Robert Englund is a horror movie icon, and not just for his most obvious role. Getting his start in horror movies of the late 70s and early 80s, it wasn’t until the American actor was cast as Freddy Krueger in the Nightmare on Elm Street movies that he became a household name, bringing to life the scarred, pun-slinging dream demon with ghoulish charisma. However, Freddy Krueger isn’t Robert Englund’s only horror movie film to fame, showing up in a wide variety of other roles in similarly scary movies.
Because of how iconic Freddy Krueger is as a slasher movie villain, it’s easy to see why Englund quickly became typecast as the villain of the horror movies he does appear in, if not a creepy side character at the very least. That being said, Englund will also occasionally appear as a supporting character or even a protagonist, his appearance being more of a cameo. From low-budget indie films to big box office blockbusters, Robert Englund has left an undeniable impact on the horror genre for more than just Freddy.
10 Eaten Alive
Robert Englund plays Buck
One of Robert Englund’s first big breaks early into his acting career, Eaten Alive deserves more credit in his horror movie filmography. Combining elements of aquatic animal horror movies like Jaws with standard slasher fare, Eaten Alive stars Western darling Neville Brand as the psychotic operator of a Louisiana hotel in the bayou, who has a strange symbiotic relationship with a massive alligator living in the swamps he calls a backyard. When someone gets on his bad side, Neville’s Judd hunts them down with farm equipment before feeding them to the beast.
Robert Englund appears as Buck, a scummy citizen of Judd’s hunting grounds with a mind for sexual depravity. Buck fulfills the dirty, but vital horror movie job of a detestable character audiences love to see get their comeuppance, with his death at the maw of the hungry gator being more satisfying than scary. Even if he didn’t star as the primary antagonist, this character was early proof of Englund’s potential as a nightmarish villain.
9 The Phantom Of The Opera
Robert Englund plays Erik Destler, The Phantom himself
Freddy Krueger wouldn’t be the only time Englund plays a villain known for their distinctive facial burnscars. Better known as a stage play, 1989’s The Phantom of the Opera tells the same story almost more effectively as a daring horror movie, though it didn’t win any favors with critics. Framed around a modern day performer who is thrown into the events of the original novel after falling unconscious in an accident, The Phantom Of The Opera puts a gory spin on the iconic drama of its namesake.
Englund does a phenomenal job as Erik Destler, the Phantom haunting the halls of a high-class theater. Updating the villains classic half-face mask with an intimidating skull, Englund is vicious fun to watch as he tears his way through a hapless troupe of performers, wallowing in his obsession with the film’s time-displaced star protagonist. Able to balance the film’s outrageous gore with a healthy dose of over-the-top dramatic theatrics, it’s hard not to say Englund wasn’t perfect for the role.
8 2001 Maniacs
Robert Englund plays Mayor George W. Buckman
It’s important to remember that Robert Englund wasn’t just cast as Freddy Kruger for his scare potential, but for his keen sense of comedic timing. It stands to reason that his participation in horror comedy movies like 2001 Maniacs was spurred by his clear talent for spitting out dark humor, even in the most depraved of situations. 2001 Maniacs is a remake of the 1964 film Two Thousand Maniacs!, the movie follows a group of vacationers who find themselves in dire straights when they become trapped in the backwater Georgia town of Pleasant Valley, whose Confederacy-loving residents seek Northerner blood.
Robert Englund leads the charge as Mayor George W. Buckman, the leader of Pleasant Valley’s bloodthirsty mob of citizens. Clad in a Confederate-flag-adorned eyepatch, Englund chews the scenery of Pleasant Valley as wonderfully as ever. His chiling cackles make for a great reveal when the true nature of the town is eventually revealed in the film’s twist ending.
7 The Moleman of Belmont Avenue
Robert Englund plays Hezekiah Confab
On the subject of horror comedies, Robert Englund was willing to help out the production of some incredibly obscure, low-budget films long after having established himself as an icon in the genre. Enter The Moleman of Belmont Avenue, a very independent horror comedy that somehow managed to book Englund for a role as an entertaining side character. The movie stars its directors as a pair of bumbling brothers who own an apartment building, tasked by their tenants to hunt down and destroy the mysterious presence that’s been terrorizing the premises – A nasty subterranean creature.
Englund has a cameo role as Hezekiah Confab, one of the building’s many eccentric renters. Despite being an old man, Confab is quite the lecherous individual, shocking the protagonists with his foul mouth and extracurriculars while sneaking around in an effort to catch the moleman. It’s hard to explain how Englund, a household name by the time of the film’s release in 2011, found himself in such an unknown picture, but his presence is an undeniable boon to the almost student film antics of The Moleman of Belmont Avenue.
