The Trial of Fred Krueger

Marge: 

It drove us crazy when we didn't know who it was, 

but it was even worse after they caught him

Nancy : 

Did they put him away?

Marge: 

Well all the lawyers got fat and the Judge got famous, but
someone forgot to sign the search warrant in the right place 

and Krueger was free just like that

 

Every now and then I find myself thinking about one of my favorite movies and the potential of various what ifs of off screen events .The "woulda coulda shouldas" , if you will. And one of them recently was on the events of the Trial that would have taken place before Wes Craven's original A Nightmare on Elm Street.  

One of aspects I always admired about Mr Craven's film was that the world of the characters had a history of a life before the movie. A history that was never nailed down in detail by him in any of the Freddy movies he participated in making. Ive often wondered if he had his own Freddy Bible. A list of rules and history of events that Craven created to give himself something to visualize the story, but never needed to put into a script. 

If they ever were to make some form of entertainment out of the Trial of Fred Krueger, I would hope it would be done as a miniseries. Something like 13 episodes. How could they best build up tension and drama when we know how this story ends?
However they chose,they would need a good length to explore all aspects of the story. Let moments breathe. Introduce characters we can care about.

A prequel as a movie choice would have to severely edit story elements to fit within the constraints of an hour an half to two hour film. There is so much dark history leading up to Krueger’s first kill. Let alone exploring the terror he created and following it as it spread through the community with each missing child. Then there is the trial itself. And finally, the act of vengeance.

A lot of ground to cover.

And from whose perspective would this story be told?The Parents? Specifically, any of them from the first movie? Who to follow from before, during, and after the kill?

Follow Freddy? Could watching him as a character really sustain itself ? Cant imagine him having a lot of people to talk to and relate to- so it would it be him at work, and at play-stalking and killing- a lot of dialogue free scenes until his capture ,interrogation and trial where he gets to speak . A straightforward biography movie of Freddy would be a tough choice to pull off .We already know how that story ends, and there would be no way or need to make him a sympathetic character. If we stayed with him for the duration of the story, then all the other characters would most likely lack depth. And the less we try to bring the backstory that was written for Freddy's Dead into the mix the better. Freddy as a father? It certainly could be done. For all we know he could have been a person who hurt the kids who bullied his own child. A parent who took protecting their child to crazy extremes. He meant well, but was never well in the head to begin with so he didnt know when to stop ....ad he liked his work. But Ive always ascribed more to the idea that Freddy was a loner . One of those people who walked through life unnoticed....until the day he decided to make the world take notice.  

I've explored random ideas of his birth to burning in a previous post on here before. There are many ways to approach the events , with or without Freddy's Dead tackled as canon.

Could they pull off the story by keeping Freddy in the shadows for most of the story? His big reveal at the moment he is captured? And exactly how did he get caught? In the act? Or tracked? Ive often thought that ,as his killings and the found bodies and numbers of missing children increased, the Parents fear grew. 

Freddy would begin to snatch his children from street corners and school yards and whenever opportunity gave him a gift. Perhaps picking out the quiet ones and latch key kids at first.. A type of kid he was probably familiar with having most likely been one himself. So he would know how to spot the potential easy marks. 

Or choosing ,at first, kids whose disappearance might not make as much noise in the papers. Playing on prejudices and preconceptions that he thought would be made about his chosen child. But his real intent came from taking the children from the perceived "perfect" families. He would take pleasure in soiling these white picket fenced happy homes.Shoving in their faces the horrors of the world that they thought were not meant for them.Maybe Parents who treated Freddy with disrespect  by day found their children taken by night.  

Eventually the Parents would pull the kids back to their own yards.....but that would not stop Freddy.  He would continue his terror until playing outside was forbidden. The playgrounds and school yards would be empty. So then Freddy would have to creep inside their homes and take the children from their beds.....or leave them there for Mommy to find in the morning. 

It's indicated that he took the kids to an old abandoned boiler room for his brand of fun. But it's never mentioned what he did with the bodies afterwards. It seems in line with his character that he burned some of them  Partially to hide his handy work, partially to just watch them burn. But then his twisted sense of being would want to extend the horror to the homes. Horror tableaux left on playground toys or in bedrooms. Foul things written in their children's blood on the walls above the baby crib. 

Eventually all this need to snatch them from inside would place Freddy in greater danger of getting caught. It would force him to keep coming to their neighborhoods .And in a small town when they are paying attention and looking, someone like him is sure to be noticed. Suspicion leads to search warrant.

And what of the trial? How long do you think it lasted before he was set free? Did the parents we have already met give testimony while Krueger grinned and stared them down from across the courtroom? Giggling at their pain. Licking his lips and rubbing his crotch as each child’s murder was presented.

Marge spoke of it being much worse after Freddy was caught. How so? Not knowing if your child was safe at play would surely be awful. But having to spend day after day seeing Freddy in person would be a terrible emotional experience. Sure, he was under lock and key, but now he was more than just lines on the pages of a newspaper. Hearing every gory detail that each child experienced would be heartbreaking, more so if they knew the child personally. The painful testimony after testimony of each parent as they tell about their child before they were lost and in some cases, how they were found .Every time you  opened the paper, there he was staring back at you,always grinning in joy from the pain and suffering he has caused with his own gloved hand.And there was another child revealed as attributed to being tainted by his touch.

I imagined Krueger would mock the parents in the courtroom……

FREDDY :

Awww that was your child? Sloppy Seconds Susie?

….she had sweet lips…

(glares at Susie’s Father) 

...........but then you knew that didn’t you,Daddy?” . 

 Another Parent in regards to their child-” WHY?!? WHY?!? ….

FREDDY 

(staring directly into her eyes):

Just so I could watch you cry

The media would have a field day with this sensational trial .As the whole town would want to know what was going on. Understandably so. Everyone in town would have something to say about the situation. From people who actually knew details to attention seekers making up stories. “You know the Shop And Bag out by the mall? I stopped at the light and saw him walking in that field behind the Lost River Drive-In on the day that that Lane kid went missing”. Reporters showing up on doorsteps all times of the day. The horrors being relived and reported over and over with no escape for the parents directly involved.

What of the lawyers? Imagine having to be the representative for Krueger? I bet there was a certain amount of harassment that person experienced. And after they used the search warrant signature error to get Krueger off? I’m surprised the parents didn’t burn the lawyer too.

What of the Judge? Did he work the trial to his own political advantage with all the attention it was bringing?Take payments to keep certain people/businesses out of the trial?

And what of the search warrant? Who failed to do their job correctly?What if it was the Judge himself? That would surely make him famous for making such a mistake. Or maybe the search warrant was fake in the first place. What if Nancy's father from the original movie was involved in the mishandling of the search warrant

I could see the Krueger case developing to a level of hysteria that he had to be "protected" .Kept in a cage of glass or bars. It would lead in well to the concept of the the avenging parents if they were already driven to try and hurt Krueger in the courtroom before his release. Several attempts and or threats could lead the court to determine it was the only way to give him a fair trial is to prevent further interruptions.

Of course this would just piss off the parents more. "He's guilty!He deserves to be punished.How dare you protect him after what he did?Where was this protection for our children?"  

And then there is fiery events that occurred after the trial.........