The original A Nightmare On Elm Street paved the way for supernatural horror to feature more overt fantasy elements, but not many viewers know about the iconic slasher’s connection to the Insidious franchise. Released in 1984, the original Nightmare On Elm Street was a breath of fresh air for horror audiences, many of whom were growing tired with the sub-genre thanks to a deluge of Halloween-inspired cash-ins. Since John Carpenter’s classic had proven so effective and the formula of “masked mute murder offs a string of teens” was easy and cheap to recreate, a bevy of identikit rip-offs had followed.
Unfortunately, few of these movies could recreate the brutal effectiveness of Halloween’s suspense. This a big part of why director Wes Craven’s inventive slasher A Nightmare On Elm Street was met with critical and box office success. Although Craven had originally intended for Nightmare On Elm Street’s killer Freddy Krueger to be a more strong and silent type – and even considered future Jason Voorhees Kane Hodder for the role – in the end, it was the talkative, diminutive Robert Englund who ushered in a new breed of horror villain. Freddy spoke, showed his face, and possessed a paranormal ability to invade the safety of slumberland and kill teenagers in their dreams. All these elements marked A Nightmare On Elm Street out as a subversive spin on the standard slasher template.
In the decades that followed, supernatural horror gained back a large audience as slashers slipped in and out of popularity. By the 2010s, director James Wan’s Insidious series was one of the most reliably successful horror franchises. Surprisingly, though, future Insidious star Lin Shaye has a small role in not only the original A Nightmare On Elm Street, but also a cameo in its meta-sequel Wes Craven’s New Nightmare.
Nancy’s teacher, who doesn’t have much dialogue in the original Nightmare On Elm Street, is played by Shaye, a horror icon who spent the decades before and since her role making over one hundred movie appearances. Decades after A Nightmare On Elm Street proved horror with fantasy elements had blockbuster appeal, the actor went on to star as Elise, the psychic heroine of the Insidious series. Shaye has also enjoyed an illustrious career in genre fare throughout the 2010s with roles in both Ouija movies and The Grudge (as well as many, many DTV horror outings).
Interestingly, Shaye also appeared in a similarly small role a decade later in Wes Craven’s New Nightmare, as a briefly-seen nurse. Both roles came about while Shaye was still a mainstay in Hollywood horror but hadn’t had her late-career big break yet. Unfortunately, despite 2010 providing her with a part that reignited her screen career, the year did not offer Shaye a chance to reprise her role as Nancy’s teacher in A Nightmare On Elm Street’s remake. That said, the terrible reception the slasher redo received may be proof that Shaye was lucky to limit her Nightmare On Elm Street legacy to two brief appearances in the franchise’s best-reviewed outings.
