The first Nightmare, and the best in my opinion. Directed by Wes Craven this movie really is something special to say the least, not only does it introduce spectacular star, Johnny Depp, but it also introduces perhaps the most famous slasher of them all...Freddy Krueger. As the plot develops - or thickens - we learn more of Krueger and his past, we are flung - as the audience - from reality to dream land and vice versa, never really knowing what is and what is not reality. This film launches an attack which leaves you heavily disorientated, but completely devoted to what is going on.
A classic horror film with so much imagination and originality. A Nightmare On Elm Street grips everyone unfamiliar to what it has to offer in the jump department and I would recommend this particular Nightmare movie to any horror fan.
8 out of 10
Directed by Wes Craven
Starring:
Heather Langenkamp, introducing Johnny Depp and Robert Englund as Fred Krueger
88 mins approx.
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A Nightmare On Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge
Vilified by most Elm Street and Krueger fans as one of the worst if not the worst installment in the Nightmare series - I would have to disagree and definately beg to differ. A Nightmare On Elm Street 2 is not quite what the original is, but still a sequel of merit in my eyes. We learn more of Freddy in this film which elaborates or goes into more detail, if you like, regarding what Freddy Krueger is all about.
We get more Krueger screen time, but just the right amount to leave us wanting more, but still content with what we got. As the viewer you actually feel for the character of Jesse Walsh (Mark Patton) as he begins to fall apart and go completely crazy. As the story unfolds and the minutes tick so does the excitement and anxiety in a sequel which can only be described as...worthy.
8 out of 10
Directed by Jack Sholder
Starring:
Mark Patton and Kim Myers - Robert Englund again plays Fred Krueger
82 mins approx.
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A Nightmare On Elm Street Part 3: Dream Warriors
Regarded by many as the prize of the series, Dream Warriors is a notable entry in the A Nightmare On Elm Street franchise, but definately not the best by a long way. This is where the series starts taking that long road from quality film making to lesser merit. Still, this movie is far from disapointing though and is a good film in the sense that it entertains with Freddy one liners more than the eery quality used in the two previous movies to ensure suspense above 'slice n' dice'. Set at Westin Hills Psychiatric Hospital, it centers around Dr. Neil Goldman and a group of 'disturbed' teenagers all
suffering from what seems to be a shared nightmare. Dr. Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp) is then re-introduced to the story as she herself had experienced nightmares in which death became reality - first movie - and it becomes apparent that Nancy knows Freddy is responsible. What follows is the unification of Nancy and the kids in a struggle to defeat Freddy, a struggle it is and a film full of twists and turns that will for sure, entertain in the least!
6 out of 10
Directed by Chuck Russell
Starring:
Heather Lagenkamp and Robert Englund as Fred Krueger
93 mins approx.
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A Nightmare On Elm Street Part 4: The Dream Master
As the Nightmare On Elm Street cycle progressed into this fourth installment
subtitled The Dream Master, it's clear that Fred Krueger's persona was
shifting from the quintessential bogeyman we saw the first time around to a
wise-cracking anti-hero with knives for fingers. Audiences loved it, and
frankly, it worked.
Future Die Hard 2 director Renny Harlin gives us an effects-packed excursion
into the surrealism of Wes Craven's original. Picking up shortly after the
conclusion of Elm Street III, the surviving "dream warriors" have picked up
the pieces and begun to lead normal lives again when Mr. Krueger comes
knocking again. He quickly dispatches Kristen, Kincaid and Joey before
targeting their classmates, a whole new playground for his brand of mayhem.
But this time, Freddy faces a new adversary, a character named Alice, a plain-
jane who inherits the strengths of each of her friends when they fall victim
to Freddy. By the end of the film, this once-oafish girl is kicking some
serious Freddy arse, ending in an effects bonanza and a crowd-pleasing finale.
Of course, the filmmakers don't allow our boy to be finished off too easily,
as the final scene suggests that Freddy the K may be paying another visit to
Springfield soon. Remember, this was before the 90's, where the emphasis
became "let's finish the killer off and END the cycle." In other words, The
Dream Master was a part of the blissful 80's cycle of continuation, where each
time we knew we'd get a new movie next year. God, what have we become?
Directed by Renny Harlin
Starring:
Robert Englund, Lisa Wilcox, and Rodney Eastman
Rated R. 97 Minutes
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A Nightmare On Elm Street Part 5: The Dream Child
Returning to the gothic backstory of the third installment, this Stephen
Hopkins-directed fifth trip down Elm Street finds Alice recently impregnated
by her boyfriend Dan, offering Freddy Krueger a means of re-manifesting
himself via the dreams of her unborn child (hence, the subtitle The Dream
Child).
As Freddy's presence grows stronger, Alice begins to have visions of the
plight of Freddy's mother, Amanda Krueger, whose impregnation with her
"bastard son of a thousand maniacs" was the result of her accidentally being
locked in with the inmates of an insane asylum.
The film is dark, sparsely lit and genuinely creepy. Although Mr. Englund
doesn't skimp on making Freddy funny, he's decidedly more sinister this time
around than in the third and fourth films. Moreover, make-up effects artist
David Miller returned for this one to give Freddy's face the original design
from the first film, which had been significantly altered in each film since.
The conclusion has Mama Krueger returning to reclaim her rotten kid, and
Alice's baby is spared from the possession which Freddy's had in mind for him.
Needless to say, however, the final shot does indicate that a Nightmare VI is
not an impossibility....
Directed by Stephen Hopkins
Starring:
Robert Englund and Lisa Wilcox
Rated R. 91 Minutes
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Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare
Talk about a wild-assed ride. In-house New Line talent Rachel Talalay took the reins for this sixth jaunt down Krueger Way in 1991, and she did it with an admirable sense of style and innovation. By now, it was time to abandon the running storyline of Alice and her interactions with Freddy's mother and return the storyline to fresh ground.
As a result, the timeline seems to jump ahead several years, possibly even a decade. Springwood is now practically a ghost town, save for a gaggle of creepy and deranged adults (among them, Roseanne Barr and Tom Arnold in amusing cameos). A trio of misfit teens are led by their caseworker Maggie (Lisa Zane) in a bid to solve the mysteries behind their horrific nightmares....but Maggie's got a few buried secrets of her own, and she may not be ready to face them yet.
Specifically, she has a special tie to Fred Krueger, and a dream analyst colleague (Yaphet Kotto) may be her only hope at solving the conundrum and easing the pain of these tortured teenagers. What follows is perhaps the most imaginative entry in the series yet. Freddy's origins have been explained in previous films, but the elements that allowed him to become supernatural are final divulged in an intriguing fashion.
The theatrical version of Freddy's Dead featured the final confrontation sequence presented in red-blue 3-D, a gimmicky but entertaining perk that was lost in the video transfer. Fred Krueger's undoing in this film was not undermined by Wes Craven's smart follow-up three years later; read the review and you'll see why. Freddy the movie character was, by the end of this picture, effectively dead.
Directed by Rachel Talalay.
Starring:
Lisa Zane, Shon Greenblatt, Robert Englund and Yaphet Kotto.
Rated R. 96 Minutes.
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Wes Craven's New Nightmare
When Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday became a respectable horror hit in
1993, its (new) parent company New Line Cinema realized that the lucrative
thing to do would be to re-vitalize the franchise of its other in-house horror
icon, Fred Krueger (who did make a memorable appearance at the end of Jason
Goes To Hell).
Instead of constructing a new Springfield story involving new Elm Street kids,
they instead opted on a highly innovative approach to the project -- let the
story of this new movie revolve around the creators of the series.
Insane as it may sound at first, it works marvelously. Most of the performers
in this film portray themselves, including Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, Wes
Craven and Robert Englund, who has to double-duty of playing himself plus the
real-world manifestation of Fred Krueger. Without giving away too much, it
seems that the movie character of Krueger has awakened an ancient demon who
has assumed Krueger's person to carry out havoc upon the real world --
particularly upon the makers and performers of the Elm Street movies.
Where normal Hollywood dark inside jokes would abound, none is really found
here. Instead, we get an intelligent, remarkably cohesive movie-within-a-
movie. And no mention of Jason Voorhees is made here, although that's of
little consequence; Jason X notwithstanding, Freddy Vs. Jason is on the way one of these days, whether we like it or not.
And, well, I like it.
Directed by Wes Craven
Starring:
Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, and Miko Hughes
Rated R. 109 minutes.
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