Among the upcoming horror movies coming our way this Halloween season is Bishal Dutta’s original offering It Lives Inside. The movie tells the story of a teen girl who unknowingly unleashes a flesh-eating demonic spirit named Pishacha (pulled from Hindu and Buddhist mythologies) and must come to terms with her Indian heritage in order to contain it from its killing spree. It’s an exciting debut feature film for Dutta who hopes to rise up the ranks of the horror landscape and someday perhaps put his own mark on his favorite franchise: A Nightmare on Elm Street.
When CinemaBlend spoke to Bishal Dutta about his future in filmmaking, he shared his thoughts on bringing to life A Nightmare on Elm Street for the modern horror era. In his words:
That would be a dream come true. Obviously it’s my favorite franchise. I think it’s the best idea that’s ever been put in a mainstream horror film. And, the mechanics are amazing. I think the biggest challenge with it is that Robert Englund is just such an important and crucial part of that franchise and I think he brings so much of the identity of that franchise. And I mean, I can’t imagine doing one of those without him.
Release Date: September 22, 2023
Directed By: Bishal Dutta
Written By: Bishal Dutta & Ashish Mehta
Starring: Megan Suri, Mohana Krishnan, Neeru Bajwa, Betty Gabriel, Vik Sahay and Gage Marsh
Rating: PG-13 for teen drug use, brief strong language, bloody images, terror and violent content
Runtime: 99 minutes
As Dutta, who is clearly a huge fan of Wes Craven’s franchise, shared, there’s one specific challenge that is involved to whomever revives the series. He would want to get Robert Englund on board, and the actor hasn’t haunted dreams as Freddy Krueger since 2003’s Freddy vs. Jason. When Hollywood sought to replace the actor in 2010’s remake, it really didn’t pan out well.
It’s not as if Englund has been completely shut down to the idea of reprising the role. In 2019, the actor shared that he “could do one more… probably,” but thought Hollywood needed to find a replacement for him in the long run to do additional sequels.
Englund was recently part of a major horror property when he appeared as Victor Kreel in Stranger Things 4 in some amazing prosthetics. Perhaps the next Nightmare on Elm Street, which has reportedly been in talks at New Line before, could implement Englund and then have him somehow pass on the baton?
Dutta also expanded on why he thinks A Nightmare On Elm Street needs a revival. As he continued:
Also the idea itself lends itself to a very large scale of filmmaking. And, that’s what I would wanna see. It lends itself to, I guess I would call it the kind of IMAX treatment of Nightmare on Elm Street. That’s what excites me. That’s very much what I would wanna see is just the extreme version of the cinematic experience that you can have with a dream slasher.
As Dutta shared, it would be awesome to see A Nightmare on Elm Street become a modern studio film that is taken to IMAX screens to show off all its gorgeously terrifying dream sequences and Freddy Krueger scares. As the filmmaker continues to establish himself in the horror genre over the years, perhaps he’ll get the chance to make his dream, and our future nightmares come true!
You can check out Bishal Dutta’s It Lives Inside in theaters this Friday, September 22.