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Freddy's Nightmares was a late-night television anthology series from 1988. A spin-off from the Nightmare on Elm Street movies, each story was introduced by Freddy Krueger (played, as in the movies, by Robert Englund). This format is essentially the same as that employed by Alfred Hitchcock Presents, or Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone. The pilot episode was directed by Tobe Hooper. As of 2006, the series still has not been released on Region 1 DVD. Reviews of the series are generally mixed, but while many people considered the series to be both scary and entertaining, it was nevertheless cancelled after a relatively short period of time. The series' demise may have been played in part due to complaints concerning the violence in the series, which was featured in many other syndicated shows at the time such as War of the Worlds and , both of which, like Freddy's Nightmares, were cancelled in 1990. One element that makes the series unique is its two-tier story approach. Most of the episodes feature two different stories. However, every second story builds on the storyline of the first. For instance, in one episode a woman plays in a gameshow hosted by the devil. In the second part she meets an old woman, who is actually her future self, who tells her she is going to kill her husband. Due to budget restraints, the makers of the series were forced to use unknown actors rather than some of the stars associated with the series. Three of these then-unknowns are Brad Pitt, Mariska Hargitay, and Lori Petty. The only actor from the film series retained for the TV series was Robert Englund playing Freddy Krueger. Five episodes of the series were released ("No More Mr. Nice Guy", "Lucky Stiff", "It's My Party and You'll Die If I Want You To", "Dreams That Kill" and "Freddy's Tricks and Treats") on VHS through Warner Home Video in the early 1990's. Those videos are now out of print. In 1991, Braveworld Ltd. released The Nightmare Begins Again, a direct-to-video movie comprised of two episodes edited together. The film was used to launch Braveworld's collection of Freddy's Nightmares episodes, usually consisting of two episodes per tape. The episodes in the feature were "No More Mr. Nice Guy" (directed by horror legend Tobe Hooper) and "Killer Instinct" (directed by Masters of Horror creator Mick Garris). In 2003, Volume 1 (the first 3 episodes) was released on Region 2 DVD in Ireland and the UK, by Warner Home Video. Volume 2 (and presumably the rest of the series) was also planned for release later that year, however, sales were so poor, that Warner cancelled the release of Volume 2. In 2006, AOL has teamed up with distributor Warner Bros. Television to bring Freddy's Nightmares to its new In2TV broadband service, however, it is only available to the US.
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