Crazy Childhood: New Nightmare

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Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994)

Directed By: Wes Craven

Starring: Heather Langenkamp, Robert Englund, Miko Hughes, Tracy Middendorf, David Newsom, Fran Bennett, John Saxon

and
Wes Craven
as Himself






Well, folks, it's taken us almost two months, but I've gotten through ALL the retro Nightmare On Elm Street movies, a franchise that had some pretty entertaining movies up until #5, where things started going down the toilet. After the shit-stained abomination known as Freddy's FINALLY FREAKIN' Dead, it looked like the series was gonna end on a sad note....or would it?

In 1994, Wes Craven, creator of the first movie, decided that if the series was gonna end, it should end on an epic note (Sure, a crossover with Jason Voorhees and a remake would follow, but that's besides the point).

And guess what? It did precisely that. New Nightmare wasn't a HUGE hit at the box-office, but critics and audience members both agreed that the film was a true horror film with plenty of scares and twists to keep them in their seats. And that's what it did for me. Is it OK to say it's better than the first one?




"Oh my God, I REALLY looked like that back then?"




Uhhh...the camera's not there, honey.





"A movie about zombie strippers? I'LL DO IT!"





WHAT'S THE FILM ABOUT?

Heather Langencamp, the star of the orinal Elm Street movie, has a pretty nice life. Happily married with a kid, and is starring in a new film. But the memories of the horror film continue to haunt her.

To make matters worse, a strange stalker disrupts the lives of her, her husband, and her child, Dylan. It turns out that it's a demon, who has chosen the form of Freddy Krueger (Englund) After a visit to Wes Craven himself, Heather begins to realize the only way to save her son and stop this evil force from coming into the real world is to play the role of Nancy Thompson one last time in an attempt to trap this demonic force in the stories of Elm Street once and for all...



"What are YOU looking at?



WHAT'S BAD ABOUT IT?

The only thing I feel that's wrong with the movie is Freddy Krueger's makeup. Give the previous films credit, the character actually looked burned, but here, it just looks plastic and fakey. But, this is only nitpicking.


WHAT'S GOOD ABOUT IT?

Everything else.

It's like if Wes Craven wanted to re-make his first film and make it scarier. That's right. This movie is actually SCARY. A good example would be when Nancy is talking to a strange character on the phone or anything with Nancy's son acting like a little spawn of Chucky.

The special effects are downplayed this time around for a more realistic world, but whenever they are present, they are still damn good. The best scenes include Nancy's son walking down a busy highway with "Freddy" controlling him and Freddy's underground lair. It sure was a great time to live in the 90's, where you could ask "how did they do that?", unlike nowadays when you KNOW how they did that...with computers.

Damn technology.




"I....don't....sleep."




This is also one of those few times when the kid in a motion picture gives a brilliant performance. He is downright creepy. Is it weird to say that he's scarier than Freddy? But when he's normal and not...nightmare-inducing, he does well as a normal kid. He isn't annoying or frantic, he acts like a normal kid and that's what helps make him a true target for Freddy. He's such an innocent boy and when acts all creepy and stuff, like any kid nowadays, you know something's up.




"Listen, Nancy....I'm starting to feel bad about making My Soul To Take."




I didn't know I was watching A Wet Dream On Elm Street.




Freddy Krueger, D.D.S.!




BOTTOM LINE:

New Nightmare is by far the best out of all the movies. It's intelligent, doesn't feel overlong, and the performances are top-notch. This is how horror movies should be made. Absolutely perfect (though to be fair, ANY Nightmare movie would be a masterpiece after the 6th one.).


OVERALL SCORE:


5/5




Well, that's it for the Nightmare On Elm Street series. Though it's had some weak entries, I can still say that it holds up well as a franchise. It sticks true to it's formula and even continues the story and goes deeper into the characters, which makes them all the more likable. Not all the movies were great, but no movie franchise is perfect.


And yes, I realize it's December. But don't worry, a Christmas review (for a not-so-great Christmas movie) is on the way! See ya!