Yesterday I got to satisfy a long-held wish. Pretty much ever since I first saw A Nightmare on Elm Street – which is still one of my favorite horror films – I’d hoped to have the chance to meet the lovely Heather Langenkamp, who plays protagonist Nancy. See, I’m one of those odd people who saw the film and thought “Okay, Freddy’s a good villain and all, but wow, Nancy’s awesome!” And the best part of the film, the one that sticks most in my mind to this day, was the ending, where she defeats Freddy by turning her back on him and refusing to believe in him or give him any power over her (it’s a strong enough climax to remain impactful even after they tack on an utterly horrible ‘shock’ ending afterwards that undoes it. I’ve actually edited my own version of the film to have the original ending, but that’s another story).

Anyway, that scene of Nancy’s triumph has actually been a help to me in dealing with my own issues over the years; the principle of metaphorically turning your back on your demons and refusing to engage with them or give them any power over you. As a matter of fact, the most effective coping techniques I’ve found actually involve pretty much doing just that, making the scene a strong touchstone for me.

All in all, Nancy’s one of my favorite film heroines, and yesterday I finally got the chance to meet her:

Like most people you meet at cons, Mrs. Langenkamp was very pleasant and gracious. I told her some of the above, how her character and especially that climactic scene had been a help to me, and she answered how glad she was to hear it, and that she actually had used it the same way herself.

Later I got to sit in on an interview with her about her career and her experience with the series. When question time came I took the opportunity to ask after the late John Saxon (who plays her father in the three Nightmare films she starred in). She described how, in the first film, she’d been too intimidated to try to get to know him, since she was a young actress just starting out and he was a tough veteran of the old Hollywood who had trained with Bruce Lee. But on the third film (the second one they did together) she started to interact with him more and found him a thorough gentleman with a great sense of humor, leading to their being close friends up until his passing in 2020. I got the impression she was grateful to have the chance to talk about him, so I’m glad I had the courage to ask.

All in all, it was one of the best such meetings I’ve had.