The Eerie Similarities Between H.R. Giger and Freddy Krueger

During my little Nightmare On Elm Street marathon that I had a few days ago I realized just how angry I was with Dream Child. I hated it. Even as a kid I found the movie really dumb and really bad but it was better than Freddy’s Dead. Well, we all know about the famous line that comes from Dream Child, “Don’t dream and drive,” and I saw that scene where Freddy turns into a motorcycle. I am shocked to say this but… I really liked that scene because I felt it was a tribute to the work of H.R. Giger. Perhaps I am reading too much into it but it looked so much like his paintings. I have decided to compare some screenshots with some of Giger’s work and I know some of the artwork that I chose is from the film Dune so bare with me.

Note: A Nightmare On Elm Street: The Dream Child was released in 1989 where as Dune was released in 1984.

In this scene, long, mechanical tendrils shoot out from the Freddy Cycle and puncture the kid’s hand. I want to compare this brief little scene to this extravagant piece by Giger. Notice how the tendrils bare the same physical resemblance: long, gray, ridged and very mechanical and flexible. They originate from a larger, more complex machine. You should also notice how the tendrils attach themselves to the body by puncturing through the skin and fusing both the human and the machine together. Only difference is, in Giger’s painting it’s done in a very sexual way.

Here we have the mechanical tendrils pierce through the skin on the cheeks towards the brain and can even see a large mechanical-looking apparatus form within the throat of the victim. The piece that is next to it is what I want to compare it to. Here we have the same tendrils weaving in and out of the facial skin, which will eventually envelop the entire skull. I find it interesting that both the movie and the artwork show the body being turned into a machine in the darkest of ways.

I really like the similarities that these two images have. Of course, the Giger piece is concept art that was used for Dune but they still bare a striking resemblance. They both have a skull like exterior that looks hard yet soft, however, you’ll notice that in both of them, they have tendrils and wires forming out of it. They both show this emotion of pain and depression.

The one thing that I could not grab a shot of is the final Freddy Cycle because I had to screen grab it from YouTube and the quality is bad. In the end, Freddy takes over Dan completely and he becomes a part of the motorcycle and this is something that Giger’s work really reflects on. In most of his pieces, the body (be in human or inhuman) becomes part of this vast network of machines and twisted mechanical appendages and the final Freddy Cycle really reflects that theme.

Perhaps I might be looking too deep into this shitty movie and maybe I am trying to like it because it is a Freddy movie and the only way I can like it is if there is some Giger in it. The short answer is no, I’m not. I just noticed this because I had to study Giger as an artist for one of my classes. He is a brilliant artist whose work is very awe-inspiring, whereas Dream Child is not. Still, it’s pretty nice to see a tribute to him in Dream Child whether it was intentional or not.