Random Movie Series Review - A Nightmare on Elm Street

 

So as I said in the monthly update, I'm going to be looking mainly at the slasher horror films for October this year. These are the films that have given the genre a much-needed boost in its popularity during the 80s and 90s and even today in some cases. Of course, it was well known when the Universal Monsters came around, but then came the slasher horror sub-genre and that gave birth to a series of characters who are perhaps far more dangerous and blood hungry than the monsters ever were. Most of these films I have been aware of for many years, but never really had much interest in them. Basically I was bought up choosing to wait till I am the right age to watch these kinds of films and its now 2020 and I can now basically watch anything I want without having to break any age guideline rules. So we start with A Nightmare on Elm Street. One of the most well known of these kinds of films and the first one that I became aware of until some more came along. It features the killer known as Freddy Krueger who is the Wolverine of horror and perhaps the most dangerous due to him being a supernatural being at first. He is also that one character in horror in which only one actor can play him better than anyone else and that actor is Robert Englund. So we will be looking at all the films up to The New Nightmare and I guess because may be asking me to review it as well, I will also review the remake too. But I won't be looking at the crossover with that other killer as I had already reviewed that a few years ago (having only seen one film from each franchise at the time) So let's see what nightmares are in store for us:

A Nightmare on Elm Street

In the first, best and most iconic film in the series, we arrive in the year 1984 where a young girl called Tina (played by Amanda Wyss) wakes up from a nightmare which her mum (played by Donna Woodrum) claims is quite the nightmare due to the girl's clothes having some rips. The next morning, Tina is comforted by her best friend Nancy (played by Heather Langenkamp) and her boyfriend Glen (played by a young Johnny Depp) who all decide to have a sleepover. But Tina has the nightmare again, only this time she doesn't come out alive as a disfigured man claims her body and an unseen force kills her. With all that happening and people wrongfully accused of her apparent murder, Nancy decides that she must find the disfigured man and stop any more murders from happening. But its going to be one heck of a fight due to the supernatural nature of this man. This is a fantastic horror film. It sets the stage well for its many sequels and makes some of us realize that some dreams are deadly even though they are dreams. Some people watching any of these films may not be able to dream well again, but who knows. But anyway, a great first film and the one that everyone loves most. 9/10
 

 

2: Freddy's Revenge

In the first sequel which has since gained a cult following long after its initial release, its been five years since Freddy Krueger terrorized the dreams of teenagers with deadly results. A family known as the Walshes move into Nancy's former home. The young son known as Jesse (played by Mark Patton) begins to have nightmares of Freddy in almost the same way Nancy did. A series of shenanigans occur that cause Jesse to get in trouble with his parents and local authorities, but he too decides he needs to stop Krueger from terrorizing him and those around him. So sexuality becomes a big subject point in this film and I got to admit that it is handled reasonably well. But as for the rest of the film, it does feel like its trying to do the first film again. Just with different characters, settings and an all too familiar ending. Needless to say, its a decent film overall. Just isn't quite there in being bigger, better and scarier than the first. 8/10

 

3: Dream Warriors

A year has passed since the last film and yet another teenager this time called Kristen (played by Patricia Arquette) has a dream of being chased by Freddy which causes her to awaken, only for him to cause her to slice her wrist with a straight razor. With her mother believing that she is suicidal, she admits Kristen to a psychiatric hospital where she comes across Nancy who is now an intern therapist. Nancy meets the other patients and learns of Kristen's unusual ability to pull other beings into her dreams. As time goes on and Freddy begins another killing spree, Nancy learns that all the patients have dream like abilities and encourages them to use it as a means to enter a shared dream and stop Freddy yet again. But some difficulties in doing this occurs along the way. This one is probably a better sequel than the one before it. But it is of course with its own problems. I like how we enter Freddy's world which makes a nice change and get some character development on his end. It's a decent film overall, but still not a sequel that can beat the original. But still a good watch nonetheless. 8/10

 

4: The Dream Master

Another year passes and Kristen (this time played by Tuesday Knight) and her friends Roland (played by Ken Sagoes) and Joey (played by Rodney Eastman) have been released from the psychiatric hospital from the last film and are back to living their normal teenage lives with their respective families. But Kristen believes that Freddy is still out there only for her claims to be dismissed by her friends when she brings them into her dream. Everyone but her chooses to move on, but somehow Freddy gets accidentally resurrected and goes on a killing spree once again. More hellbent on finding new victims than those he has taken on before. So when this one came out, most people were split on whether to like it or not. I kind of enjoy it because not only does it continue where the last film left off, but the people behind the special effects actually do well with finding creative ways for Freddy to kill his victims. Sure it being the fourth film might be seen as a tad predictable, but with great effects and new ways for Freddy to kill his victims, this nightmare may be one of the best yet. But we still have a few films to go so who knows. 8/10

