Slashing -- er, Cutting -- Our Way Through

Once again, welcome to another entry in the self-congratulatory NEVER SLEEP AGAIN: THE ELM STREET LEGACY production blog!  Because of the overwhelming response to our lil’ documentary, we figured these weekly rants would help keep fans up to date -- as well as our sanity in check -- during those late night coffee-induced work sessions.

With around 90-interviews (!) in the can, we wrapped our last official day at Pro HD Studios on Friday and I’ve retired to the editing room where I don’t expect to see daylight for two months.  Meanwhile, the rest of the team is focused on getting pick-up interviews with those few remaining Nightmare people, many whom are scattered across the globe. Stef Hutchinson, director of HALLOWEEN: 25 YEARS OF TERROR, is about to roll cameras on Stephen Hopkins this week in London (big PREDATOR 2 fan here!) and we’re setting up a few more interviews in New York, Texas and even Hong Kong. We’ve literally gone to the ends of the Earth to get as many ELM STREET faces as possible!

Meanwhile, our pal Sean Clark has been off and rolling on a new episode of HORROR’S HALLOWED GROUNDS – a little featurette for the bonus disc that shows off all the NIGHTMARE 1 filming locations.  We shot some pretty fun material all over town with many of the original cast members along for the ride (as well as a few other cameos I won’t spoil).  It’s a testament to how great and supportive Heather Langenkamp and the cast & crew of the ELM STREET movies have been during the making of this project.

Right now, the phrase “never sleep again” is definitely apt.  In every major project, time is always your worst enemy.  My editing bay is beginning to look a lot like Nancy’s room (minus the bars on the windows), but we know that all these long hours will be worth it.

I’ve spent the past week living in the world of repressed homosexual angst and exploding parakeets (a.k.a. A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET PART 2).  I think FREDDY’S REVENGE is shaping up to be my favorite part of the doc based on the wild production stories, bizarre (and most claim, unintentional) homoerotic overtones and rampant fan criticism.  The stories are so honest and entertaining and they really cut to the core of how filmmaking and business intermingle – both for better and worse.  Furthermore, I’m developing huge respect and awe for Bob Shaye’s New Line as we make this.  The insider stories of how he created a self-made empire and broke all the rules along the way are just damn inspiring – and I think it will be the overall arc of this documentary. It makes me really sad thinking how that era of New Line has passed…

I’ve worked alongside Dan Farrands and this team on a multitude of projects for almost two years straight and they’re the best partners I could ever imagine.  The only problem was, most of our projects ended up getting severely compromised in some way or another. What’s great about NEVER SLEEP AGAIN is that this project is 100% indie.  It may be tougher, but damn it’s liberating!

I  also want to clarify one thing: Contrary to those early press reports, this will NOT be a 90-minute documentary. I’m not sure how we got it in our heads that we could adequately tell the story of a franchise (consisting of 8 films and a freagin’ TV series!) in that amount of time.  Luckily, we came to our senses and decided that NEVER SLEEP AGAIN will be as long as it needs to be to deliver the most definitive doc possible.  We don’t want to short-change a thing.  That might mean a 3-4 hour film, but it’ll be a well-paced and entertaining one.
Now it’s back to the editing room. This thing ain’t gonna cut itself…

--Andrew Kasch (co-director, editor)