The Nightmare on Elm Street movies.

 

 













As I have done already with the Friday the 13th movies and the Halloween movies, I'd thought I would give a small review/my opinions on each of the films in the Nightmare on Elm Street series.
I hope you find it interesting. As before, I will include the body count for each movie. Here goes...

A Nightmare on Elm Street.

As I have written a review of this movie in an earlier post, I'll keep this one short. The film isn't bad and both Robert Englund and Heather Lagenkamp keep the film ticking along at a brisk pace. The thing that didn't sit well with me was the ending. In fact, as I mentioned before, it kind of nulled my first experience of Freddy Krueger.

Body count:- 4.

A Nightmare on Elm treet part 2: Freddy's Revenge.

I can't say I enjoyed this one much more than the first, although I did feel Freddy was much more malicious in this movie and the FX impressed me, but I didn't like the fact it seemed to ditch the whole dream thing that made the first film so interesting/different. Also, for this movie Freddy loses his glove as the knives come from his fingers. The shot of Freddy before he walks through the hedge has always stuck in my mind though. He really does look like evil personified. Jessie has moved into the house that was previously occupied by Nancy Thompson, and he is having nightmares. Nightmares where a horribly burned man is asking Jessie to kill for him. As Jessie loses his grip on reality, strange things happen in the house and people begin to die.

Body count:- 13.

A Nightmare on Elm Street part 3 : The Dream Warriors.

This was more like it. The dreams had returned, and with it Freddy became more humorous, cracking out some great one liners but still coming across as evil. The kills in this movie have to be seen to be believed as they use the dreams to great effect, something which hadn't been done previously and something which I don't think was ever achieved again. The battles between Freddy and the numerous dream warriors are a pleasure to watch, and I must say this is one of my favorite Elm street movies. We join a group of teenagers in a mental institute, all of whom are dreaming of Freddy. Kristen has ability to bring people into her dreams, and as the other teenagers find their dream powers Freddy may have met his match in the teenagers and Nancy Thompson, who once again returns to battle Freddy Krueger.

Body count:- 7.

A Nightmare on Elm Street part 4 : The Dream Master.

Amazingly, this was the first Elm street movie I ever watched so even though it isn't great, this movie always has a special place in my heart. The kills are enjoyable, there is humor and the movie does move along at a nice pace. I especially enjoyed the end battle between Freddy and Alice. There is also a very small cameo by Linnea Quigley. See if you can spot it. In this movie, Freddy is back and ready to take revenge on the people who finished him off in the previous movie while finding new prey. He doesn't count on a girl named Alice, who seems to be growing stronger with each death.

Body count:- 6.

A Nightmare on Elm Street part 5 : The Dream Child.

I have no idea what happened here, but in my opinion this is where the series went downhill. The movie is slow  the kills, save but one of them are unimaginative and it just seems like they ran out of ideas. Alice is pregnant and Freddy uses the sleeping child in a game will mean the death of a lot more teenagers. Can Alice stop him again??

Body count:- 3.

Freddy's Dead : The Final Nightmare.

Dear me. Not even a cameo by Alice Cooper can save this movie. It makes Freddy look like a clown, he has lost his fear factor by this movie (through no fault of Robert Englund) and it seems this movie was played for laughs. The body count is small too and all but one of the deaths are rather boring. Freddy has a child. He has managed to kill all of the Elm street children. Will he put down his glove or does he want to find a new Elm street to carry on his murderous rampage??

Body count:- 3.


Wes Craven's New Nightmare.

This is more like it. With Craven back in the directors chair, he manages to build on the myth of Freddy whilst also making him scary again. Gone are the one liners, gone is the comedy. In its place are jumps and scares galore. A true companion piece to the original Elm Street. Heather Lagenkamp is plagued by prank calls and her son is behaving strangely. Could Freddy be real? Or is it just a fan of the movies stalking Heather? After Part 3, this has to be my next favorite Elm street movie just for the sheer aura of evil Englund gives off as the new incarnation of Freddy.

Body count:- 4.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (Remake).

I think I might upset a few people when I say I actually really enjoyed this movie. After reading Robert Englund's biography Hollywood Monster, I was looking forward to seeing who would don the fedora and glove for the remake. Jackie Earl Haley really made my skin crawl in this movie. He truly plays Freddy as a vile human being and while people complain about the way he looks, I thought he looked pretty damn cool. Ok, so it isn't a patch on the first 3 movies or New Nightmare, but in my opinion it beats the shit outta parts 4, 5 and Freddy's dead. Throw away your distaste for remakes, and give it a go. I really don't think you'll be disappointed.

Body count:- 4.

Darkest regards......Dani.