Nukes and Knives™: A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th

Two iconic horror franchises were adapted into pixelated shit.

A Nightmare on Elm Street

Both are based on third film Dream Warriors (1987).

C64 and PC (1989)

Cover art ignores Matthew Peak's poster.

Where did image come from?

The nearest source is a t-shirt.

And even that isn't identical, as one of Freddy's finger blades is pointing up, not to the right.

But this is clear cut.

Intro vs 1987 board game

Random, right?

Before quest begins, we must choose a character and as per film, each have their own special ability.

Kincaid, Kristen, Will, Nancy, Joey and Taryn.

Entering Springwood, USA!

Our first task is to find Freddy's house (while evading the man himself).

Then we can start rescuing others from Freddy's sharp claws (causing sprite to radically change).

Every level is a confusing maze, with switches, items, traps and strange enemies.

We're given on-screen tips and Freddy's mother Amanda helps out.

At one point, Kincaid remarks:

MOTHERFUCKIN MAGNETS

Yeah, you are reading this right.

HA HA HA!

The final battle.

PC version presents a different challenge, and possibly a nod to Freddy worm.

Ending is superb, as just like Kristen's papier mâché house, a bedroom suddenly lights up.

NES (1990)

Cover art vs The Dream Master (1988) - original motion picture score

WHAT?

Intro vs Part 2: Freddy's Revenge poster/VHS cover art

Blades sprouting through fingers looks weird, but...

The goal is to find Freddy's bones.

Enemies couldn't be more stock, as generic dude fights Frankenstein monsters and giant rats.

(Sigh).

At night, we turn into a fucking ninja.

Amusingly.

Freddy does possess a skeleton.

Bosses

The man of your dreams is lampooned.

I'm sure it's coincidence, but Freddy's glove actually happened.

His bones are thrown inside the furnace.

So, the evil is purged fire purifies all.
The bones are ashes,
Soon to be dust.
Freddy™ is dead and the the nightmare is ended.
......or has it?

Despite ending teasing™ a sequel, it never happened.

In 2013, NECA released a figure based directly on orange costume.

Friday the 13th

Ki ki ki, ma ma ma.

Friday the 13th: The Computer Game (1986)

Spectrum version was previewed in #23 of Crash (December 1985), where Domark confirmed game was based on the second film.

Cover by the late and great Oliver Frey kicked ass.

Fun fact.

Illustration also appeared in #25 of FEAR magazine (January 1991).

Wow - I am such a geek.

Game was reviewed in issue 29 (June 1986) and received 32% overall.

Others were equally unimpressed, with Your Sinclair and Sinclair User scoring it 3/10 and 4/10 respectively.

Because of memory restrictions, this was the only version without music.

Cover art (and title screens) lift The Final Chapter (1984).

Rather than "Jason is back. And this is the one you've been screaming for."
We got: The one you've been screaming for...

1988 Bug Byte re-release was probably based on the VHS cover of Part V: A New Beginning (1985).

Every version of the original release came with two non-toxic blood capsules containing red sugar.

Unsurprisingly, the Speccy omitted the SFX Competition, where 5 Eureka colour monitors could be won, which at the time, cost over £200.

After loading game, we had to place cassette in a normal tape recorder and listen to the 10 sound effects that followed.

1. A quiver full of death. 2. Jason has a meaty meal. 3. Waterworks Wendy: a cheery sight.
4. Madam La Guillotine makes her mark. 5. Attack of the flying mammals.
6. Jason finds a new way in. 7. The petrol driven death machine.
8. Ammo Shuttle goes to pieces. 9. No sight with sore eyes. 10. Jason makes a grave mistake.

Fairly obviously, the number of each sound had to be written in the box most appropriate to description.

Oh, giving a name to your own Software House was also necessary.

In the event of a tie, the five entrants most dynamic would receive the prizes.

Competition closed on 31st March 1986.

Inside cover details character bios.

Are these photographs of the design team?

Unknown.

Even though Amstrad CPC is virtually the same, I'm using the C64 version.

Only five camp counsellors physically appear.

Gerry King, Bryan Bone, Wendy Watson, Amanda Baxter and Stuart Palmer.

Leaving George Fowler¹, Anna Stuttle², Daryl Peters³, Jimmy Yarrow⁴ and Sarah Bradley⁵ anonymous.

I know what you're thinking, do any of the above feature in Part II?

NO.

But for shiggles:

¹George Winter - A New Beginning

²Annie Phillips - 1980 original

³No equivalent

⁴Jimmy Mortimer - The Final Chapter

⁵Sara Parkington - The Final Chapter

At last, here's the game, which graphically at least, clones Mad Doctor (1985).

So after game randomly selects our character, we must protect out friends from Jason.

See that guy in black, that's Jason.

Because he's in disguise most of the time, the best strategy is to grab nearest weapon and massacre everybody.

The high-pitched synthesized scream that follows is quite addicting.

When we kill Jason, game begins again with a different character.

Rinse and repeat.

Spectrum
In this example, Jason is on the right.

Yeah, they couldn't even be fucking bothered to alter sprite.

Music

Main theme - Sleepers Awake (BWV 645) - Johann Sebastian Bach

Jason kills - Symphony No. 3 - Movement II (Funeral March in C minor) - Ludwig van Beethoven

Church - Toccata and Fugue in D minor (BWV 565) - Johann Sebastian Bach and Wedding March (Midsummer Night's Dream) - Felix Mendelssohn

Now shit gets 'interesting'.

Forest - The Teddy Bears' Picnic - John W. Bratton and The Adventures of Robin Hood (TV series) - Carl Sigman

Barn - Old MacDonald Had a Farm - attributed to Thomas d'Urfey

Were they trying to be funny?

Jump scares

When Jason claims a victim, this can happen.

Seven grinning skulls.

And.

Machete splits Gerry's head open.

Unfortunately, this isn't character specific.

I've spammed every film that existed at the time and the nearest thing is Mark in Part II, which completely ripped off A Bay of Blood (1971).

George McFly met a similar fate in The Final Chapter.

But I'm absolutely convinced that Domark modelled image on a publicity still from Dawn of the Dead.

Wanna know something amazing?

Great.

The Walking Dead - Conquer (S5 E16)

Behold the ultimate tribute to George Romero and Leonard Lies' Machete Zombie.

(Blushes).

Friday the 13th (1989) - NES

Cover art vs Part VII: The New Blood (1988)

Another strange copy and paste job.

Jason was previously axed by Chris in Part III.

Title screen

Unlike 8-bit computers, 'The Final Chapter' is split over two screens.

Awkward, just like everything™ else in this atrocity.

Characters

George, Mark, Paul, Laura, Debbie and Crissy all have strengths and weaknesses.

Whether coincidence or not, check these out.

George - A New Beginning

Mark - Part II

Paul Holt - Part II and Paul Guthrie -The Final Chapter

Laura Upland - Friday the 13th Special⁶ (April 2005)

Debbie Klein - Part III

Crisssy - Christine Higgins - Part III

⁶One-shot comic.

A zombie is about to get stoned.

Manual gives a plausible explanation.

The mindless undead who are past victims of one of Jason's murderous rampages.
Touch them and you lose some life energy.
Watch out, because Zombies can appear on land or from underwater!!

Bats, wolves and crows can fuck off though.

Jason's Mother (as she's called) appears as a sub-boss.