Wes Craven’s Nightmare on Elm Street, the movie that introduced the infamous Freddy Krueger, is one of Hollywood’s most successful horror franchises.
As detailed in a previous feature, its origins and influences are rather … varied. Strange but true: One of them involves Gary Wright’s hit 1970s pop song, "Dream Weaver."
Nightmare on Elm Street's most prominent inspiration was the Cambodian refugee conundrum detailed in articles published by the LA Times in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Speaking of the perils faced by one of the younger victims, Craven was later quoted:
"He told his parents he was afraid that if he slept, the thing chasing him would get him, so he tried to stay awake for days at a time. When he finally fell asleep, his parents thought this crisis was over. Then they heard screams in the middle of the night. By the time they got to him, he was dead. He died in the middle of a nightmare. Here was a youngster having a vision of a horror that everyone older was denying. That became the central line of Nightmare on Elm Street."
Contemporary scientists seem convinced these sudden deaths are related to a genetic mutation that affects males in South Asia. But back in the early 1980s, it seemed otherwise healthy men were mysteriously perishing when they went to bed...
Now, back to "Dream Weaver" inspiring Craven’s horror classic. In the mid-1970s, singer-songwriter Gary Wright was good pals with George Harrison, former Beatle and dedicated devout of all things Indian culture and philosophy.
Reading a book given to him by Harrison, Wright came across a poem titled "God! God! God!" in which the narrator elaborates on the concept of a human mind controlling its own dreams. Suitably influenced by this hippie-approved notion, Wright wrote the song "Dream Weaver" and saw it top music charts in 1976.
It might just be the first "synth pop" hit in music history, too—aside from drums, all other music is performed on keyboard synthesizer. Prog rock pioneering is go...!
The film’s premise was already festering in Craven’s mind, but hearing the song cemented the idea of a villain dictating the direction and outcome of his victim's dreams (or in the movie's case, nightmares). The synthesizers offered composer Charles Bernstein influence for his dark, eerie soundtrack, too.
Space rock: Approved by middle-aged dads and legendary horror movie-makers...!
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