What If...Freddy Krueger had never resurrected Jason Voorhees?

Last time, we got to see a world where Tommy Jarvis stayed on as the killer for the Friday the 13th franchise. This time, we'll be moving to another killer in another universe not at all dissimilar to it. In this universe, after being destroyed by a pipe bomb in his "definitely final movie", Freddy Krueger was cast into the bowels of Hell. We know, in the main universe, he sought out and brought back Jason Voorhees, setting off the events of Freddy vs. Jason.

In this universe, though? Let's take a look.

We begin much as where Freddy vs. Jason started - Freddy lamenting his lost power and how the people of Springwood have been able to block him out by censoring any proof that he existed, putting the kids on drugs that suppress their dreams, and that they quarantine any children who do experience dreams that involve him. While he's able to hold on just enough to keep from falling into Hell entirely, he is just barely holding on. He needs help. He needs someone on the outside doing his work for him, remembering a time he had done so before to great success. Mostly, anyway.

Unfortunately, with the pathways into the real world being cut off by Hypnocil and Big Brother, Freddy needs to find another way. Here, instead of finding someone to make them remember, Freddy comes across some lore regarding a very strange and intriguing item - the Lament Configuration. Thinking that he could open a portal and re-enter the real world via one of these puzzle boxes, he sets about a plan to get one of them and ignores all that mention of the guardians of the box. Surely they won't be too much of a bother.

In Springwood, Bill Freeburg is just having a fun time smoking his bong when he sees a familiar (to the audience, anyway) caterpillar-like creature crawling along his ceiling. Having a case of the weed giggles, he's unable to react in time to stop it from forcing its way into his body through his mouth. Bill appears in a dream state and Freddy appears to him, saying that he wants to make him a deal.

The next morning, the Freeburg family wakes up to find their son cooking them pancakes. Mr. and Mrs. are definitely very confused by this, as Bill seemed to them to be nothing more than a slacker with no direction in life and way, way too big on his pot consumption. "Bill" tells them that he's had time to think about a lot of things, inviting them to a lovely breakfast. It is only as they get into the meal that he reveals that he's slipped a secret ingredient into the pancake mix - arsenic.

Freddy kills the couple, Mrs. Freeburg first with a kitchen knife and then Mr. Freeburg as he desperately crawls to try to get to the phone. Bill, trapped inside his own mind, screams as he witnesses this. He insists that this wasn't part of their deal, and Freddy basically pulls a Vader to Lando on him. He informs Bill that now he's a wanted man, he'll have to go on the run. Bill, in a panic, agrees and takes a long car ride away.

A few months later, Bill is in Morocco, where an all too familiar shop owner of Asian descent asks him "What is your pleasure, sir?", showing him an all too familiar puzzle box. Freddy takes over in this moment, killing the shop owner and adding him to his growing collection of souls he's taken through Bill's travels. He also takes the box, fleeing the shop.

Bill's path has been noticed by some government agencies, in particular the FBI. He's apparently cut quite the swath going from Springwood to Morocco, with Agent Elizabeth Marcus having been assigned to track him down. Far from the woman who was TNA to distract Jason Voorhees long enough for a sting operation to blow her to bits, she has been moved into International Operations. The intel that the Bureau has been able to gather points to Bill seeking a puzzle box - the Lament Configuration. All the information she's been able to gather about the Configuration are scattered about at best, though we do get references to Hellraiser 1-3 as mentions of the box being involved. Marcus has finally gotten from permission from her superiors to capture and detain Bill in Morocco.

By the time they arrive, however, Freddy is one step ahead of them. "Bill" kills several of the FBI agents sent after him, and activates the box just as Marcus manages to corner him and put him at gunpoint. We get the traditional effects when the box is opened. Blue lights leaking from doors and windows, the room becoming shadowed, and the ominous bell tolls that signal the arrival of the Cenobites. "Bill" fully reverts into his Freddy voice and tells her, "Better luck next time, bitch!" before leaping through it as Kristy Cotton did in the first movie, leaving a stunned and confused Agent Marcus standing there.

In the realm of the Leviathan, Freddy decides that Bill has outlived his usefulness and kills him, his dream form stepping out of the gore pile that was once Bill. With the souls he has taken from the journey from Springwood to Morocco, Freddy is feeling a lot more like his old self and is very much looking forward to exploring the powers that this new realm can give him. Unfortunately for him, this particular Hell dimension already has a resident. The Lead Cenobite makes himself known and he's not pleased.

"The box. You opened it, and you came..."

