I never expected to sit through all of Never Sleep Again, the four-hour documentary about Freddy Kruger movies, in one go. I just wanted something to watch while I ate an ice cream cone and took a break from Watch Dogs. I loved Freddy movies when I was a kid (one of the first things I ever wrote was a Freddy fan fic about his estranged brother, Eddie Krueger… Evil Dead’s also Ash Williams made an appearance), but at this point I probably haven’t seen a Freddy movie in ten years.

Narrated by Heather Langenkamp, who was Freddy’s first “final girl,” Never Sleep Again is a surprisingly entertaining behind-the-scenes piece of fluff. Born from Kickstarter, I expected low-quality fan service, but it brings the goods. There’s a healthy portion of footage that was censored in the theatrical releases, a handful of deleted scenes, and information about an unproduced script co-written by Peter Jackson. Of the many interviews, Robert Shaye and Wes Craven are especially candid about what they liked and didn’t like in the series.

For me, the most perplexing and unintentionally hilarious scene has always been the exploding parakeet in A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge. See, a parakeet blows up in midair and the main character’s father (Clu Gulager) suspects a natural gas leak before blaming it on a cherry bomb. I always wondered how that came about. How does something so stupid get written, much less filmed? Never Sleep Again sheds some light on the scene, but not much.

The time devoted to Elm Street 2, by the way, is the high point of the documentary. Either I don’t remember picking up on the homosexual undertones or I was too young to notice. Cracked named it the most unintentionally gay horror movie of all time. The actor who portrayed the main character says his Risky Business homage is often looped in gay bars across the country.

My favorite had always been the third one. They brought Nancy back and included adult characters who weren’t just “angry parent” stereotypes who seemingly hated their children. The arm-tendon marionette scene is burned into my memory. To this day, I remember the cross-shaped faucet handle that grabs back every time I see such a fixture.

So how did they get Dick Cavett to do a cameo in their scrappy little horror movie? Easily. They simply told him Freddy would kill any celebrity of Cavett’s choice. Naturally, he chose the “stupid” Zsa Zsa Gabor. That’s exactly the kind of production detail that makes Never Sleep Again a very watchable film.

The best part is how every one of the interview subjects look back on their experiences with fondness. For many, Freddy was their only brush with Hollywood. Others have had success elsewhere, but not quite as big. Robert Englund, who one might suspect resents Freddy, says, “Freddy has been very kind to me” towards the end of the doc. You get the sense that almost everyone who worked on the series had a blast. I have a new appreciation for the films.