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| Jesse Walsh | |
| Franchise: | A Nightmare on Elm Street |
| Notability: | Main character |
| Type: | Student |
| Gender: | Male |
| Location: | 1428 Elm Street, Springwood, Ohio |
| Associations: | Walsh family |
| Known relatives: | Ken Walsh (father) Cheryl Walsh (mother) Angela Walsh (sister) |
| Status: | Alive |
| First: | A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985) |
| Actor: | Mark Patton |
Jesse Walsh is the main character from the 1985 film A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge. He was played by actor Mark Patton and is one of the few surviving characters from the franchise to only appear in one movie. Jesse Walsh is unique from other main characters in the mythos for several reasons. He is the only main character from the series who is male. Also, he is the only character who has ever been physically possessed by dream demon Freddy Krueger.
Biography[]
Jesse Walsh was a teenager who lived in the town of Springwood, Ohio with his parents Ken and Cheryl and his little sister Angela. His father got a great deal on the property at 1428 Elm Street and moved his family there. He neglected to tell them however, that the reason he was able to get the home so inexpensively was because of a tragedy that took place there five years earlier. A "madman" had broken into the home and murdered Marge Thompson. The experience drove Marge's daughter Nancy insane.
Almost immediately, Jesse began suffering the ill effects of living in such a house. He began to experience horrific nightmares where he was plagued by a hideously scarred killer named Fred Krueger. Jesse's girlfriend Lisa Webber came over to help him unpack and they discovered Nancy Thompson's diary. After reading several passages, Jesse discovered that the man she described in the diary was the same as the one who had been tormenting him in his dreams.
Freddy Krueger, a dream demon, continued to plague Jesse and sought to use him as a vessel so that he could manifest himself in the real world. With each passing night, Freddy's influence grew stronger and he began to take control of Walsh's actions. Jesse would experience visions of Freddy, who would hiss at him, "Kill for me", and often found himself in possession of Freddy's signature weapon - a custom-designed razor glove. Jesse told Lisa about his dreams, and though she didn't completely believe him at first, she understood that there was something about the Krueger story that had deeply warped Jesse's mind.
One evening, Jesse, slowly losing his mind over the ordeal went out for a drink. He ended up at an S&M gay bar called Don's Place where he ran afoul of his high school gym teacher Coach Schneider. Schneider dragged Jesse out of the bar and brought him to the school gymnasium where he had him running laps. Freddy took control of Jesse's body and used his power to ensnare to pummel Schneider with various gym equipment. He then used two jump ropes to suspend him from the shower heads whereupon Jesse/Freddy skewered him with his claws.
The police found Jesse wandering the rainy street of Springwood naked and brought him home. His father thought that he had been taking drugs, but his mother believed that it was the stress of his recent nightmares that were causing his recent strange behavior. Jesse had no memory of what he had done, but when he returned to school the next day, his best friend Ron Grady told him about how Coach Schneider had been killed in the shower.
Lisa Webber meanwhile, began researching the history of Fred Krueger. She brought Jesse to the boiler room where Krueger used to work and told him how he had slaughtered more than twenty children many years ago. It was Lisa's hope that seeing the humble beginnings of this demonic serial killer might trigger some kind of insight as to how to deal with Krueger, but the experiment produced no results.
The following evening, Jesse had another nightmare and found himself sleep-walking into his sister's room. Wearing Freddy's glove, he was prepared to kill her, but he was able to briefly exorcise Freddy's control over him before he could commit the deed.
Lisa invited Jesse to come to a pool party that her family was hosting at their home. She had hoped that the festivities would help to brighten Jesse's spirits and keep his mind off his recent turmoil. During the party, Jesse and Lisa went into the pool-side cabana to make love. Their experience was interrupted when Jesse produced a long, blistered, black tongue from his mouth and began lapping at Lisa's cleavage. Horrified by this, Jesse got up and left.
He sought refuge at the home of his pal, Grady. He told him about what had been happening to him, but Grady didn't actually believe him. Like Lisa, he thought that Jesse had just developed an abnormal mental psychosis from his dreams. Jesse wanted to crash out in his room, but wanted Grady to wake him up if he began behaving strangely in his sleep. Grady agreed, but mostly just to humor him. Grady fell asleep and Jesse awakened moments later. Krueger's influence took control of him and he stabbed Grady through the chest, dragging his claws downward, tearing through his body.
Jesse resumed control and escaped through the bedroom window. He returned to Lisa's and told her what he had done. Lisa tried to clean Jesse up, but Krueger fully manifested this time, clawing his way out of Jesse's body and finally taking corporeal form in the real world. After tormenting Lisa and slaughtering several of the party guests, Krueger and Jesse re-assimilated into one another. They went to the boiler room, but Lisa tracked them down. She urged Jesse's subconscious mind to reassert itself and gain power over Krueger. Using what knowledge she had gleaned from Nancy Thompson's diary, she exorcised her fear of Krueger and drew away his power. This weakened him enough so that Jesse could finally become dominant, sending Krueger's soul back to Hell.
Although he attempted to regain a sense of normalcy in his life, Jesse never fully recovered from his shared experiences with Freddy Krueger.
Notes & Trivia[]
- The character of Jesse Walsh was created by director Jack Sholder and writer David Chaskin based on concepts originally developed by filmmaker Wes Craven.
- Actor Mark Patton originally auditioned for the role Glen Lantz in the original A Nightmare on Elm Street. The part ended up going to Johnny Depp in his first film role. Depp would later go on to become a major Hollywood star. Ironically, Patton landed the role of Jesse Walsh over several other young actors, all of whom would go on to become famous actors, including Brad Pitt, John Stamos and Christian Slater. One of the reasons that Patton was cast was because he was an out homosexual and writer David Chaskin was deliberately scripting the film with a heavy homoerotic undercurrent. [1][2]
- Playing the role of Jesse Walsh was actor Mark Patton's third and final work in a feature film and his only work in the horror genre.
- Actor Mark Patton was given a "special thanks" screen credit in the 2003 film Freddy vs. Jason.
- Archival footage of Jesse Walsh is included in a recap in the beginning of Freddy vs. Jason.
See also[]
External Links[]
References[]
- ↑ Hollywood Monster; Attidtude.com
- ↑ Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy