Courtesy of Netflix
This post contains spoilers for season 4 of Stranger Things.
Stranger Things has been known to pay homage to all sorts of ’80s films, but the casting of a pivotal character in season 4 was a real doozy.
Robert Englund — who played Freddy Krueger in iconic Nightmare on Elm Street series — made a brief but deliciously creepy appearance as Victor Creel, a cursed patriarch with a terrible backstory that few characters believe.
Not unlike Krueger himself, Creel is the stuff of local legend for the first three episodes.
In episode 4, “Dear Billy,” we meet the institutionalized man who is believed to have killed his wife and two children — but naturally the Stranger Things crew believes Creel may actually be innocent when gruesome murders similar to the fates of the Creel family start up again.
So Nancy (Natalia Dyer) and Robin (Maya Hawke) sneak into the asylum to meet Creel and figure out how to stop the latest string of murders. Cue Creel telling the murders’ chilling backstory from his point of view — albeit it one with no eyes.
Courtesy of Netflix
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Behind the camera, cast members were psyched to work with Englund, 74.
“He brought a real enthusiasm to his role, and honestly, it was just an honor to watch him work,” Dyer, 27, told Entertainment Weekly of her time working with the scream king. “He was so lovely and kind and sweet and really gave such a great performance.”
There’s even a sly Nightmare on Elm Street reference in the scene, according to executive producer Shawn Levy.
“There’s a closeup of [Creel] scratching his fingernails on the desk in his cell,” he told EW. “It’s implied that he’s done it for so long that the linoleum desktop is worn away by the scrape of his fingertip.”
Levy, who directed the episode, also shared that Stranger Things creators the Duffer Brothers couldn’t resist popping by the set to chat with a childhood icon.
“The day I shot with Robert was one of the very few times that the Duffers made a point of coming to set just to hang out and nerd out with Robert England,” he recalls. “I will soon be unleashing my treasure trove of behind-the-scenes pictures from the season 4 shoot, and one of my favorites is of Matt and Ross Duffer talking to Robert Englund while wearing Freddy Krueger T-shirts. That’s what delightful film geeks the Duffer brothers truly are.”
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Seven episodes of Stranger Things season 4 are currently streaming on Netflix. Episodes 8 and 9 will drop on July 1.
