A Quarter-Century of Krueger: Favorite Elm Street One-Liners

When it comes to unforgettable one-liners, any horror fan will tell you the same thing. You can keep Henny Youngman--for spouting off classic lines, the bastard son of a hundred maniacs is your man. Freddy Krueger has coined enough zingers to earn him a regular gig on the Borscht Belt. Oh, and his co-stars aren't half bad either!

"This... is God."

"I'm your boyfriend now, Nancy!"

"You've got the body... I've got the brain."

"You are all my children now."

"Sorry, kid. I don't believe in fairy tales."

"This is it, Jennifer: Your big break in TV. Welcome to prime time, bitch!"

"What a rush!"

"How sweet. Fresh meat!"

"You shouldn't have buried me. I'm not dead."

"If the food don't kill ya, the service will."

"Welcome to Wonderland, Alice!"

"I... am... eternal."

"Kids... always a disappointment."

"Is she delicious... or am I CRAZY?"

"I'll get you, my pretty! And your little soul, too!"

"I didn't need a glove to kill your bitch OF A MOTHER... and I don't need one now!"

"Every town has an Elm Street!"

"Come here, my piggy. I've got some gingerbread for ya!"

"Being dead wasn't a problem, but being forgotten, now that's a BITCH. I can't come back if nobody remembers me. I can't come back if nobody's afraid. I had to search the bowels of Hell, but I found someone, someone who'll make 'em remember. He may get the blood, but I'll get the glory, and that fear is my ticket home."

"Everyone forgot. That's why they weren't afraid anymore. That's why I had to get Jason to kill for me to get them to remember. But now he just won't stop..."

And that's not all. A litany of memorable barbs from Mr. Krueger's supporting cast over the years...

"He's dead honey, because Mommy killed him."
--Marge Thompson

"I had a hard-on this morning when I woke up, Tina... Had your name written all over it."
"There's four letters in my name, Rod. How can there be enough room on your joint for four letters?"
"Hey, up yours with a twirling lawnmower!"
--Rod Lane & Tina Gray (thanks for the reminder, BJ-C!)

"What's the coroner got to say?"
"He's been in the john pukin' since he saw it."
--Donald Thompson and "Cop #3"

"Screw your pass!"
--Nancy Thompson

"God damn it, Kristen, you ruin everything! Every time I bring a man home you spoil it! You know what your shrink says? You're just trying to get a little attention!"
--Elaine Parker

"Sorry? Sorry that you and your tennis pals torched this guy and now he's after me? In case you haven't been keeping score, it's his fucking banquet! And I'm the last course."
--Kristen Parker

"And as adults, we must now prepare for our new life outside this wonderful environment known as Springwood High... So let's blow this pop stand!"
--Dan Jordan

"Dude, that goalie was pissed about something."

--Freeburg

"Do you want some free advice? Coffee. Make friends with it."
--Mark Davis

• Freddy's Famous Friends
• Freddy's Life & Times
• The Music of Nightmares

Freddy cartoon by Montygog.

Jesus Wept! The Ten Most Infamous Lines in Horror Movie History

Everyone loves a list. And while I usually restrict my horror movie list-making activities to Bloody Disgusting, I've decided to throw the Vault Dwellers a bone tonight. And so I give you the ten most infamous lines in horror movie history. Now, I'm thinking a little more off the beaten path here. Usually a list like this might include such gems as "We all go a little mad sometimes" (Psycho), "I never drink...wine" (Dracula) or "They're coming to get you, Barbara!" (Night of the Living Dead). But I decided (for once!) to be a little less obvious here. And so, these are ten ominous and extremely memorable lines that have stuck with me over the years, despite not being as terribly famous as most of the lines everyone remembers. So here goes, and by all means, feel free to pitch in with your own!

"Now I know what it feels like to be God!"
Frankenstein (1931; scr: John L. Balderston)
Most people would go with "It's alive!" of course, but for me, this line epitomizes the daring of this horror milestone. Spoken by Dr. Frankenstein right after that other line, it was removed from most prints of the movie in subsequent releases, but thankfully restored on DVD.

"Leave the charnel house and follow the lead of nature--or of God, if you like your Bible stories."
Bride of Frankenstein (1935; scr: William Hurlbut)
Dr. Pretorius' borderline blasphemous aside was actually an amended version of the original line, which read "if you like your fairy stories." If anything, the edited version may be even more subversive.

"Your mother sucks cocks in hell!"
The Exorcist (1973; scr: William Peter Blatty)
The fall of the Hays Code really changed things, didn't it? Can you imagine the shock of an audience listening to a little girl saying something like this, when a mere eight years earlier they were listening to Julie Andrews singing about whiskers on kittens?

"It's not my fault if Christ and the saints are out fashion."
The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue (1974; scr: Sandro Continenza & Marcello Coscia)
A fantastic line from a criminally overlooked horror film. Has the drastic shift in the genre (hell, in culture) during the 1960s and '70s ever been so succinctly expressed?

"I see you, chocolate man!"
Dawn of the Dead (1978; scr: George A. Romero)
How well written is a flick like Dawn of the Dead, when even the throwaway lines are this classic? DOTD is chock full of goodies like "We got this by the ass!" and of course, "When there's no more room in hell..." But there's just something about the matter-of-fact racism of Tom Savini's Blades that makes this line so unforgettable.

"I...corrected her."
The Shining (1980; scr: Stanley Kubrick)
You want to talk chilling? It just doesn't get any chillier than Philip Stone's speech to Jack Nicholson in the men's room at the Overlook Hotel. Plus all that garish red paneling. Damn, Kubrick was a bizarre individual. And brilliant for it.

"You mean the movie lied?!"
The Return of the Living Dead (1985; scr: Dan O'Bannon)
The brilliance of O'Bannon's script is that a line like this, delivered with such wide-eyed innocence by Thom "Freddy" Matthews, can perfectly cut the grim horror of a scene involving zombie dismemberment. A microcosm of what make the movie such a classic.

"Give me the amulet, you bitch!"
The Monster Squad (1987; scr: Shane Black & Fred Dekker)
Yeah, I know everybody quotes that line about the Wolf Man ad nauseum, but how shocking was it to hear Dracula scream this to a little girl? Pretty harsh stuff for a relatively family friendly flick--still not sure if the line really fits the movie. Ah, the '80s--what a perplexing era!

"Jesus wept!"
Hellraiser (1987; scr: Clive Barker)
As a kid of 12 in Brooklyn, I had never even heard this expression before, so it was just some real creepy weirdness to me, in a movie full of real creepy weirdness. Now that I know it's a common--if somewhat archaic--blasphemy, it only adds to my appreciation of Barker's layered use of religious themes.

"Take it! Take the fucking elephant!"
Darkman (1990; scr: Chuck Pfarrer & Sam Raimi)
This one's just such a perverse favorite of mine, I had to include it. When I think of the countless hours my friends I spent quoting and laughing our asses off at this immortally ludicrous line--spoken by a man who would star three years later in Schindler's List, no less!
I'm still not sure if I actually prefer the "edited for TV" version of the line--"Take the fuzzy elephant!"