Robert Englund will forever have his name synonymous with Freddy Krueger, but there’s much more to the actor than A Nightmare on Elm Street. Throughout the course of his career, Englund has performed in dozens of other TV and film roles, absolutely killing it every time.
Let’s take a look at ten of the very best Robert Englund roles other than Freddy Krueger…
Raymond Beaumont
Wishmaster (1997)
Robert Kurtzman’s horror film Wishmaster tells the story of an evil genie known as “The Djinn” (Andrew Divoff), who kills people in ironic ways based on their wishes. The movie is executive produced by Wes Craven, but that’s not the only connection it has to A Nightmare on Elm Street. Among many other stars of the horror genre, such as Reggie Bannister and Kane Hodder, Robert Englund appears in a key role in the film.
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In Wishmaster, Englund plays wealthy art collector Raymond Beaumont. It’s his character who unknowingly brings the Djinn to the United States at the beginning of the film. Later, Beaumont is hosting a party when the Djinn arrives and ends up causing the massacre of his guests (and himself) by wishing for his party to be “unforgettable.”
Jackson Roth
Strangeland (1998)
Written by Dee Snider, the John Pieplow film Strangeland regales the story of a demented madman known as Carlton “Captain Howdy” Hendricks (Snider), who kidnaps and mutilates teenage girls in the neighborhood. Eventually, he is caught and placed on trial for his crimes but is ultimately released after attaining psychiatric treatment. Supposedly sane, Hendricks moves back into his old neighborhood, much to the chagrin of its residents.
Protesting Hendricks’ residence is an activist group led by Englund’s Jackson Roth, who ends up hanging “Captain Howdy” from a tree. Hendricks escapes certain death when the tree branch breaks, later kidnapping Roth after killing his wife. Although Roth is horribly mutilated, he luckily winds up surviving the film.
Willie
V (1983)
A year before putting on the bladed glove for the very first time, Robert Englund had starred in the two-part TV mini-series V. The sci-fi series was about aliens known as “Visitors” and their plan to somehow take control of the planet. Englund played the memorable role of Willie, one of the Visitors. Ultimately, Willie proves to be a human sympathizer, betraying his own people by joining the human resistance.
After the success of V, a three-part sequel mini-series was brought to television a year later, which was intended to close the story. Fan demand then brought about a weekly TV series that ran for 19 episodes before concluding in 1985. Englund played Willie in all three of these versions of V.
Gordon Crowley
Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer (2008)
Robert Englund plays one of his most bizarre roles ever in Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer, a horror comedy film from Jon Knautz. When a plumber named Jack Brooks (Trevor Matthews) attends to a piping problem for Professor Gordon Crowley (Englund), he unwittingly unleashes a sinister force that transforms the doctor into a hideous monster. When it begins turning others into monsters as well, Jack is forced to confront them and become the town’s savior.
Englund’s role in this film is unlike anything else you’ve ever seen, and if you haven’t seen it yet, do yourself a favor and look it up.
Bill Gartley
The Mangler (1995)
Co-written and directed by Tobe Hooper, The Mangler is based on one of Stephen King’s short stories. It’s about a possessed laundry press known as “The Mangler,” which is owned by launderer Bill Gartley (Englund). It is uncovered that for the sake of wealth and status, the town’s elders have sacrificed their virgin daughters to The Mangler, and Gartley himself is involved. He plans to do the same with his niece Sherry (Vanessa Pike) but is killed before he gets the chance.
Englund’s character is highly entertaining in this film, and the lack of his presence is a big reason why neither of the sequels could live up to the original.
The Phantom
The Phantom of the Opera (1989)
In 1989, Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers director Dwight H. Little took a stab at the classic tale, The Phantom of the Opera. This version of the film stars Robert Englund as the titular phantom, presenting a darker version of the story with a scarier take on the character. Although much gorier than other iterations, the film actually more closely resembles the original novel than the romance-focused movies from other filmmakers.
There have literally been dozens of adaptations of The Phantom of the Opera, but for many horror movie fans, Little’s film is the most memorable of them all.
Mayor Buckman
2001 Maniacs (2005)
A remake of a 1964 film from Herschell Gordon Lewis, Tim Sullivan’s horror comedy 2001 Maniacs features Englund in the lead role as Mayor George W. Buckman. Englund’s character is just one of many of the kooky residents of Pleasant Valley, a remote Georgia town stumbled upon by a group of college students. The town is seemingly holding a jubilee in commemoration of the American Civil War, but in actuality, it’s a ruse to kill those passing through in horribly brutal ways.
A sequel to this film was released in 2010, with Bill Moseley taking over the role of Mayor Buckman.
Professor Wexler
Urban Legend (1998)
The ’90s horror film Urban Legend is a classic whodunit movie, keeping the identity of the killer a secret until the end. In the movie, a maniac is murdering people in ways that recreate stories from popular urban legends. Those still alive attempt to unmask the killer before they wind up becoming his or her next victim.
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Robert Englund plays Professor Wexler in the film and is at one point assumed by the survivors to be the murderer. The discovery of his corpse shows that his hunch was wrong, with Wexler himself proving to be just another victim.
Doc Halloran
Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2007)
Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon is truly a unique slasher film like no other. The pseudo-documentary is set in a fictional world where the killers shown in slasher movies actually exist. A film crew is documenting aspiring serial killer Leslie Vernon as he prepares for a massacre of a group of teens. Although the filmmakers abandon the project, Leslie follows through with his plans, meticulously picking off his victims one by one.
Of course, Englund is in the film, playing psychiatrist Doc Halloran. The character seems to be an homage to Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence) from the Halloween franchise. With Englund playing so many villains in his career, it’s nice to see him have such a substantial role as the hero.
Robert Englund
Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994)
Oddly enough, while we’re overlooking Freddy Krueger for the sake of this list, Wes Craven’s New Nightmare still makes the cut. It’s a film set in the “real world,” with Heather Langenkamp playing a fictionalized version of herself. The actress is soon targeted by a real-life manifestation of Freddy Krueger, who begins attacking the cast and crew of the franchise. Although set in a different universe than A Nightmare on Elm Street, the film is a favorite entry for many fans of the series.
Like Langenkamp and director Wes Craven, Englund plays himself in the film. When he is contacted by Langenkamp about her nightmares, Englund reveals he’s experiencing something similar by painting some disturbing images of the new Freddy. The actor vanishes soon after, leaving his fate undetermined and sparing us from a death scene featuring Englund being killed by his most famous character.
