A Nightmare on Elm Street (Series)
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) | Points: 59 | Lists: YangusKhan (#25); Octopus Prime (#22); ShakeWell (#5)
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) | Points: 32 | Lists: Octopus Prime (#5)
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988) | Points: 32 | Lists: Neo Skimbleshanks (#5)
Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994) | Points: 31 | Lists: Neo Skimbleshanks (#21); Zef (#22)
"Nine, ten, never sleep again..."
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) | Points: 59 | Lists: YangusKhan (#25); Octopus Prime (#22); ShakeWell (#5)
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) | Points: 32 | Lists: Octopus Prime (#5)
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988) | Points: 32 | Lists: Neo Skimbleshanks (#5)
Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994) | Points: 31 | Lists: Neo Skimbleshanks (#21); Zef (#22)
"Nine, ten, never sleep again..."
Drac's Notes: Although four films from his long-running series made some individual lists, Freddy Kreuger joins Jason Voorhees just outside Talking Time's Top 50 Horror Films, with the original film in the series scoring about five points too few to make it. The original TNoES was directed by horror master Wes Craven and was about child murderer Fred Kreuger. In the years after the parents of children on Elm Street took it upon themselves to kill Kreuger, his demonic soul lives on in the dream world, from which he returns to terrorize the teenage offspring of his killers. The real innovation here was that Kreuger attacks people in their dreams, giving filmmakers a ticket to flex their SFX muscles. The whole series is full of crazy visuals and bizarre deaths. As the series marches on, the elaborate dream sequences become the real draw - along with Robert Englund's increasingly comedic performance as Kreuger. Unlike characters like Myers and Voorhees, Kreuger is strongly associated with a single actor, and only one other actor has ever portrayed the character.
The first Nightmare is a wonderful film. Heather Langenkamp's Nancy Thompson is one of the best "final girls" in horror history, and here Englund's Kreuger is portrayed as more deadly than silly. Nightmare 2 is about Freddy possessing the body of a teen, and is more or less unrelated to the first movie. However, the film is notable for its intensely gay subtext and some there are interesting (and sad) stories about the making of the film. Nightmare 3 ("The Dream Warriors") is everyone's favorite: Freddy comes back to finish his revenge on Nancy; he attacks a mental hospital full of memorable characters; the origins of Freddy are fully revealed and his body is laid to rest by the end. But it made too much money to end there, so there were still several more sequels. I always get Nightmares 4 ("The Dream Master") and 5 ("The Dream Child") mixed up, but I can at least say that 4 has one of my favorite songs ever. By this point, Freddy's reputation as a pop culture icon was firmly cemented, and the movies were crammed full of one-liners and increasingly elaborate death scenes.
Nightmare 6 ("Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare") is very strange. Freddy has killed every child in Springwood, Ohio, and the one kid left is now a teen who has to go back there and...do something, I guess. There's cameos by Alice Cooper, Roseanne Barr, and Tom Arnold. By the end, Freddy is Dead (again).
I really like Nightmare 7 ("Wes Craven's New Nightmare"). Craven returned to direct the final film in the original series, in which Freddy Kreuger leaves dreamland to attack actress Heather Langenkamp, in reality. It attempts to address Kreuger's status as a pop culture icon and it's a fascinating film.
We've already talked about Freddy Vs. Jason. Finally there was the law-required 2010s remake with Jackie Earl Haley as Kreuger. I did not see this film and had no interest in seeing it. Perhaps Haley did a good job! I am not interested.
So what's your relationship with ol' Fred Kreuger? I didn't see any of the original films until I was in college, and I rented all of them in succession from the Hollywood Video in Falls Church, Virginia when I was home for summer break. I have very cozy memories of being tucked in bed and watching them on my laptop. I'd say they're all (at least the originals) worth watching at least for the visuals, if only a few of them are really good good.