Hollywood comes to Elgin as 'Nightmare' crews hit cemetery

A Hollywood crew took over Bluff City Cemetery in Elgin today to shoot scenes for the remake of the 1984 horror film, "A Nightmare on Elm Street."

Officials at New Line Cinemas were mum on the details of the scene, other than to say it took place during the day in the fictional town of Springwood, Ohio.

The crew of more than 100 people set up around dawn and was only going to be at the location for one day.

Several parts of the movie, which is due in theaters next April, have been shot in the Northwest suburbs.

Martha Lafage, location manager for New Line Cinemas, said Bluff City edged out some 20 to 25 other cemeteries.

"A lot of cemeteries are flat. We were really looking for something with hills and winding roads," she said. "It's a good match for us."

Tom Migatz, Elgin park maintenance supervisor, said he was intrigued when he got a call about a month ago from New Line officials who wanted to use the city-owned graveyard.

"It's not every day someone approaches you like that," he said, noting he and his staff were excited to share the cemetery's history and grounds. "We have an opportunity to showcase Elgin and one of its oldest assets on a national level."

Jackie Earle Haley, who played a masked vigilante named Rorschach in "The Watchmen," will reprise the role of the serial killer Freddie Krueger, the knife-fingered poltergeist who kills people in their dreams.

New Line publicist Alex Worman said about 100 crew members and 80 extras were on the set, nestled in the south end of the cemetery.

Migatz said the production has not affected the cemetery's operations. The scenario of someone trying to visit a gravesite and being turned away because of filming has not occurred, he said.

City spokeswoman Sue Olafson said city leaders were excited the cemetery was chosen for part of the film.

"We were thrilled to be selected," she said. "It's fun."

Lafage said the movie crew would make every effort to finish their scenes today. But she wants to come back to Elgin sometime soon.

"It's been our pleasure and our honor to be working in the community," Lafage said. "It's been really great, really terrific. I would love to be able to come back with a different movie or different project to see if we could work something out. I have really enjoyed our time in Elgin."

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=289286">Freddie's coming to Elk Grove, Hersey high schools <span class="date">[04/27/09]</span></a></li> </ul> <h2>Related links</h2> <ul class="moreWeb"> <li><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1179056/">"A Nightmare on Elm Street" listing on IMDB</a></li> </ul> <h2>Related documents</h2> <ul class="morePdf"> <li><a href="/pdf/bluffcitymap.pdf">Map of Bluff City Cemetery</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>