Hollywood icon Brad Pitt once starred in an episode of horror anthology Freddy’s Nightmares, a spinoff of the Freddy Kreuger himself.
Robert Englund returns as the serial killer first made famous in Wes Craven’s 1984 classic A Nightmare on Elm Street. Rather than stalk the dreams of a new batch of teenagers each week, Freddy takes a backseat to the horror in a similar role to the skeletal Crypt Keeper in Tales from the Crypt. Freddy provides colorful interludes, commenting on the bizarre events plaguing the lives of Brad Pitt and Kerry Walls’ teenage newlyweds.
Having just eloped to escape their disapproving parents, Rick (Pitt) and Miranda’s (Wall) car breaks down in the fictional town of Springwood. The episode, titled “Black Tickets”, is split into two storylines, where each of their worst fears are manifested through incredibly lifelike nightmares. The episode focuses on freedom and the couples’ reluctance to grow up and accept adult responsibilities, with Pitt in typical teen pin-up mode as a rebel tamed by marriage.
The episode’s first segment is a morality tale of Rick running away from life’s problems. Freddy's brand of comedy, Rick plows into an earlier version of himself, discovering he is the hit-and-run driver from the episode's beginning and unable to escape his past.
Miranda is right when she warns Rick his recklessness could be the death of him, and so the second storyline reveals he decided to remain in Springwood and start afresh. While Rick has settled down with a job as a security guard, Miranda fears she is pregnant and that this will ruin her life. She envisions her bedroom turning into a literal prison, with Rick aggressively dismissing her concerns. She then confronts her immaturity via a nightmare of older authority figures arresting her and judging Miranda for her teen pregnancy. Miranda then wakes up, delighted to discover she is not actually pregnant. Her overexcitement leads to an accidental head injury, causing her to revert to a childlike state.
The couple's nightmares become reality as both lose their freedom. Rick is forced into a twisted form of parenthood, but Miranda remains young and burden-free forever. World War Z. Hints of his charisma still shine through to indicate the huge star he would later become.