Langenkamp, who starred in the recent Netflix hit The Midnight Club, has long been remembered for her portrayal of Nancy Thompson, the first final girl role subjected to Freddie Krueger’s torment in the original 1984 A Nightmare on Elm Street. The film instantly landed Langenkamp among the most recognizable scream queens alongside other ’80s final girl legends like Halloween’s Jamie Lee Curtis. Langenkamp returned in the same role in 1987 with A Nightmare on Elm Street: Dream Warriors as a psychologist helping teens fight Krueger, and again in Wes Craven’s New Nightmare, starring as both herself and her Nancy role simultaneously as she struggled to fend off the fictional-tuned-real Freddie Krueger. Langenkamp was also featured and helped create the horror documentary projects Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy (2010) and I Am Nancy (2011).
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Langenkamp told Entertainment Tonight that she’s hopeful she will get to play Nancy one more time in a Nightmare on Elm Street reboot sequel. “Nancy could fight Freddy one last time. I would really like that. Gosh, I’d love to see a future in that. I’ve been really watching the Halloween saga that’s been out, and I love watching Jamie Lee Curtis get to play that part," she said. “You know, this age, where I think we have so much to give to those storylines, but yeah, I wish I was in control of that, but, unfortunately, it’s one of those Hollywood very complicated things.”
With the success of Blumhouse’s recent Halloween trilogy, horror audiences have proven they are primed for classic reboots, particularly ones that revive original storylines and characters, often disregarding previous sequels. While Nancy Thompson may have been technically killed off in Dream Warriors, her appearance in New Nightmare proves that perhaps Nancy can be revived after all. Horror audiences love rebooted timelines in which characters, like Curtis’ Laurie Strode, take on the slashers that tormented their younger selves, bringing the franchises full circle.
While it remains to be seen if Robert Englund is primed to take on one last performance as Freddy Krueger, Langenkamp’s eagerness to reprise her role is exciting news for fans of the original film and modern horror fans. More than other slasher films of the past 30+ years, A Nightmare on Elm Street’s focus on dream worlds offers a bit more flexibility in terms of alternate timelines, making it a great opportunity for another round of horror.
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) is available on HBO Max.
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Source: Entertainment Tonight