Pinhead recognizes Freddy for what he is and rebukes him as a foul, miniscule creator of fear and pain. Freddy responds in his usual manner of cracking jokes. Pinhead is not amused, chains being summoned to restrain the Springwood Slasher. Freddy, being a Dream Demon (of a sort), manages to phase through the chains. It seems that he is just as powerful in the Labyrinth as he is in the Dream World, what with the souls he's collected through Bill.

Thus, we get Round One of our little match. While Freddy is insanely powerful thanks to the souls he's gathered, Pinhead is durable enough to body Freddy's hits, mocking him for thinking he knows anything of pain. Freddy hasn't caught on that the Box can be used as a weapon against him, and he's slowly losing steam like a parked car left running, whereas Pinhead is on his home turf. Freddy, in desperation, quickly changes the form of the box and opens another portal. The main problem of this being that, once he does so, he can't close it. The Lamont Configuration is stuck in that form. And where has he opened this portal to? Springwood, of course! In particular in a familiar factory. Much like in Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2, Freddy is back in the real world and seemingly has all of his abilities to call upon. Cenobites or not, the time to start killing is now.

Pinhead and two other Cenobites - Chatterer and Atkins - emerge. They are directed to find and stop Krueger and retrieve the Box. As long as Freddy has it, their task to explore the depths of pleasure and pain is highly compromised. Springwood now has four problems as opposed to the one it had to begin with. Or does it? The Cenobites seem not to be interested in anyone who isn't Freddy Krueger.

We are introduced to Deputy Stubbs (in the original timeline from Freddy vs. Jason) who was the one to investigate the death of the Freeburgs and the disappearance of their son, Bill. When another death comes up and he attempts to reopen the case, the Sheriff tells him to drop it and threatens him with suspension when he presses the issue. On his own, now, Stubbs looks into the old case files concerning Freddy and finds a name: Dr. Neil Gordon.

Neil has largely been discredited from the psychiatric profession, but his time working with victims of Freddy Krueger is still something that is well documented. Stubbs presses him for information, but Neil is reluctant until Stubbs asks him about the miniature wooden house he still has even now. Neil tells him of Nancy and her struggle against Freddy Krueger. Stubbs asks Gordon if she would want him to take up the fight again. Neil agrees.

Meanwhile, Freddy is trying to kill again and the Cenobites interrupt. With the Configuration and his own dream abilities, Freddy finds he is able to walk the line between the real world and the Dream World and enter the minds and memories of the Cenobites. He latches on to Atkins, trapping him inside one of his flashbacks to Vietnam, though with Freddy now replacing the Vietcong and later the Cenobites that come to drag him into the Labyrinth. The event, repeated over and over again, is so traumatic to Atkins that it actually reverts him to human form, upon which time Freddy kills him and takes his soul.

During the struggle, however, the Box is lost to Freddy. The portal to the Labyrinth is still open in Springwood, which does not bode well. It is during this battle between Atkins and Freddy that Neil and Stubbs get their hands on the Box. Neither has any idea what it is, they just have the notion that neither Freddy nor the whatever the hell those things are should get a hold of it. When Pinhead comes across the scene and Chatterer seems to want to get to Neil and Stubbs, he reminds his fellow Cenobite of their purpose. The box is out of Freddy's possession, which is all that matters concerning it. Now, they must locate Freddy and bring him back to the Labyrinth.

Freddy, though, has returned to the Dream World after breaking down and absorbing Atkins. Even without the Box, he has managed to get the thought of him back into the heads of Springwood's populace (emphasized when things start bursting into flame) and resumes his killing binge from earlier in order to shore up his soul supply, fully expecting a confrontation with Pinhead.

Stubbs and Neil research the Lament Configuration, learning of its origin and it's very bloody past. They also learn of the Cenobites and their association with it, getting them up to speed on the Hellraiser mythos. Neil theorizes that the Cenobites have actually come for Freddy, which he thinks they might be able to turn to their advantage. Of course, not long after this, Stubbs gets called over the radio - there's been a break-in at Westin Hills.

It is here that we see the Hypnocil ward and we get to see the end result of Neil's decision to dose the kids with the drug during Dream Warriors, namely that the children of Springwood who have fallen into comas due to the drug are because of him. A bit of regret and horror at what he tried to do out of wanting to protect the kids in his care, all of whom have died to Freddy anyway, making Neil determined to finish this once and for all.

The break in was caused by one of the youths of Springwood, who dumps the town's supply of Hypnocil down the drain under Freddy's orders. The teenager is caught, but the damage is done and Freddy kills them through a dream while they sit in the back of the police car. With the final barrier to him being the Dream Demon he was before out of the way, Freddy extends his killing spree and decides that it's time to reclaim that Box and use it to put Pinhead and the other Cenobites.

