Series Link #6 09.16.08: A Nightmare on Elm Street

Posted by Arnold Furious on 09.16.2008

One, Two, Freddy’s coming for you…

Series Link #6: A Nightmare on Elm Street

One, Two, Freddy's coming for you…

SERIES LINK

Or Furious on Franchises…wish I'd thought of that 6 months ago.

Frequently when reviewing movies I notice I'm missing sequels here and there from classic series. In line with one of my key film watching beliefs I'll be making a point of tidying up some of my sequel history. The belief in question being that as long as I enjoyed the original I'll watch any sequel made of it. I don't know where this belief came from but it's one that seems to work out for me quite frequently and there are many film series where I have enjoyed multiple sequels based on my love and respect for the initial instalment (Alien, Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Rocky etc).

Series Link #1 – The Pink Panther
Series Link #2 – The Road To…
Series Link #3 – Planet of the Apes
Series Link #4 – St. Trinian's
Series Link #5 – Jaws

For this sixth column I'm taking a look at my first 80's character based horror series. There were plenty of them knocking around. After doing Jaws I didn't really feel like doing another mindless killing machine series so I opted for a wittier killing machine…

Series Link #6:

A Nightmare on Elm Street/Freddy Krueger.

How many films?

Seven. Eight if you include the Freddy v Jason flick. Nine if you include the planned 2009 remake.

Starring?

Robert Englund (8 times), Heather Langenkamp (3 times), John Saxon (3 times), Mark Patton, Kim Myers, Patricia Arquette, Tuesday Knight, Lisa Wilcox (2 times), Lisa Zane.

Directed by?

Wes Craven (2 times), Jack Sholder, Chuck Russell, Renny Harlin, Stephen Hopkins, Rachel Talalay, Ronny Yu.

Series Span:

10 years. Not including the Vs Jason spin-off and remake.

**Sidenote** – the "Freddy's Fatalities" segments throughout will, naturally, contain spoilers if you've not seen the film in question.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)



Wes Craven originally wrote Nightmare on Elm Street in 1981 but the script got kicked around for 3 years. Perhaps some of the studios were a little nervous about a wise-cracking serial killer who assaulted teens when they were asleep. When you pitch it like that the material is a little edgy. It was New Line Cinema who took the risk after spending years as a distribution company for colleges. Their first film nearly went tits up after their own distributor threatened to pull out leaving the cast & crew unpaid for 2 weeks. Obviously they knew something good was happening as no one left. New Line was eventually saved from bankruptcy by Elm Street's massive box office take. New Line was quite the busy little company until 1996 when it was absorbed by Time Warner. Villain Freddy Krueger was originally seen as a silent killer in the mould of Michael Myers but developed a personality over time that helped set him apart from other copycats of the famous Halloween franchise. In fact it was Krueger's own colourful personality that made the film such a hit. In a rare turn of events the horror flick even got good reviews! RT has it ranked at 94% fresh, which is pretty rare for an 80's horror.

The cast almost had some other star names in it. Jackie Earl Haley auditioned. Although his friend who went along with him eventually got his first film role from it…that'd be Johnny Depp. Also in the auditions were Demi Moore, Jennifer Grey and Courtney Cox. Eventually the lead went to one of my favourite scream queens…Heather Langenkamp. The director here is Wes Craven. The horror director shot to fame in the 1970's by making low budget and uber-violent horror flicks like Last House on the Left and the Hills Have Eyes. Praying on people's fears of unexpected violence. He continued that theme into Elm Street as the violence occurred in the victims dreams. Attacking when the victim was at their weakest. Elm Street became Craven's trademark film until his 1996 horror spoof Scream became a huge hit.

The film sees a group of teenage high school students suffering from nightmares about the same guy; dead child killer Fred Krueger (Robert Englund). After her friends are systematically eliminated it falls on Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp) to fight Freddy in his own domain; the world of dreams. Her disfunctional family is a critique on American society with law-man father (John Saxon) having no control over his daughters life and little connnection to it. Mother Marge (Ronee Blakley) is a raging alcoholic torn up about her daughter's predicament and her guilt over Krueger's death. No one wonder Nancy is so susceptible to Freddy's aggressive dream assaults. The film is fresh and innovative even today with Krueger taking a totally non-conventional approach to his attacks. My favourites being the claw coming up in the bath and the tongue coming out of the unplugged telephone. He's a creepy guy. While Craven's flick is largely a success it's not without its flaws. Nancy does suddenly become MacGuyver in the films final third and Glen's inability to notice that his life is in danger is frustrating. Freddy is genius though. How can you kill someone that's already dead? The ending is up for debate with two potential endings floating around. Its up to you to believe in which ending you think is right.

FREDDY'S FATALITIES – Who did Krueger kill during the course of a Nightmare on Elm Street?

1. 17 minutes – Freddy opens his Elm Street account with Tina (Amanda Wyss). After taunting her repeatedly through the medium of dream Krueger extends his early nightdress ripping greeting a little further. He slices open her abdomen before dragging her across her ceiling and unceremoniously dumping on her on the bed while greaseball lover Rod looks on in horror.
2. 43 minutes – Having framed Rod (Jsu Garcia) for Tina's murder Freddy pays him a visit in jail. He utilises the old prison method of suicide; the tied up bedsheets and hangs him in his own cell.
3. 65 minutes – Despite being warned by Nancy, repeatedly, against the dangers of falling asleep Glen (Johnny Depp) fails to make it to their midnight meeting and is instead sucked into his bed along with the TV set. An enormous fountain of blood emerges and coats the ceiling.
4. 80 minutes – A fiery Freddy dry humps Marge into the afterlife. The skeleton waving is a nice touch.
5. 84 minutes – Despite being blinked out of existence by Nancy's refusal to believe in him Freddy returns to pull Marge through the front door. Double death!

A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985)



"Freddy's Revenge sucked a lot. It's like someone decided to make a movie about being in the closet and put Freddy in it just for the hell of it" – 411's horror expert Joseph Lee

Wes Craven, creator of the Elm Street franchise, never planned for it to become a series. He envisaged it as a single film with a happy ending. When he didn't get his way with the original it left a suitably open ending that New Line could make it into a series. When he was informed of the plot for Freddy's Revenge he was even less impressed. He didn't like the idea of Freddy manipulating the protagonist into killing for him. Director for Part 2 is Jack Sholder who'd go on to do The Hidden. He's had limited success over the years unlike Wes Craven. The cast this time around is headed up by Mark Patton and Kim Myers. Not quite the stars of the original. Only Robert Englund returns. Usually the first sequel in a series tends to either be quite good or the better of the follow on's. Time to depart from that rule with Elm Street's second instalment.

