Rod Lane

Rod Lane is a supporting character featured in the 1984 horror film A Nightmare on Elm Street, directed by Wes Craven. He was played by actor Nick Corri. Lane was the second victim in the film to die at the hands of the demonic dream demon known as Freddy Krueger.

Biography
Rod Lane was a teenager who lived on Elm Street in the suburban town of Springwood, Ohio. In 1984 he was dating fifteen-year-old Tina Gray. Like many of his peers, Rod Lane suffered from intense nightmares involving a burned, demonic entity known as Freddy Krueger. Always bolstering a demeanor of intense bravado, Lane never bothered to share his dreams with anyone else. If he had, he would have learned that Tina, as well as her friends Nancy Thompson and Glen Lantz were also haunted by nightmarish images of Freddy Krueger.

Rod discovered that Tina's mother was going out of town for the weekend, so he invited himself over to Tina's house to take advantage of the empty house. Calling to mind images of Freddy Krueger's signature weapon - a custom-made razor glove - Rod played a prank on the group by scraping a gardening tool along the outside windows of Tina's house. This infuriated Glen Lantz who had little appreciation for Rod or his prankish ways. Nancy prevented the two boys from coming to blows.

When things quieted down, Rod and Tina went into her mother's bedroom to have sex. When they were done, Rod admitted to having suffered some bad dreams, but refused to go into any detail on the matter. They both went to sleep, but a short while later, Rod awakened to the sound of Tina screaming in agony. Looking up, he found her floating above the bed with cuts opening up all across her body as if carved by some unseen, invisible hand. He tried to help her, but Tina's body convulsed violently, slamming him into a standing lamp. Tina continued to shriek in pain until finally falling to the floor dead. Terrified, Rod ran from the house through the bedroom window.

Running from the scene of the crime only made Rod look suspicious and a city-wide manhunt was called to bring him in. Nancy Thompson saw Rod the following day as she was walking home from school. He insisted that he did not kill Tina and described the events that took place in the bedroom. Nancy found his story difficult to believe, but at the same time, she could not bring herself to accept that Rod was capable of such brutality.

As it turned out, Nancy's father, police lieutenant Donald Thompson had her followed and his officers and he arrested Rod on the spot. He was taken to the local police station and thrown into a jail cell. Tina and Glen came to visit him and Rod reiterated what he had said before. That evening, alone in his cell, Rod went to sleep. Freddy Krueger invaded his dreams and used his powers to manipulate things in the real world. He made Rod's bed sheet wrap around his neck then tie itself to the bars on his window. The sheet drew taught, snapping Rod's neck. Nancy, fearful that Rod was in mortal danger, raced down to the police station to warn him, but she was too late. Rod's death was ruled a suicide.

Notes & Trivia



 * Actor Nick Corri's real name is Jsu Garcia. This is his first work in film.


 * Rod Lane is the second on-screen murder victim of Freddy Krueger.


 * Actor Nick Corri played a fictionalized version of himself in a brief non-speaking role in Wes Craven's New Nightmare in 1994.


 * does not have a counterpart in the 2010 remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street.


 * Rod Lane wore an earring in his right ear.


 * Other actors who had been considered for the role of Rod Lane include Ralph Macchio and Darren Dalton. Dalton did end up playing a character named Zach in the "Freddy's Tricks and Treats" episode of Freddy's Nightmares.