"When I was alive, I might have been a little naughty, but after they killed me, I became something much, much worse. The stuff nightmares are made of," says Freddy Krueger in "Freddy vs Jason," where he explains how and why he feeds on children's fears to siphon power. Discourse about the teen slasher genre is incomplete without Wes Craven's "A Nightmare on Elm Street," whose enduring legacy paved the path for a claw-gloved horror icon to emerge.

Freddy's mainstream popularity over the years can be attributed to a plethora of factors, key among them being Robert Englund's terrifyingly compelling portrayal of a character that stalks our dreams and waking nightmares. The actor has enthusiastically talked about Freddy at length since the release of Craven's 1984 film, but he is finally happy to pass on the mantle (should another "Nightmare" reboot come to pass) on account that he's...