This chapter sees wussbag Jesse (Mark Patton) move into The House on Elm Street. Soon he's experiencing the same nightmares as the teens in the first movie. He's from out of town so doesn't know many people. He makes friends with local girl Lisa (Kim Myers) but that doesn't stop him being a total failure. I laughed particularly hard when he got clocked in the head with a baseball because he was oggling girls. His coach, played by Marshall Bell, isn't sympathetic. But then, you wouldn't be. Jesse is an annoying little dork who deserves the contempt he receives. You end up rooting for Freddy because of Jesse's pathetic nature. Even jock Ron (Robert Rusler) is pleasant enough to him and he's supposed to be the nasty high school bully guy. But Jesse just acts like a total douche and it turns the audience against his character from the opening 10 minutes. The film isn't helped that Jesse's character has to carry the film because Freddy is in it for less than 15 minutes total. Mark Patton was so useless as a film star that he quit the acting business in 1986.

Worst Mark Patton moment; emptying his stuff into drawers from boxes after his Dad told him tidy that shit up for the umpteenth time. "How'd you like that Dad" he says to absolutely no one. DOOOOOUUUUUCCHHHEEE! Trying to reprise Tom Cruise's 1983 turn in Risky Business he dances around wearing his sunglasses before being interupted by Kim Myers follows immediately. This allows them to discover Nancy's diary and discover the secret of Freddy Krueger. The film is set five years after Elm Street. Of course Patton is such a bad actor that he can't really convey the horrible reality of the story he's in. Sweating profusely isn't really a substitute for actual acting and he's the kind of guy I would personally hate if I knew in real life. Anyway, back to the plot; Jesse finds Freddy's glove and doesn't think that's weird. So he ends up using it to kill people at Freddy's encouragement. Douche.

And what's with the savage budgie? Who thought that was a good idea? And what's with the gay bar? Clu Gulager (Last Picture Show) tries his best as the Dad but he's the only actor who really comes out of Elm Street 2 with any integrity in place. Although I'm ripping on it Elm Street 2 had tremendous potential. Mark Patton played Jesse like he was a bad guy. It would have made great sense to turn him, ala Anakin Skywalker, in the final act. After all Freddy's glove makes him feel powerful. Why not have that power corrupt? No, instead we get the homosexual overtones. Especially from Ron Grady who starts out as a manly man and turns into limp wristed fag. I laughed at the scene where he's sat right next to Jesse talking about how they should hang out more and then the two girls turn up and he's all ‘eww, girls, icky' and he leaves. Jesse himself ignores Lisa's heavy approaches until she practically jumps on him unlike Johnny Depp in the first movie where he was desperate to fuck Heather Langenkamp. So much so he wasn't worried about dying. Now that's a guy we can all relate to.

Elm Street 2 is a horrible let down after the first film. There are very few positives and a tonne of negatives. Not least of all being that Krueger is hardly in the film at all. Jesse Walsh is the kind of character you can really get some hatred going for and it's a pity they never realised where the film could have gone. The resultant film is somewhat of a disaster. The special effects are weak. There are no scares or surprises and no tension or suspense. The main characters are all whiny and annoying and this is one of those movies where you'll want to root for the bad guy. They really couldn't have come up with a worse sequel if they'd tried.

FREDDY'S FATALITIES –

1. 34 minutes – Coach Schneider (Marshall Bell) gets the old BDSM treatment as he's towel whipped into submission and then sliced up with the old finger knives. Jesse is framed…and squeals like a girl.
2. 57 minutes – Ron Grady (Robert Rusler from Weird Science) finds that sheltering the Krueger possessed Jesse is a bad idea and gets himself stabbed up a treat.
3. 65 minutes – Poolside rampage! Some random gets carved up for being nearest to Freddy's arrival point.
4. 66 minutes – Poolside rampage! Some poor kid with curly hair gets his neck broken in the stampede to escape Freddy's attacks.
5. 66 minutes – Poolside rampage! A blonde guy runs into Freddy's knived glove. He's stabbed and bleeds about a quart inside of a second. The other 20 or so kids pull of a miracle and survive despite the one dumbass trying to "calm" Freddy down and let him know "we aren't going to hurt you". How was he not stabbed in the neck?
6. 79 minutes – Kerry (Sydney Walsh) gets her chest pierced by Freddy's fist as the film reaches its miserable conclusion.

A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 3: Dream Warriors (1987)



I'm thankful to say a little more thought went into the third Elm Street film. The second film was largely considered a failure after it made less money than the first film. But it made enough money to keep the franchise rolling. Determined to get things back on track the studio hired fresh blood to direct; Chuck Russell (Eraser/Scorpion King/The Mask). The script was also heavily worked on with Wes Craven and Bruce Wagner coming up with the story before the script went through two re-writes. One from Russell himself and another at the hands of a fairly well known scribe; Frank Darabont. So already the film has significantly more quality than Freddy's Revenge before we're even underway. They also made some shrewd moves in the casting and brought back both John Saxon and Heather Langenkamp from the first film. Patricia Arquette also makes her debut as a lead. It wasn't really until 1993's True Romance that she became a name star but at least she's here. We also have Larry Fishburne as an orderly and Craig Wasson as a doctor.

The plot in Elm Street 3 sees us move away from Freddy's house and over to a local psychiatric institute. And guess who's on the staff? That's right; Elm Street survivor Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) who's trying to help kids deal with their dream issues. The "Dream Warriors" subtitle comes from the kids at the hospital who give themselves special powers during their dreams to combat their own nightmares. One in particular, Kirsten Parker (Patricia Arquette) has the ability to draw other people into her dreams. Nancy sees this as an opportunity to rid the world of Freddy Krueger once and for all.

Dream Warriors starts out far better than Elm Street 2 by getting its visuals right. It feels like a nightmare world. From Kirsten's first dream we're back in the right atmosphere for Elm Street. She gets her feet stuck in a glue like substance allowing Freddy to get close and it ends with a room full of hanging children, which is quite the freaky visual. We there's good use of the creepy "1-2 Freddy's coming for you". Although it had featured before this time it's prominent. Heather Langenkamp hasn't improved any as an actress but she's good at the whole ‘running away screaming' bit. Patricia Arquette gives her a run for her money too. The rest of the kids have varying levels of interest and the sheer number of them makes character development a bit of a chore. The script does a decent job of it and its almost a shame they couldn't get a better cast.

The subplot involves Dr Gordon seeing a ghost nun (Nan Martin) telling the story of Freddy Krueger's birth. "The bastard son of a hundred maniacs". This gives them an opportunity to put Freddy to rest forever by finding his remains and laying them to rest in hallowed ground. Hey, it even makes sense! A plot! Hallelujah! The special effects are mostly good until the skeleton. Which is a bit shaky. Still the script is perhaps the best of the entire Elm Street series. And you can't really argue with a Dokken track as the theme music! Despite Dream Warriors not being quite as strong as the first Elm Street it's a personal favourite and the best of the sequels. It pushes the original for creativity although I'm still surprised they didn't make more of the kids ‘dream powers'.

FREDDY'S FATALITIES –

1. 29 minutes – Claymation Freddy turns Phillip (Bradley Gregg) into a marionette using his veins as strings. Convinced he's sleepwalking room mate Kincaid (Ken Sagoes) lets him go. "The Walker" promptly takes a stroll off the roof.
2. 38 minutes – nasal blonde wannabe actress Jennifer (Penelope Sudrow) is checking out a talk show on TV when Freddy shows up and sticks her head through the screen. "Welcome to Prime Time, bitch!"
3. 48 minutes - Oddball mute Joey (Rodney Eastman) gets seduced by a naked hot nurse, which turns out to be Krueger in disguise. "Feeling tongue tied?" He ties Joey to a bed using human tongues and then charbroils him. Although Joey doesn't actually die he's put in a coma (Joey later recovers thus denying Freddy this kill).
4. 69 minutes – Freddy interupts a peaceful moment between Kirsten and her mother (Brooke Bundy) by decapitating her mom for not hurrying it up with the bourbon. Damn straight!
5. 71 minutes – former junkie Taryn (Jennifer Rubin) makes a decent go of battling Freddy only for him to grow heroin needles on the ends of his patented knife fingers. She gets the old overdose treatment from ten needles. "What a rush".
6. 73 minutes - crippled dork Will (Ira Heiden) gets an evil wheelchair set on him. The "Wizard Master" deals with that but Freddy doesn't believe in fairy tales so grabs him and stabs him in the heart.
7. 82 minutes – Freddy's skeleton chucks Detective Thompson (John Saxon) onto a spike impaling him.
8. 85 minutes – Freddy rather cheekily impersonates Nancy's recently deceased father to get a post-life hug in. Naturally said hug includes a big set of knives. Bye Nancy.

A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 4: The Dream Master (1988)



Yet another directing change here as Chuck Russell opted to make The Blob. It was offered to Tibor Takacs who'd just made The Gate but declined it because of the tight and immediate shooting schedule. Instead the spot went to noted hack Renny Harlin who went on to fame shooting Die Harder two years later before getting obsessed with turning wife Geena Davis into a megastar (and failing) before reducing himself to making terrible films like Driven. For once Elm Street had some returning characters AND the actors that played them! Mostly. Patricia Arquette had unfortunately had enough and opted out. She was replaced as Kristen Parker by humourously named Tuesday Knight. But both Ken Sagoes and Rodney Eastman were able to come back as well as Brooke Bundy and, of course, Robert Englund. This film also marks the debut of Lisa Wilcox as Freddy's nemesis Alice Johnson. Well, third nemesis. The screenplay is actually, in part at least, from Brian Helgeland who went on to write LA Confidential. I like to look on the bright side!

The immediate problem that Dream Master suffers from is a lack of star power. Robert Englund is the only star and when your bad guy is the star…that creates a dynamic problem. His name appears ahead of the credits even. Without Heather Langenkamp, Patricia Arquette or even John Saxon or Craig Wasson the film lacks a presence. They don't even have any strong supporting stars like Clu Gulagher in Freddy's Revenge. The cast of nobodies makes the scenes without Freddy's menacing somewhat tough to sit through. What it does bring is a tremendous sense of unpredictability. After all with no stars in the cast anyone is potentially Freddy's next victim. It's the first Elm Street movie with blatant lifts from other 80's hits. The dog is called Jason, "get away from him you son of a bitch" is right out of Aliens and the transformation into insect comes from the Fly. I can understand why people like this chapter because some of the death scenes are quite memorable but overall it's very meh. If Renny Harlin had standards this would be about average by them.

As Dream Master progresses it's Lisa Wilcox who comes to the forefront seemingly learning and gaining powers from the people that have died. Nicholas Mele improves as the film moves on too. He plays Alice & Rick's Dad. An alcoholic who has trouble connecting to people and is a serious dickhead. There's an undertone that he may of abused at least Rick and perhaps both of his kids. While there's not a whole lot of depth to Dream Master there is the consolation that it never even threatens to get as bad as Freddy's Revenge. There are issues with the logic employed by the characters. Only Kristen seems to have a pathological fear of sleep despite how everyone is plagued by nightmares. Freddy goes slightly OTT here. "Rick, you little meatball. I love soul food!" etc. It kinda makes him a little bit too goofy. He also seems far too vulnerable even taking a beating off some high school kid who knows a tiny bit of kung-fu. Although he does get the comeback of "I am eternal". In other words; it doesn't really matter what you do to Freddy. He's there forever.

Sidenote - The low point of this film is almost certainly Freddy rapping over the end credits. Who thought that was a good idea? It enforces the comedy character that he's become and takes away from the serious nature of the ending. The series had become a bit of a joke by Part 4 even though this was the most successful of the series at $49M US domestic. Perhaps its fair to say that the drop in seriousness during Part 4 resulted in future films in the franchise being taken less seriously and therefore pulling down less money.

FREDDY'S FATALITIES –

1. 19 minutes – Kincaid (Ken Sagoes) is the first to discover Freddy's re-birth after his dog Jason (nice touch) pisses fire onto Freddy's grave thus re-animating him. Freddy uses his knowledge of auto-mechanics to trap Kincaid in the car graveyard he was buried in before burying his knives into Kincaid's lower intestine.
2. 21 minutes – Hope Marie Carlton, a very sexy and extremely naked pin-up, entices Joey (Rodney Eastman) into his waterbed by swimming around in it. "How's this for a wet dream?" asks Freddy as he does his best Jaws impression and drags him down. Joey in the process becomes the first person to be on the wrong end of two Krueger one-liners.
3. 34 minutes – In case you missed the Jaws metaphor Freddy becomes the shark for real hunting down Kristen (Tuesday Knight) when she's gone to her happy place. He promptly buries her alive in sand as payback for his own burial. The sunglasses are a nice touch. Of course that's no way to finish one of the series main heroes so Freddy follows up by throwing her into the same furnace he once died in! Her powers pass to Alice during the same attack.
4. 44 minutes – ebony geekess Sheila (Toy Newkirk) gets the life sucked out of her by Freddy after staying up all night revising. "Wanna suck face?" The school blame it on an asthma attack.
5. 50 minutes – Rick (Andras Jones), Kristen's boyfriend and Alice's brother, nods off in the toilet at school. This gains him an express elevator to hell ride courtesy of Freddy. Specifically to Freddy's invisible ninja dojo. After a brief battle Rick gets the knives thrown into his stomach.
6. 65 minutes – Debbie (Brooke Theiss) fails to bench her personal best plus Freddy leaning on the bar. Her arms promptly snap at the elbows and fall off before she turns into a giant insect in a nice steal from The Fly. Freddy squishes the resultant bug.

A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 5: The Dream Child (1989)



Dante's Peak scribe Leslie Bohem came up with the script for Dream Child, another rushed entry in the Elm Street series, before handing it over to director Stephen Hopkins. Another interesting choice in the series he'd go on to helm Predator 2, Blown Away and Judgment Night before ruining his career with the re-do of Lost in Space. The cast is headed up by the returning Lisa Wilcox as heroin Alice Johnson. This time around timid Alice has gotten herself impregnated and is about the have the titular Dream Child. This sort of serves as a direct sequel to Dream Master thus allowing two films to link directly together with the same star for the first time in the franchise. Unfortunately we're still lacking in star power. Although if you're interested in cameos this one does have Ted Nugent as a member of the Hot Seat band as the camera pans across a TV set.

Dream Child opens up with Alice (Lisa Wilcox) getting knocked up by jock boyfriend Dan (Danny Hassell). She should really know better as having sex in a slasher movie practically guarantees bad things are about to happen to you. Usually death. In Alice's case Freddy's tries to drown her in her shower, which gives her some serious nude scenes. Although because its through glass Mr Skin doesn't consider it nudity. In your face Stephen Hopkins! Dream Child is the first Elm Street film to really consider going back and exploring Freddy's background. In particular his mother Amanda (played here by Beatrice Boepple). Although her mass rape was described in Dream Warriors. Anyhow, because of Freddy's connection to Alice he's allowed to come back and butcher the Springwood teens one more time. Keep in mind the original Elm Street kids, the ones who were killed as revenge for Freddy's own death, are now all dead. Alice is only connected to Freddy because of being pulled into Kristen's dream in Dream Master. The plot is a little messy compared to the previous films though as Freddy aims to be re-born as Alice's child and only Amanda Krueger can stop him. But her soul is trapped and Alice has to rescue it to save her child. Slightly more complicated than the usual Elm Street fare of kids sleep… then die.

Dream Child is the movie where Freddy goes from cool to over the top in terms of his use of comedy. He'd always been a funny guy because of his wit in despatching his victims. But in Dream Child he's so over the top it's no longer funny. He comes off as a dweeb. It probably doesn't help that Freddy doesn't even appear in the opening 20 minutes. He's not like the shark in Jaws in that respect. You don't need to build him up and keep him hidden in his 4th sequel. You really need him front and centre. Normally he doesn't register a kill for 20 minutes. That's perfectly normal but not being seen at all? Issues. Alice has nightmares in the opening 20 minutes of Dream Child and you even get to see Robert Englund sans makeup. But that doesn't compensate for the lack of…anything really. And with the issues stemming from the more comical Freddy Dream Child stumbles badly throughout. There is a little salvation for the film in the shape of Freddy's own nightmares about abandonment and his own personal issues. The 100 Maniacs attempt to tear him limb from limb is a real highlight. Unfortunately there's not enough of that in Dream Child. There's too much monotony. Hopkins spends way too long getting somewhere. And I've never been a big fan of the supernatural/religious mumbo-jumbo that leads to the Krueger Jr scene. Laughable as opposed to terrifying. "School's out Krueger". Terrible.

Sidenote – Whatever happened to upping the ante in horror sequels? 3 kills in Elm Street 5? 3? Boo!

FREDDY'S FATALITIES –

1. 25 minutes – having returned in Alice's dream Krueger singles out her boyfriend Dan (Danny Hassell) who's fallen asleep at the wheel. After the car crash Dan rather foolishly selects a red and black motorcycle to get him home. "This boy feels the need for speed" wisecracks Freddy before steering him into the path of an oncoming truck.
2. 38 minutes – skinny model Greta (Erika Anderson) is force-fed food after falling asleep at a party. Freddy shoves as much as he can in there before she chokes to death.
3. 62 minutes – Mark (Joe Seely), a comic book artist and one of the nerdiest kids in the Elm Street franchise falls asleep reading the graphic novelisation of the movie. He finds himself in a comic world and in a tip of the hat, albeit a crap one, to Dream Warriors he becomes his own comic book creation. Freddy retorts by becoming Super Freddy (Michael Bailey Smith) and chops up the now paper Mark.

Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)



With the Elm Street series suffering from a slight drop-off in viewers (a fall off of $27M from part 4 to part 5) there was a suggestion that the series had perhaps outlived its usefulness. There were certainly question marks over the quality of the films the franchise had produced that had drastically different results. For every Dream Warriors there was a Freddy's Revenge waiting in the wings. The lack of consistency in the series hadn't hugely impacted on box office until part 5 though. So now it was ‘all guns blazing' for the finale. They certainly put some effort into making Freddy's Dead an entertainment event. They were desperate to draw punters back in for one final time so they put everything into the film they could. Including a 3-D gimmick for the film's culmination, cameos from an assortment of stars including Alice Cooper, Roseanne and Tom Arnold. And music by Brian May.

Logically the plot to Freddy's Dead would involve Alice Johnson and the finale of her storyline arc along with her son Jacob. Yeah? Wrong.

Director Rachel Talalay rejected the script pitting son against unholy father and giving us Alice Johnson's demise (I'm unsure of who wrote that but Peter Jackson actually submitted a screenplay that wasn't used). Instead opting for a different script from Michael De Luca. The president of New Line. So no one was going to tell him his script sucked. Talalay herself didn't exactly set the world on fire. Following this she managed Ghost in the Machine, which is shit, and Tank Girl, which is worse. The latter killed her directing career dead on the spot and she got booted back into TV directing. Conclusion proof, if you ever needed it, that you don't have to be male to be a hack. Maybe I'm being harsh as Talalay had a hand in most of the Elm Street movies at some level and whenever she produced a movie the director got all the praise and went on to make other films and make big money. Looking at the situation from a writer's POV you'd have to question whether this is one of those situations though. You know the one's I'm talking about. As spoofed by Orange in their cinematic adverts. If you've not seen one here's a sample…



Or even better…



I get the feeling the original script probably made good sense, even if it did need tweaking, and those responsible for making the film wanted more blood or jokes or something. So they obviously got their way because studio's always know what they're doing and when they overrule talent its because they're right!

So the plot this time around sees Freddy's before unmentioned daughter Katherine aka Maggie Burroughs (Lisa Zane) and Springwood's only remaining alive teenager John Doe (Shon Greenblatt) encountering the, once again, returning Freddy. Sadly they didn't select particularly good actors for the main roles. Zane only had half a dozen roles to her name and wasn't ready to be a lead. Greenblatt only had a few movies under his belt and was totally unproven. During Freddy's Dead his inconsistent performance undermines the importance of his role. Of the main players there are two interesting performances though; Yaphet Kotto as a doctor and Breckin Meyer in his first credit. Meyer is surprisingly good compared to those around him, which should tell you the level of quality on display. The script is patchy at best with Krueger being used as comic relief. Many of the lines are wooden as hell and sound worse coming from mediocre talent.

I remember seeing Freddy's Dead when it was released and it didn't seem quite so bad back then. Maybe it was the antipation of the 3-D glasses bit, I dunno. I know Talalay was aiming for a Twin Peaks vibe but the connection doesn't really work well. Mainly because David Lynch is really very talented and no one involved in this is. It doesn't help much that the cast are all pretty irritating. The characters all seem to be written as whiny dickheads. Then we get a huge 30 minute gap between Freddy sightings in order to set up a return to Springwood. At least its mildly interesting and although its bad it doesn't hit the boredom of Dream Child because its just so bad its entertaining. Oh, and John Doe is an idiot. If he thinks he's Krueger's son (who was born in 1966). After all he's a teenager and the year is 1991. Or ten years beyond that if you believe the opening message. That would put this particular teenager's age at 35. I don't think we're losing a cure for cancer here.

Ok, positive. Let's say something positive about Freddy's Dead. Johnny Depp's cameo doing the "this is your brain on drugs" is pretty good. Especially when he'd go on to play Hunter S. Thompson in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Ripped, twisted. Good people. That's all I got. They even wrecked the possibility of where Freddy got his powers from; blaming it on some dream controlling serpent gods. Rubbish.

This film starts ok but it turns into a complete piece of shit. Lousy special effects, terrible plot, bad acting and some of the most miserable execution of dreadful ideas that's ever had the misfortune to be shat out into the movie world. Worst film of the series easily. If Freddy Krueger's name weren't attached to it then the lack of quality would surely see this ranked as one of the worst films of all time.

FREDDY'S FATALITIES –

1. 2 minutes - Fat ginger airline passenger (Virginia Peters) is sucked out of the roof of the plane during a storm. "Its not fair, I was almost out" screams John Doe. Technically this a dream sequence so it may not have been Freddy's kill but he's there floating on a broomstick in a homage to Wizard of Oz.
2. 32-37 minutes – Carlos (Ricky Dean Logan) gets his ear canal cleaned out with a really long Q-Tip. Deafened by the experience this allows Freddy to do a lot of LARGE comedy by tippy toeing around behind him. Yeah, this movie sucks that bad. Freddy replaces his hearing aid with one that amplifies everything. Chalk board. Knives. Head explodes. "Nice hearin' from ya, Carlos". Worst. Death. Ever.
3. 41 minutes - Spencer (Breckin Meyer), a stoner with a fruity ponytail, gets to trip out with Freddy. All it takes is some trippy visuals and In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida and he's in the TV set. Freddy ends up playing Nintendo games on the set. This is, by far, the worst sequence of any Elm Street movie and probably in the top five of any movie, ever. After an agonising and fucking terrible scene he throws Spencer down the stairs. "Wadda ya know, beat my high score" – Freddy. Worst. Death. Ever!
4. 50 minutes – John Doe (Shon Greenblatt) falls into his reoccurring dream again. This time landing on a bed of spikes. Freddy's set up for this is not unlike Bugs Bunny. Rubbish.

Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1993)



When Wes Craven decided to return to Elm Street for the 7th chapter he sat down and watched all six previous films. By the end of it he had no idea what had happened. If the guy who created the characters doesn't know what's going on then what chance to the audience have? Elm Street had become a touch convoluted. Each director had added another layer of mythos onto Freddy Krueger to the level where Krueger had become overly complex. Craven had gone on to make some rather unusual films after Elm Street though and he'd come back with a slightly more warped world view. Check out the Serpent and the Rainbow if you want to see a horror movie that's completely out there. He also made one of my personal favourites, Deadly Friend, which is entirely awful but so bad its good. Craven's concept for following up his original Elm Street film was to disregard the sequels and their convoluted and unneccessary plot points. He'd merely continue where he left off. Except instead of continuing the story in the fantasy world of Springwood he simply took the characters away and used the actors and himself. It was like 8 ½ for horror fans.

Widely disliked by Elm Street purists and horror fans in general New Nightmare did capture an audience among the critics who enjoyed its self referential nature. I remember at the time being unimpressed. After all they killed Freddy Krueger. He was dead. Now he was back. Boring! In retrospect its great to see Heather Langenkamp back, and John Saxon for that matter, and Heather looks GREAT. She has a total MILF look going on. Plus going across into reality allowed Robert Englund to yuk it up as Freddy being Robert Englund being Freddy. New Nightmare also ressurrects the possibility of anything happening in dreams. So you're never sure when you're seeing a dream or reality. Something that went by the wayside somewhere during the series. Its also creepy and surreal. The funeral scenes featuring the actors from the series is weird. Especially Robert Englund just being himself. Apparently Wes Craven wanted Johnny Depp to be in the scene but was too scared to call him. Too bad. After all if he'd make a cameo in Freddy's Dead he'd surely do one for Wes Craven. The scene between Heather and Wes where the conversation plays out exactly as it appears on Wes' monitor is a great trick. Especially as it ends with "fade to black" and it does. There are levels, layers of plot at play in New Nightmare. Its like Adaptation for slasher fans.

The plot sees actress Heather Langenkamp dealing with a Freddy obsessed stalker and nightmares resulting from it. Not to mention LA earthquakes and her weirded out son Dylan (Miko Hughes). Husband Chase Porter (David Newsom) is a special effects guy who also works in Hollywood. New Line Cinema wants Heather to star in "the definitive nightmare". Wes Craven has an idea based on his own nightmares and wants Heather to be in it. She's totally opposed to it because her son is already freaked out by a Nightmare on Elm Street and watches it all the time when he's sleepwalking.

The final reel of New Nightmare sees Dylan sleepwalking home while Freddy chases followed by Heather. She calls her only friend in the situation; John Saxon, her onscreen father. And before you know it all of the characters are right back in Elm Street. I love how Saxon just slips back into the role. The first time he calls Heather "Nancy" it almost slips by your notice. The second time she notices. And all of a sudden he's a cop. Craven makes a point of playing Krueger serious throughout only using one liners as a means to an end. Craven's Krueger is darker and more sinister. Especially compared to last two joke chapters. And Langenkamp's more experienced actress plays much stronger here than in her first two appearances. She almost goes for the Ellen Ripley and certainly is more maternal since her child got involved. New Nightmare doesn't have the same vibe or atmosphere as the best chapters of the Elm Street saga but it has a fair degree of suspense and the continued use of the dream aspect makes the plot unpredictable.

FREDDY'S FATALITIES –

1. 29 minutes – Chase (David Newsom) is driving home when he nods off. Freddy's claw, re-designed by Chase himself, pops through the seat of the car and stabs him in the chest. We're not sure if it happened or if Heather dreamt it…until the police show up at her door in the next scene.
2. 63 minutes – two special effects guys murdered in the opening dream sequence turn up dead and Freddy's new glove stolen. You'd presume Krueger is held responsible for these deaths.
3. 76 minutes – babysitter Julie (Tracy Middendorf) is watching over Dylan to make sure he doesn't sleep. Unfortunately for her she doesn't do a bang up job and Freddy appears behind her in true horror movie style. You know the drill. In a nice touch she's dragged across the ceiling in a tribute to Tina's death in the first film.

Freddy Vs Jason (2003)



This film holds a somewhat surprising honour. It's the only Elm Street film I've never seen any part of. I believe I saw about 20 seconds of it when I was channel surfing one night but that's about it. But why? I've always been a big Freddy Krueger fan. Surely I'd be jazzed to see the showdown between him and Jason? Apparently not. I guess I didn't like the idea so I waited for the reviews and when they were mostly negative I skipped it. But with the advent of Series Link it gives me an opportunity to check in on the film I missed. I'm curious as to why two unknowns got the shot at writing FVJ (Mark Swift and Damien Shannon). But they did and that's where the storyline comes from. They have a number of scripts in the works for upcoming stuff but strangely didn't get anything picked up immediately after this. Hmm. The director is "Fearless" helmsman Ronny Yu. I love Fearless but I think that's more down to Jet Li being totally awesome in it. The film stars Monica Keena and Jason Ritter. Yeah, I'm thinking "who" as well. At least Robert Englund was retained for the flick although they made the curious decision to bypass Jason favourite Kane Hodder in favour of the taller Ken Kirzinger. Although what height has to do with anything in Hollywood is beyond me. The Cruiser never looks like the midget he is in any film and Elijah Wood looked half his height in Lord of the Rings. This isn't rocket science. If Ronny Yu wanted Jason to look taller he could have just cheated. Then everyone would be happy. Apart from Ken Kirzinger, of course. Six actors had played Jason before Hodder took over though so its not like we're replacing Jack Bauer, Han Solo, Captain Kirk or anyone like that.

The plot follows on from Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday and Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare. Neither of which, incidentally, were the last in the respective franchises running orders. The idea being that both Krueger and Voorhees have been dispatched to Hell and Freddy wants out. So he sends Jason back to Elm Street to kill enough people that Freddy gets his strength back via the old ‘soul consumption' trick. The idea being that if Jason kills people on Elm Street everyone will think its Krueger and remembering him will bring back his powers. As the dim and characterless teens remember Krueger the nightmare begins again! Its horror for a new decade with new rules. There gore and gratuitous nudity everywhere in this flick. The shower scene for example is just excessive (although I'm entirely in favour of nudity, excessive or otherwise and Tammy ‘body double' Morris has huge titties) and the little girl with no eyes in the first dream is over the top compared to the kids skipping rope, which is the classic visual that follows. There's a distinct feeling that the movie's quick pacing and dumbed down themes are entirely for an audience that can't be bothered to follow a plot with any kind of complexity. There are attempts to throw in little references to past films to appease that audience but it didn't work in AVP and it doesn't really work here.

The film hurtles towards its conclusion as Freddy drags Jason into the dreamworld for a ruck. The kids then take Jason's body to Camp Crystal Lake. But why would they do that? Their reasoning is highly questionable. Does nobody just run like fuck anymore? What happened to the good old fashioned ‘Terminator' defence? Run away! The cinematic scuffle between Freddy & Jason is what everyone came to see, which is probably why all the human characters are so thin. Not that there's much going on with the horror icons either although young Jason getting bullied at the Camp is a tasty nugget of character development. The use of the Camp is probably just so they could use both iconic sets, along with 1428 Elm Street, but I wish they'd thought of a better way of getting there. Of course that helps to set up a battle between the horror icons on a second territory. Freddy's dominance in the dream world is a little confusing. If he really has powers like those; why didn't he use them more often? They seem almost limitless. The pinball sequence shows he's capable of manipulating his environment completely. Its also the worst part of the scrap between the two villains. In the long run you'd question both franchises as neither lead character can actually die. It only ends when it gets boring. Every ending is a false one.

