‘There's no Freddy left in me’: Robert Englund dismisses Nightmare on Elm Street comeback

Robert Englund has dismissed the idea of returning as Freddy Krueger in another ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ movie.

The 77-year-old actor played the hellish antagonist from the horror franchise’s debut in 1984 until the ‘Freddy vs. Jason’ spin-off 21 years ago, though Englund has now suggested his time as the villain is at an end.

When Bloody Disgusting asked the horror star if he had another Freddy performance in him, Englund replied: "I don’t. I literally don’t. I mean, there might be some gimmick thing we could do with a close-up or something, but no, I can’t play him anymore. I’m too old.

"But no, there’s no Freddy left in me."

The actor did however suggest he could possibly reprise his role in a "high-end, animated version" of the picture and added that the main reason he didn't think another live-action film would work was because his age would prevent him from performing physically-demanding sequences.

He said: "I could possibly voice a really high-end, animated version. That would be nice to be asked to do, but I know I can’t do the fight scenes more than one take now, one angle. I just can’t be snapping my head or anything like that. I’m an old dog! Give me a break."

In a retrospective look at the first movie to mark its 40th anniversary, Englund said he knew writer and director Wes Craven "was onto something" when he first heard the concept of the flick.

He explained: "I knew Wes was onto something, because he had pitched the whole idea of what the movie meant to him; this suburban malaise and divorce and alcoholism among the parents.

"This neighborhood had been cursed with this guy, and then they had burned him alive, and he had come back to haunt them for their own suburban American complacency. He had this whole kind of thing going on with it.

"It’s very symbolic. I mean, every town has an Elm Street! Where was John F. Kennedy shot? On Elm Street. There’s a lot going on there. Wes is no fool. He was layering stuff in there."