Freddy Krueger

Much skepticism has greeted the producers' promise--cross their hearts and hope to die--that "Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare" would absolutely be the last sequel in the "Nightmare on Elm Street" series. After all, Freddy Krueger buys the farm at the end of every one of these deja vu-like recurring installments, as any teen'll tell you. (And didn't the rival "Friday the 13th" multi-parter have its own "Final Chapter," oh, about four chapters ago?) But hey--they may not be kidding.

Like Dracula, Freddy Krueger just can't be kept down. He's back again in "A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors" (citywide). Hideously burned but possessing supernatural powers--and a clawlike razor-tipped right hand, the erstwhile child murderer is still running amok. The big difference is that his films are becoming burlesques of the original, and that's frankly all to the good.

I took a vow, somewhere on the drive between Tony Soprano's Bada-Bing Club on Rt. 17 in nearby Lodi, and the Meadowlands where Chris and Pussy exhumed the body of a garbage hauler they had buried, to be nicer here to people than maybe I am to folks back in L.A. In fact I would urge Kevin Brown, Tim Leiweke and the Grocery Store Bagger to move to Jersey as soon as possible and I can say without reservation, I'd be nicer to them all. I'll even pay for the Bagger's one-way airfare.

The folks at New Line Cinema knew that Freddy Krueger was on his way to official cult status when the display art started to disappear from video stores and theater lobbies. The cardboard cutouts and gory one-sheets featuring the latex-smothered anti-hero of "Nightmare on Elm Street" fame were pilfered or, in some cases, sold to teen-age Freddy worshipers. "Even though he's rather hostile to them in the movies, teen-agers love Freddy," said Bruce Blackwell, New Line's director of marketing.

As Freddy Krueger, the fiendish dream stalker in the "A Nightmare on Elm Street" movies, he brandishes a glove with razor-sharp finger knives and dispatches his young victims with demonic glee: "This is it, Jennifer," he croons to an aspiring young actress before smashing her head into a television set, "your big break in TV."

Remember the bogyman? Or the nasty gremlins or even Freddy Krueger? These monsters can haunt dreams and cause children to fear the dark. As children grow older, most can overcome such fears, but some cannot. Lisa Branco, a junior at Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton, says she has acrophobia, an innate fear of heights. She distrusts her balance and avoids high places. She remembers peering down from the Empire State Building when she was 6 years old and suddenly becoming dizzy and deathly afraid.

All is not dark at the Wes Craven manse. Sure, there's the Poe-esque faux owl on the terrace peering icily over Craven's sweeping view of Nichols Canyon. And a very stuffed Rex greeting you at the door, in memory of his deadly canine performance in "The People Under the Stairs." Not to mention such rarefied coffee-table fare as "The History of Hell."

Actor Robert Englund was alternately proud and embarrassed. He kept saying, "It's very weird." It certainly was. He was referring to the emergence of his character in the two "Nightmare on Elm Street" movies as, of all things, a cult hero. In case you didn't know, this character, Freddy Krueger, is a horribly disfigured, homicidal child molester who has knife blades for fingernails. Largely because of Freddy, both movies have been big box office hits.

The Hollywood home featured in the 1984 slasher classic “A Nightmare on Elm Street” has sold for its listing price of $2.1 million. Bearing a signature red door as the two-story did during its days as a Freddy Krueger haunt, the now-updated 1919 traditional-style house features a classic center hallway, an open plan kitchen and family room, wide-plank wood floors, three bedrooms, 3½ bathrooms and 2,700 square feet of living space. There also are a guest house and a swimming pool on the property, which last sold in 2006 for $1.15 million.

Could you please give me some advance notice for "Charles Manson Day" and "Gang Violence Day" so I can plan my schedule accordingly. DANIEL COHEN, Los Angeles