End of the day; I think Freddy Vs Jason, despite Freddy's manipulation of Jason and easy victory over him in dreamworld, is more a movie for fans of Jason Voorhees than Freddy Krueger and the Elm Street franchise. While its cool to see them do battle the characters around them are too paper thin to give a shit about and there's no effort made to make either icon remotely at risk of actual permanent death. Its already been established that they're both incapable of dying. Nothing in the script makes them any less susceptible. Ronny Yu does his best with limited material and at least FMJ is never boring. It never has time to be. Great idea, poor script, half-decent execution. I can see why I wasn't too excited by the prospect of it and it really is a no-brainer. I didn't have time for those in 2003. It's nice to complete the Krueger Kollection but I can see why they've never bothered considering a follow up even though this made huge money.

FREDDY'S FATALITIES –

1. 39 minutes - Drunken dipshit Gibb (Katherine Isabelle) is the first to feel Freddy's regenerated powers courtesy of a locker room stabbing incident.
2. 50 minutes – Clearly aggitated at not getting any recognition for his first kill Freddy burns weird lookin' nutjob Mark Davis (Brendan Fletcher) alive. In the process torching the words "Freddy's Back" onto his, er, back.

VOORHEES' VICTIMS –

1. 4 minutes - Heather (Odessa Munroe). Extremely naked and then extremely dead. Am I watching a horror franchise collision or what? Jason takes exception to her existence and stabs her into a tree.
2. 12 minutes – Trey (Jesse Hutch) gets his innards stabbed through the bed after railing Gibb in a short and passionless display (the fucking, not the stabbing). Jason goes for the amusing overkill by folding Trey into the bed thus creating a lake of blood that Gibb walks into. Cue screaming.
3. 19 minutes – Blake's Dad (Brent Chapman). Decaptitated by Jason when Blake is asleep.
4. 19 minutes – Blake (David Kopp). After having a nightmare about Freddy Krueger he wakes to find Jason is watching.
5. 39 minutes – somewhat stealing the thunder of Krueger's return is Jason who uses a long piece of steel to stab the party monster who'd decided to hump Gibb's unconscious body. He ends up impaling Gibb too but the party guy is the one who gets it worse as he's thrown into the air.
6. 40 minutes – "Its by invite only cornpoke" are the last words of a jock party host (Colby Johannson) before Jason turns his head backwards.
7. 41 minutes – Shack (Chris Gauthier) gets hit in the spine with Jason's trademark machete…on fire! Jason strolls out of the cornfield on fire to officially scare the shit out of everyone else at the party.
8. 41 minutes – Random victim #1. MACHETE MASSACRE!
9. 41 minutes – Random victim #2. MACHETE MASSACRE!
10. 41 minutes – Random victim #3. MACHETE MASSACRE!
11. 42 minutes – Random victim #4. MACHETE MASSACRE!
12. 42 minutes – Random victim #5. MACHETE MASSACRE!
13. 42 minutes – Random victim #6. MACHETE MASSACRE! Holy kill counts Jason!
14. 56 minutes – Jason + weight of door 1 security guard 0
15. 59 minutes – Deputy Stubbs (Lochlyn Munro). Jason accidentally electricutes himself. No problem for the living dead but big trouble for nearby copper Stubbs who Jason grabs as he's trying to make his escape.
16. Token stoner Freeburg (Kyle Labine) gets used by Freddy to inject tranquilizers into Jason to make him sleep. Jason doesn't go down without a fight though and cuts Freeburg in half with his machete to teach a lesson for that horrible Jay Mewes impression.
17. 75 minutes – Moped riding nerd Linderman (Chris Marquette) gets a moment of heroics before Jason almost absent mindedly throws him onto a metal spike. He gets to escape the burning building but then collapses in a pool of his own blood.
18. 77 minutes – Kia (pop star Kelly Rowland) makes the mistake of stopping off to goad Freddy. It seems her confidence is doing her well until Jason turns up and hacks into a tree as an afterthought.

Total kills – Freddy Krueger


A Nightmare on Elm Street – Four. Discounting one of the Mrs Thompson kills as he can't kill someone twice. It's somewhat debateable as to whether he kills her at all as Nancy dreams it both times BUT she is dead by the time Dream Warriors roles around and although it's called a "suicide" I think killing her twice is good enough to count.

A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge – Nine. Five more here. I'm discounting the final kill as its not during her dream but rather Jesse's. You'd assume all of them are killed by Krueger eventually but for official purposes…

A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 3: Dream Warriors – Fifteen. Only six more in Dream Warriors. Discounting Brooke Bundy who appears in Dream Master and therefore isn't dead and Joey who recovers from his coma.

A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 4: The Dream Master – Twenty One. Six confirmed kills in Dream Master. Nothing open for debate. Everybody just dies.

A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 5: The Dream Child – Twenty Four. Three more in Dream Child, which is Freddy's worst tally.

Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare – Twenty Seven. I deduct the opening airline passenger on the grounds that it wasn't her dream and she's only a character in terms of John Doe's dream. She may not even exist at all.

Wes Craven's New Nightmare – Thirty One. I'm including the two technicians as they were killed onscreen, albeit in a dream, and later turned up dead. Freddy is definitely responsible for those kills.

Freddy Vs. Jason – Thirty Three. A rather disappointing haul of two in his final outing.

Freddy Krueger's total body count – 33.

Top 5 Freddy Kills

HR – Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp – Dream Warriors). How can I do a countdown of the best kills in the Elm Street movies without mentioning Nancy? She was Freddy's first protagonist and the most game as she came back twice. Her three appearances opposite Robert Englund make Langenkamp the series most competitive good guy. However she was offed during Part 3. Its only the lack of creativity in her death that makes it so unmemorable. Until I saw it again for review purposes I'd completely forgotten that Nancy was killed at all.