 

5: The Dream Child

Another year goes by and a new protagonist in the form of a girl called Alice (played by Lisa Wilcox) is enjoying life while getting ready to graduate with her friends despite having a watery visit from Freddy which implies that he is back again. Time goes by, and she learns that Freddy has found a way to come back to life which puts herself, her friends and even her unborn child at risk. Also a nun appears and seems to know how to stop Freddy's rise to power. So as it happens, there is an alternate uncut version of this film that exists. But it has yet to be released even though we are now in 2020. It probably explains why this film wasn't one of the more well received in the series due to lots of cuts being made and several continuity errors. But despite this, I like the elements that were used for Freddy to kill his victims even though they are now at a point of being laughable to an extent. That's probably the only thing I like right now as well as the special effects and decent characters. But if the uncut version is ever released, I hope it does justice for this film. 7/10

 

Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare

Since the last film, many years have passed and Freddy has killed nearly every known teenager living in Springwood, Ohio. But for some reason he has left alive a boy who we come to know as a John Doe (played by Shon Greenblatt). He has a nightmare about Freddy (which seems to be reminiscent of The Wizard of Oz) before waking up with amnesia and is then sent to a shelter. There he becomes part of a group of troubled teenagers who all share the same doctor Maggie Burroughs (played by Lisa Zane). The group somehow wind up in Springwood where they see residents behaving in an unusual manner due to them having lost children to Freddy years prior. Freddy meanwhile sees this group as an opportunity to escape Springwood and find a new playground to terrorize people while we the audience learn a bit about his past as well as the possibility of one of the group being his child. You know for a film that is marketed as the final film of the original series (which does seem appropriate as the next canonical film is the crossover with Friday the 13th which was Englund's last film as Freddy so far), it's OK at best (apparently this was a film that used that cheap 3D stuff when it was released in cinemas, but as I was a baby at the time, I missed out). The way Freddy kills his victims this time have a bit of a nostalgia feel to them while poking fun at someone who is deaf which is both effective in how it's played out, but also controversial in that it can almost be seen as the film making fun of those who are deaf. Also, they feel very comical too. Not the best end to what has been a pretty decent series of films. But it wouldn't be the last film overall as three more came after it (one of which as I previously mentioned, has already been reviewed). 7/10

 

Wes Craven's New Nightmare

So the creator Wes Craven returns to the director's chair and gives us something outside the universe established in the films, but still pretty scary in a way. The film follows a fictionalized version of the cast and crew of the films as they go about their normal lives following their commitments to the franchise. But this way of life and peace is cut short when an entity resembling Freddy (now looking more like how Craven wanted him to be originally) emerges and starts to traumatize Heather Langenkamp (who played Nancy in the first and third films) and her family. Seeking out advice from her friends through making the films, Heather tries to figure out this entity while trying to prove to those well aware of her roles in the films that she isn't crazy in the slightest. A bit different from the norm, but otherwise a great film that experiments on the idea of bringing the franchise's main character into the real world. Which of course leads to a number of recreated scenes, a few cameos and appearances from the cast and crew aside from the main ones obviously and a version of Freddy who looks more evil than ever before. A great addition to the franchise despite being seperate from the other films I'd say. 9/10

 

The 2010 Remake

So after all the slasher films that began in the 70s and 80s came to the end of their original series, a period began in which the films take a hiatus while remaining open to any further films. As a result of Michael Bay's rise to becoming a big name in Hollywood (despite most of his films not being all that great), he took a stab at a few horror remakes (mainly as a producer) and A Nightmare on Elm Street was one of those remakes. We start at the Springwood Diner in which Dean (played by Kellan Lutz) falls asleep at the table only to be terrorised by Freddy Kruger (this time played by Jackie Earle Haley) who in this remake was a child molester instead of a child murderer (which was what Wes Craven originally wanted in his films, but changed it as to avoid any controversy on the matter). Dean and a few of his friends come to realise that they have a common connection from their childhoods that make them targets for Freddy and they try to band together to stop him before he kills them all. Unsurprisingly, this is not a good film. While the new Kruger is alright and even got approval from Robert Englund, the film just lacks the twists and turns of the original films. I guess if they had consulted with Wes Craven while making the film, maybe it would've have fared better. Maybe not still well recieved, but probably would have had a better outcome. Oh well we got what we got, but it just doesn't help that you have a producer widely known for making bad films and isn't even aware of it. 6/10

And the nightmare ends (for now at least) and I got to say I really like the films. Sure a few misfires here and there, but it lives up to the name and makes us wonder if our dreams will end up like in the films. I guess we will never know, but I'm so happy that I finally gave it all a watch after so long and I hope the future is bright for Freddy Kruger. I did hear that there is another remake in the works as well as another crossover with a certain demonic doll. But for now, enjoy it for what it is (or not). 8/10