Witnessing Pinhead at the scene, Neil does the unthinkable and actually approaches him with an offer. He will happily give him the Box if he eliminates Freddy once and for all. Pinhead refutes him, saying that he cannot accept the Box in its current state and that he does not deal in death, only pain and pleasure. With Freddy back in the Dream World, it is a place that Pinhead cannot access without a portal. Given that the Lamont Configuration is stuck in the form Freddy forced it into, he can't access its power to open one to get to Freddy. Neil, remembering what Nancy told him of her first encounter with Freddy, thinks that he might be able to and can bring him back into the real world to boot. Pinhead is intrigued by this, agreeing to go along with the plan.

To the surprise of all, including Pinhead, Neil is able to use the Lament Configuration in a new formation and he goes to sleep with Stubbs watching after him and ready to awaken him with an adrenaline shot if things go bad. He finds himself in Freddy's iconic boiler room, where the two have their first meeting in sixteen years, Freddy first appearing to him as the seared skeleton that Neil had once tried to perform last rites on. They talk for a bit, Freddy mocking him for the fiasco that Hypnocil has become in Springwood as well as his inability to save Nancy.

Neil gets thrown around, but Pinhead soon arrives with Chatterer through the portal to the Dream World generated by Neil's mind working with the Box. Round Two commences with Neil getting out of the way as Freddy, Pinhead, and Chatterer all trade blows. Unlike the fight in the Labyrinth, where Pinhead held the advantage, this one is a bit more one-sided in favor of Freddy. He throws both Cenobites around and makes his usual quips and puns. Finally, he manages to get into Chatterer's head and enacts a dream sequence within the Cenobite, reaching into his memories as "Jim", the boy who wanted to be loved for something other than his physical beauty and was eventually given a Lamont Configuration and turned into a Cenobite as a result.

Chatterer is shocked back into his human form and Freddy kills and absorbs him as he did Atkins. Seemingly even more powerful now, he proceeds to lay into Pinhead. It's not even a close match as the Lead Cenobite gets thrown around like a rag doll as Freddy hams it up.

Neil, remembering the plan, manages to create fire by using some oily rags in the boiler room and wrapping them around a metal pole, striking Freddy over the head. He grabs him, yelling for Stubbs to use the syringe. Stubbs does so, waking Neil up and bringing Freddy with him.

Freddy slashes at them both, then takes the Box and declares that he's going to create a new nightmare for not only Springwood, but the entire world. However, the Box begins to burn his hand and he is unable to release it. He screams as the souls he's collected tear their way out of his body, most departing to the afterlife...save for Atkins and Chatterer, who are restored as Cenobites. Pinhead returns, telling Freddy that he has taken a power that did not belong to him, as well as robbed the Labyrinth of its agents, and now must pay the price for it. Freddy attempts to attack Pinhead with his gloved hand and Pinhead catches it...barehanded.

The blades shatter like glass and Freddy is forced back into his human form. The Box shifts once more into its true configuration, opening the gateway into the Labyrinth. Chains wrap themselves around the former Demon and hooks tear into his skin.

Pinhead promises Freddy that they have...such sights to show him. He tells Neil and Stubbs that their bargain is concluded before turning to leave. The last vision of Freddy Krueger to either Stubbs or Neil being of him broken, powerless, and screaming as he is literally dragged into Hell itself. The portal closes behind the Cenobites and their captive prey, the Box falls to the floor and then disappears in a flash of blue light similar to that which precedes the Cenobites appearing, and only silence remains. For them, at last, the nightmare is over.

At the last, Neil dies from his injuries inflicted upon him by Freddy. Stubbs is by his side when he dies, his last word being ". . .Nancy?".

In the Labyrinth, it is just beginning for Freddy Krueger. He finds himself trapped in the moment of his burning at the hands of Springwood's parents, dying again and again through the unbearable agony that made him the monster he is. He witnesses Pinhead through the flames, swearing that he's going to get out and make his life a living Hell. Pinhead offers no solace or rebuttal, simply fading from Freddy's view. As the Lead Cenobite disappears, Freddy's form begins to flicker between his basic human form and the heavily scarred and deformed demonic visage.

And far away, in a little shop in Morocco, a familiar figure holds a familiar Box and asks a passerby, "What is your pleasure, sir?". In the distance, seemingly from within the Lament Configuration, we hear Freddy's laughter...

. . .and that's where this What If ends. Will Freddy eventually escape the Labyrinth and terrorize Springwood again? Or is this the final end of the Springwood Slasher? Those, however, are questions for another time. Next time, we actually won't be covering a What If based around a slasher film at all. After all, horror has many facets.

Next week, our what if turns the clock back to the year 1985 and the film Fright Night to ask a question concerning the cliffhanger ending that was never resolved on-screen. Namely...

What if Evil Ed returned?

See you then!