One, two, Freddy’s coming for 35 mm film fans this weekend.

Exhumed Films and the Mahoning Drive-In will present Freddy-Fest IV: The Final Nightmare at the theater, located on Seneca Road, just off Route 443, Lehighton. The first six films in New Line Cinema’s “A Nightmare on Elm Street” franchise will screen Friday and Saturday.

On Sunday, two of Freddy Krueger creator Wes Craven’s other films will follow. Gates open at 6 p.m. each day, with films starting at sundown.

Jack Sholder, who directed 1985’s “A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge,” will attend Friday and Saturday, alongside actors primarily from the series’ fifth film. Sholder will also attend the screening of 1987’s “The Hidden,” his sci-fi buddy-cop thriller starring Kyle MacLachlan and Michael Nouri.

As the first Krueger sequel, “Freddy’s Revenge” had lots to live up to. Made for $1 million, Craven’s 1984 original film - depicting serial killer Krueger (Robert Englund) tormenting and killing teens in their dreams - grossed $25.5 million at the domestic box office.

Initially, Sholder - whose transgressive nature suits horror, though he prefers watching French art films - wanted to refuse the sequel offer. However, he accepted, realizing the movie, in which Krueger possesses teen Jesse Walsh, could bolster his career.

Given six weeks to make his second feature film, Sholder - who had edited New Line projects and directed the company’s 1982 thriller “Alone in the Dark” - felt anxiety before shooting.

After meticulous preparation, the college English major gained confidence, even championing Englund’s return after New Line planned to proceed without him.

Sholder, born in Philadelphia, views his film an outlier in the Krueger series. “Freddy’s Revenge,” budgeted at $2 million to $3 million and grossing $30 million domestically, strays from the original’s killing-in-dreams format.

“It was one of those things they put down about the movie,” Sholder said. “What I have been told is, Wes didn’t like the idea that Freddy comes into the real world. People felt I broke the rule of the original.”

Nonetheless, with a sequel always in mind, New Line returned to Craven’s original concept for 1987’s “Dream Warriors,” leaving Krueger’s real-world killing sprees behind.

“If you follow through with that idea, it’s a dead end,” Sholder said. “If he comes into the real world and is successful, he’s no longer killing people in their dreams. We were trying to make a movie that was scary, based on some ideas from the first one.”

Over the years, “Freddy’s Revenge” has gained a cult following, partly as result of the film’s gay subtext. For some, Freddy represented Jesse’s fear of coming out.

“I saw the film as being about teen sexual anxiety,” Sholder said. “In a way, Freddy represented that. If you were gay, it was something to fear.”

Sholder, with a superficial understanding of gay life while living in New York City’s West Village, cast a then-closeted Mark Patton in the role of Jesse. “He had a certain feminine aspect to his personality that I picked up on. I needed someone who projected a certain vulnerability. If I cast a real macho guy, it wouldn’t have worked.”

If Sholder “were a gay filmmaker or aware of the whole subtext, I may have dome some things differently. Probably not. There were decisions I made that reinforced that theme.

“It was not my intention to make a film with a strong gay subtext,” Sholder continued. “The film has been good for a lot of people and I am happy about that. It’s a bonus.”

While “Freddy’s Revenge” boosted Sholder’s career, for Patton, “the clock stopped at Elm Street,” Sholder said. “After he made the movie, he quit the biz. His agent said, ‘you can’t play straight.’” The 2019 documentary “Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street” examined the film’s impact on Patton’s career.

Since filming “Freddy’s Revenge,” Sholder and Patton, who enjoyed a strong professional relationship, “have gotten to know each other and be friends. Mark has enlightened me about a number of things.”

Sholder, who does not consider “Freddy’s Revenge” one of his best works, thinks “it’s good for what it is. There’s less of me in there. I didn’t have much time to have any input in the script.” The film, though, was “a stepping stone to the rest of my career. My next movie, ‘The Hidden,’ was the one I really wanted to do. Most think it’s my best film.”

In terms of his legacy, Sholder - who, in 2017, retired as a faculty member in the film department at Western Carolina University - hopes people remember that his films “were fun to watch. And maybe had a little something to say.”

Sholder recalled one memorable moment he felt pride as a filmmaker. At a convention, a fan told him that “Freddy’s Revenge” saved his life.

“He said, ‘I had cancer and was going through chemotherapy. I didn’t know if I could make it. I thought, what can I do to take my mind off this, give me a little pleasure, respite?’ He liked ‘Nightmare 2,’ and would watch it. That’s the best review I had ever gotten.”