Bo Burnham's Inside Was Filmed In The Nightmare On Elm Street House
This article is a gift to you. Imagine a fully wrapped parcel in some fancy, Martha Stewart thick wrapping paper, with like multiple color-coordinated bows layered on top and a delicately placed name card tucked just so under one of the bows. That is this article. I'm saying all of this because I have multiple layers of truly delightful news for you, some of which have been spoiled by the title, but what can I say? Someone has to feed the SEO beast.
Okay, enough stalling, you know what I'm talking about, and what I'm talking about is the fact that Bo Burnham: 1) Was living inside the "Nightmare on Elm Street" House and 2) he shot the entirety of his acclaimed comedy special "Inside" in the guest house and 3) the house is for sale! I repeat the house is for sale. If there was any time to buy a lottery ticket, or start day trading, or figure out what blockchains do, now is that time. Someone cool needs to buy this house and it might as well be you (since unfortunately it can't be me, I have terrible luck and I'm very bad at math).
Let's break it all down, shall we?
Making Happy on Elm Street
You may be more familiar with delightful, green shingled home by its most famous address, 1428 Elm Street. This is Nancy's house, who serves as the protagonist and final girl of "A Nightmare on Elm Street," and it's a sweet little suburban home where the child murder Freddy Krueger delighted in stalking dreams and climbing through bathtubs. You know, casual horror movie stuff.
The film, directed by horror master Wes Craven, is a true classic and Krueger is easily one of the most famous movie monsters of all time. And considering how much the movie digs into its location on Elm Street, it feels like this house has a little more street cred than most horror movie homes (barring standouts like the "The Amityville Horror" house and a few others). The "Nightmare" house was snapped up by "Hustlers" writer and director Lorene Scafaria in 2013, which also happens to be the year Burnham and Scararia started dating.
Inside of Elm Street
While all of "Inside" was filmed on the house's property, this isn't the first time the "Nightmare" house has made a guest appearance in a Burnham special. You can catch some shots of what also looks like the guest house, and a sweet little sliver of the yard, at the end of 2016's "Make Happy" which feels like wild foreshadowing or at the very least a spooky premonition of what was to come for Burnhamn. Clearly this house has some serious creative energy haunting it.
And while the famous front door and green shingles don't make an appearance on "Inside," Burnham does utilize the space the same way a horror director might. He makes it feel claustrophobic, foreboding and strange. There are times in his 2020 special where it feels like Burnham has been locked up and forgotten there. Instead of going for the wide shots of a happy audience on a grand stage, Burnham makes the guest home feel like a prison. A comedy prison, but a prison nonetheless.
And considering how beautiful the property is, that's an impressive feat. Although, it makes it feel a little bit like Burnham pulled a Henry David Thoreau on us. In the same what that Thoreau's Walden Pond wasn't actually that far from civilization at all, Burnham's pandemic comedy prison was steps away from a huge house with a stunning backyard featuring a grand pool. That doesn't negate the lockdown magic of "Inside," it just makes me a little more jealous of Burnham's life than I was before.
A House For Sale on Elm Street
I know I already mentioned this earlier, but 1428 N Genesee Ave, the real life address of the "Elm Street" house is for sale. Go and live out my dreams, friends! You can now own your very own horror house/comedy prison, and what more could you really want?