Proving there's
no rest for the wicked, the unspeakably evil Freddy Krueger is again resurrected
from the grave to wreak havoc upon those who dare to dream. But this time,
he faces a powerful new adversary!
As her friends
succumb one by one to Freddy's wrath, telepathically gifted Kristen embarks
on a desperate mission to destroy the satanic dream stalker and release
the tortured souls of his victims once and for all.
After the powerhouse
that was the conclusion of Nightmare On Elm Street III: Dream Warriors,
I was prepared for anything in this movie...and that's about what I got.
The script was a little weak in how it handled itself, not by the writing,
but because of who it killed off and why. I felt that after the massive
killing of survivors from the first film at the end of the previous film,
that maybe they wouldn't clean slate us at the beginning of this one, but
that's just what they did.
Freddy is back,
however from what I can tell it was because of magical fire urine from
Kincaid's pet dog in a dream, but either way he's back! There's a new group
of kids meshing with the three survivors of the previous film (Kincaid,
Joey, and Kristen) and they are all beginning to have nightmares. Alice
is closest friends with Kristen and after seeing her killed by Freddy,
has become the new target. Alice is the normally quiet, softspoken, and
very scared girl but once her friends start to die she begins to toughen
up. Now it's time for the Dream Master to face up with another strong-willed
girl (again), but is Alice really capable of taking on Freddy Kruger?
I'm going to
start off on a positive note, because I feel criticism is only appropriate
when following praise. Robert England has yet again returned to play Freddy
and at this point it's clear that the franchise won't succeed without him
(which is really only good news for Robert England and devoted fans). Alice
(played by Lisa Wilcox) starts off as a weak character, but once her role
spices her up we can see that it isn't the actress, but rather the script
that lacks. Director Renny Harlin also takes the movie in new directions
(especially because he co-wrote it) by removing Freddy's dream world and
creating a parallel "altering reality" universe to the kids dreams. This
new idea was refreshing and helped to make the movie still a little more
scary, but with Freddy's now witty banter and subtle jokes in the death
scenes it's not that creepy anymore. The special effects were still quite
good, especially because the movie didn't attempt too much and accidentally
come off as fake looking.
Now, having
said that, I have some concerns with this film. I didn't like that Patricia
Arquette didn't return to play Kristen (which I'd like to think explains
her early death, but I fear the two are unrelated). It's not because I'm
a Patricia Arquette fan, but more because it ruined the aesthetic of the
series. Every character in the entire series that returns, from the large
roles to the small, are always played by the same actor/actress, which
I think is very credible because it helps create this world as a reality.
When Patricia Arquette didn't return, it ruined that aesthetic. I also
didn't like that we lose all the survivors from Part III when we
just lost all the survivors from Part I at the end of Part III.
I guess they're trying to prove that the new Freddy can make short change
of the people that defeated him before, but it just made me lose that connection
to a character that I had followed in the series. I also didn't like the
incredibly weak explanation (or lack thereof) of how Freddy comes back
to life because there was a very specific ritual created to keep him buried
and just because I accepted his return didn't mean I liked how it was done.
The DVD follows
the same format as all the previous. The movie is in widescreen and in
5.1 Dolby Digital format with the "Jump To A Death" sequence feature. All
in all, this is basically the birth of a second generation of two-parters
in this series (because realistically 1 & 3 go together and 4 &
5 go together, the rest are free floating) and unless you liked part 5
also or intend to own both (or the whole series) this movie may not be
for you. Fans of the series will definitely still find it entertaining
and although it proves that every series will begin to falter, it's still
a decent addition to the franchise.
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- When
Alice goes into the theater, there is a poster for Reefer Madness II:
The True Story, New Line Cinema's first success.
- The
2 gravestones visible behind Kristen Parker's & Roland Kincaid's are:
Donald & Nancy Thompson, characters from A Nightmare on Elm Street 1, 3 & 7.
- The
sandcastle form of the Elm Street House is visible on freeze-frame before
it explodes.
- The
name of the diner where Alice works is called the "Crave Inn", a reference
to series creator Wes Craven.
- On the background wall of the theatre entrance, there is a poster of Renny Harlin's previous movie Prison.
- Director Renny Harlin has a camoe as a student in the classroom.
- Wes Craven and Bruce Wagner came upon with a concept for this film that involved time travel through dreams. However, producers Robert Shaye and Sarah Risher felt that this was too high a concept for a Nightmare On Elm Street sequel and didn't think it fit the formula that Craven created with the first film.
- The
souls that morph out of Freddy's chest are real actors. The special effects
crew built a 20 ft. tall Freddy chest and used real actors as the souls.
- Not only did actor Tuesday Knight co-star in the film, she performed the theme song.
- The highest-grossing entry in the Elm Street series (not counting Freddy vs. Jason). It earned $49 million in the US.
- In a brief classroom scene, Alice and fellow students are lectured on the philosophy on dreams. The teacher giving the lecture is played by series producer and New Line Cinema CEO Robert Shaye.
- Each
day of filming thousands of fans of the series would crowd around the makeup
effects trailer to catch a glimpse of Freddy. Police had to be called in
to calm the crowds and on the second day of the frenzy Robert Englund jumped
though the trailer door in his outfit and the crowd went bizurk! It was
reported that a riot almost occurred.
     
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