hangs her head and cries.
Blade steps forward.
BLADE COP
It took a human touch. It took knowing
HIS nightmare. Goodbye, Karen.
Karen raises her head as the Dream Police turn away.
KAREN’S POV – THE DREAM POLICE
walk off into the distance. Just as they are about to vanish
into the darkness, a FOURTH FIGURE appears and joins them in
formation. Then they all disappear.
ANGLE ON KAREN
Her mouth drops open at what she’s just seen. What she
DOESN’T see is the white cloud swooping down the street
behind her. She just closes her eyes as the ivory mist
envelops her and the SCREEN GOES WHITE.
FADE IN FROM WHITE TO:
EXT. PARK BENCH – DAY
Karen lies sleeping on the bench amongst the grass and trees.
Her eyes open and squint at the bright light. She sits up
and tries to get her bearings. Some hair falls into her face
and she brushes it away. Only then noticing that she’s
holding something in her hand.
She opens her hand and looks down.
KAREN’S POV
It’s an ID bracelet. A band of gold with a larger plate
dangling from the middle of it. Karen’s hand turns it over.
This time the printing reads JACOB.
WITH KAREN
she chokes back the tears. We hear a PANTING O.S. Then a
woman’s voice.
WOMAN
You okay, honey?
Karen looks up as we PULL BACK. A pleasant-looking woman, no
longer a mutant, is walking her cute dog. She looks
sincerely concerned. Karen nods.
KAREN
Yes. I’m alright.
WOMAN
I’ve never seen you around. Are you new
in town?
KAREN
Sort of.
WOMAN
Well then…
(she smiles)
Welcome to Springwood.
The woman continues on her way. Karen sighs and puts the
bracelet on her wrist. She stands and our SHOT PULLS UP AND
AWAY as the pretty young girl starts walking through a town
she’s never seen – except in her dreams.
FADE OUT.
