Trivia: This film is notorious for having undertones and themes that many perceive as homoerotic, and the events of the film are often perceived by critics as a personification of the lead character Jesse being tormented by being "in the closet" and unable to be true to himself. While the makers of the film initially denied that this subtext was intentional, screenwriter David Chaskin recently admitted that the subtext was intentionally written into the script in order to give the characters and story depth.
Trivia: Make-up effects artist Kevin Yagher replaced David Miller, who designed the Freddy make-up for the original. Yagher only had a few pictures and what was shot from the original film to refer to, so he redesigned Freddy's look. Yagher studied pictures of burn victims and brought out the facial bones more than how Miller had done it.
Trivia: Take a close look at the bus driver at the beginning of the movie. It is Robert Englund without his Freddie makeup/costume.
Trivia: Producer Robert Shaye has a cameo as a bartender at Don's Place.
Trivia: The producers originally didn't want to bring back Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger in order to save money, as they realised he'd be entitled to a significantly larger paycheck this time around after the first film became a hit. They filmed for about two weeks using a cheaper, unnamed stand-in playing Krueger, before realizing that they made a terrible mistake and that Englund's performance was what made the character work. He was then hired on and given a fair pay-raise. Despite this, the original actor is visible in a few short shots in the film. Most notably during the infamous shower scene, where you see Krueger walking in an awkward and stilted fashion in silhouette.
Trivia: Freddy Krueger appears for only 13 minutes in the entire film.
Trivia: Star Mark Patton, an openly-gay actor, has amusingly stated that he sees himself as the "first male scream-queen", due to a combination of factors in the film. (Including the film's homoerotic subtext, the fact that he was often depicted onscreen screaming "like a girl", and because he viewed the character as a closeted gay man).
Answer: He's a dream demon and uses his powers to torment Jesse in any way he could, including having claws or even Freddy himself burst out of Jesse.
Erik M.