6 Galaxy Of Terror
Robert Englund plays Ranger
Science fiction horror is a niche subgenre Robert Englund has managed to dodge on the whole, but still made an impact in thanks to 1981’s Galaxy of Terror. A fairly shameless rip-off of Alien with a far lower budget, the bizarre plot of the film begins with a human ship sent to a hostile alien planet to investigate the sudden disappearance of another crew. With an ambitious sci-fi world filled with magic crystals and strange galaxy-ruling beings, Galaxy of Terror is an early example of James Cameron’s work prior to becoming a household name, serving as the movie’s production designer.
Robert Englund plays a character called Ranger, which may refer to his name or occupation. Englund’s acting skills are put to the test when the film’s creature forces him to battle a demonic clone of himself, battling to the tune of a raging 80s synthesizer. Through his expressions alone, Englund is able to say a lot about the two identical characters he’s representing, both a loyal crewmate and an evil doppelgänger.
5 Wishmaster
Robert Englund plays Raymond Beaumont
Interestingly enough, Robert Englund doesn’t seem to be opposed to starring in films copying A Nightmare on Elm Street, or at least taking some blatantly heavy inspiration from it. In Wishmaster, the reality-warping powers of the villain are explained by the magical powers of the djinn rather than haunting nightmares. The film centers on a jewel appraiser who finds an ancient genie trapped within an fire opal, promising to grant three wishes. The catch is the fact that upon granting the first wish, the Wishmaster’s evil legions of fellow djinn will be free to torment the Earth.
While Wishmaster might be bold enough to feature Robert Englund in its cast, it at least spares him from having to play another powerful supernatural horror villain. Instead, Englund exists in the background driving the action as Raymond Beaumont, a wealthy art purveyor whose expeditions are responsible for unearthing the genie in the first place. His wish ends up being responsible for one of the most memorably terrifying beats in the entire film.
4 Dead & Buried
Robert Englund plays Harry
No horror icon’s filmography is complete without an appearance in a stock standard zombie movie, and Robert Englund certainly fulfills the requirement with Dead & Buried. Though Dead & Buried may have been dead on arrival at the box office, it was appreciated by contemporary critics, and has since attracted a well-deserved cult following. The movie takes place in a small coastal town called Potters Bluff, in which a series of alarming murders are soon revealed to have supernatural perpetrators, eerily re-animated corpses.
Robert Englund adds his talents to the film’s cast as Harry, another one of Potters Bluff’s citizens. Unfortunately, he isn’t given much to do beyond spout expository dialogue and question the frightening state of affairs in the town following the murders. But his scenes are at least interesting to re-visit in the wake of the film’s shocking third act reveal, which puts all the town’s population in a new light.
3 Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
Robert Englund plays Doc Halloran
A strange deconstruction of slasher movie tropes, Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon is a unique horror mockumentary with an emphasis on scares and comedy. The movie presents itself as an in-universe documentary, filmed in a world in which supernatural masked serial killers are the subject of celebrity worship. The titular slasher, Leslie Vernon, is interviewed by the film’s crew, let in on a behind-the-scenes look at the process behind orchestrating a series of murders typical to a standard horror movie.
Robert Englund appears in the film as Doc Halloran, a clinical psychiatrist with a special connection to Leslie. Englund’s character gets a big moment in the middle of the film when he reveals that Leslie Vernon isn’t who he seems, deconstructing why the villains of slasher movies are found to be so mystifying. Halloran is notable among Englund’s characters for being one of the few to survive to the end credits.
2 Hatchet
Robert Englund plays Sampson Dunston
As great as thoughtful meta-commentaries on horror as a genre all, sometimes a standard slasher is the best thing to scratch the horror itch. Strangely enough, Hatchet is another of Robert Englund’s horror movies to be set in the bayous of Louisiana. Not to be confused with the coming-of-age survival novel of the same name, Hatchet follows tourists on a haunted swamp experience who end up in very real danger when they get lost in the wilderness and subsequently hunted down by a deformed, paranormal serial killer.
Despite his marquee value, Robert Englund is killed off quite quickly in Hatchet. He performs the necessary task of giving the slasher villain an early victim to torment prior to introducing the main cast, being an alligator hunter who wanders into the killer’s swamp only to meet a grisly end. Even in such a brief appearance, Robert Englund’s performance is still at least quite memorable.
1 The Mangler
Robert Englund plays Bill Gartley
Of all the Stephen King stories adapted into horror movies, The Mangler might be based on one of the most out-there stories by the legendary author. The villain of The Mangler is, of all things, a haunted laundry press, a bulky piece of machinery that somehow manages to wrack up an impressive body count through sheer evil will. Despite the bizarre logline, The Mangler is quite an entertaining piece of horror fiction thanks in no small part to Robert Englund’s performance.
Robert Englund provides the closest thing the film has to a human villain as Bill Gartley, the miserly owner of Gartley’s Blue Ribbon Laundry service, the business that owns The Mangler itself. Watching Englund torment his hapless workers almost as much as the OSHA-violating villain is great fun, and he serves a valuable role as the film’s human face of horror. Even if The Mangler isn’t a critically-lauded horror movie, it’s a starring example of Englund’s talents outside of Freddy’s clutches.