5. Sheila (Toy Newkirk – Dream Master). There's something about this particular Freddy killing that people remember. Perhaps it's the one-liner of "wanna suck face"? Perhaps it's the ridiculousness of the whole thing. There's Alice sitting there during a test and she nods off. Next to her is the Freddy virgin, class bookworm and athsma sufferer Sheila. All of a sudden Sheila is also asleep and is accidentally drawn into Alice's dream and Krueger's world. Freddy's attack comes off as confident but if you think about it; this is a desperate act from Krueger. Yeah, the one liner is what people remember but look at how quick the kill is. There's minimal taunting. He has to kill that girl and make it look horribly painful to a) put Alice in her place and b) create that fear that breeds strength for Krueger himself. This scene is one of many great kills in Dream Master but the one that really sets us going. Because Freddy is desperate to get his connection back.

4. Joey (Rodney Eastman – Dream Master). Joey is a double pronged assault of Freddy awesomeness. First he ties Joey to the bed with four mutant tongues in Dream Warriors. I remember at school hearing kids joke about the "tongue tied" line. To 12 year old kids that shit is pure gold. But the follow up attack in the next movie is even better and one of Krueger's finest moments. Using Joey's imagination against him he causes a nude pin-up to appear inside Joey's waterbed before dragging him into it. Kind of a tribute to the Glen death from the original film and another opportunity for Freddy to crack wise at poor Joey's expense. This time with the "wet dream" line. Don't feel too bad for Joey though. He managed to learn to speak from Part 3 to Part 4 and got to see a girl naked. Not bad going for a horror character.

3. Tina (Amanda Wyss – A Nightmare on Elm Street). Ah, Freddy's first kill. And what a beauty it was. So good that Wes Craven couldn't help repeating the effect, with Krueger visible to young Dylan, in New Nightmare. Tina's death sets the pattern for everything in Elm Street. Firstly he sets Tina up to fear sleeping thus drawing in other teens. Secondly he assaults Tina in order for another guy to get the blame thus leaving a second victim open for attack and setting up his next kill. Thirdly he does it in such a fashion that even though someone else was blamed for the assault all the kids know who's really responsible. This becomes an ongoing theme in Elm Street. Everyone knows who's really responsible but they're too scared to talk about him. Tina's death was particularly stylish and brutal thanks to Craven's insistence that her death be in a dream state. So normal laws of psychics are simply not adhered to. It makes the scene all the more powerful and having her boyfriend look on hopelessly is a nice touch.

2. Kristen Parker (Tuesday Night – Dream Master). If it weren't for the obvious Jaws theft at the beginning of the scene this may have made #1. Kristen was learning to control her dreams until Freddy took exception to that, and his defeat in Dream Warriors at her hands, and fucked her up. Big time. First he invades her happy place and stomps her into the ground. Then he puts her right back in the place she fears the most; Freddy's home. Then, in a remarkably cathartic scene for a villain, Freddy gets his revenge for all those kid's parents burning him. He throws Kristen into the very same furnace that he was burned alive in. I could happily have seen the series come to an end with that scene. After all, despite all Krueger's wrongdoings while he was alive, he was only out for revenge. This scene is Freddy's revenge. Complete with a healthy dose of irony it exorcised Freddy's past. Or it should have done. But the perfect ending wasn't to be and Freddy turned his attentions to the other kids. Greedy, Frederick, greedy.

1. Glen (Johnny Depp – A Nightmare on Elm Street). The murders during the first Elm Street film are a mixed bag. Tina's is brutal and thrilling but the hanging scene isn't great. However Glen's death is where Wes Craven was saving a few hundred gallons of fake blood for. Glen, despite being warned not to fall asleep several times by the increasingly crazy Nancy, nods off before their midnight meeting. Krueger takes full and merciless advantage by dragging his TV watchin' ass into the bed and thanks to camera trickery cascades of blood flood out to coat Glen's ceiling. Its one of the most over the top deaths in horror history and yet compared to later Freddy deaths it has a very serious tone. Yeah, that's a lot of blood but it was also Nancy's anchor to reality. She knew no one else believed her. With Glen dead she has to go it alone. Which sets up the horror of Freddy chasing her into the films conclusion. Also, its Johnny Depp! By far Freddy's most famous kill.

RATINGS –

A Nightmare on Elm Street ****1/2
A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge *
A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 3: Dream Warriors ****
A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 4: The Dream Master **1/2
A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 5: The Dream Child *
Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare BOOO!
Wes Craven's New Nightmare ***
Freddy Vs Jason **1/2

BOX OFFICE –

A Nightmare on Elm Street $25M
A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge $23M
A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 3: Dream Warriors $44M
A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 4: The Dream Master $49M
A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 5: The Dream Child $22M
A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 6: The Final Nightmare $34M
Wes Craven's New Nightmare $18M
Freddy Vs Jason $82M


The 411 –

A Nightmare on Elm Street is one of the great horror movies of the 1980's. Drawing on universal fear of the possibility of nightmares and the Boogeyman, Craven's original was just right. He got a great scream queen turn from Heather Langenkamp. She has to be walking proof that you don't have to be a great actress to be a great movie star. Craven got lucky with the casting of Johnny Depp who brings great levity to his role that shouldn't be possible under the circumstances. Robert Englund is the star of the Elm Street series though. Without him Krueger could have been another faceless copycat killer. But Englund brought a certain life to Krueger that no other horror character has. The wisecracking bad guy is a relatively new thing. He's in a class by himself in that respect.

Sadly the series got diluted over time and sequels exposed the need for good scripts and direction or consistency of both. The quick switches between directors and other talent left the sequels a bit of a mess. A mixed bunch they peak with Dream Warriors and have varying degrees of success, quality and depth. Freddy's Dead is the series low point and a truly awful film, if only for the dreadful Nintendo scene, while New Nightmare came closest to capturing the series early glories. Elm Street fans debate over which of the sequels is the best all day long but generally Dream Warriors gets a thumbs up. The others are all open for scorn and celebration although pretty much everyone hates Freddy's Dead.

If you want to see the series in a sensible fashion I'd recommend seeing 1, 3, 4, New Nightmare and leave it at that. Dream Master is where Freddy's starts to edge towards the overly comical character of parts 5 and 6 but its also the film with some of the most creative kills in it. In my mind Freddy Krueger remains one of the best villains ever created. The only issue the Elm Street series seems to really suffer from is they set the bar too high with Krueger. How do you follow him up when you can't even kill him?