What I Liked: Some of the story ideas are interesting. Krueger has killed all but one child in Springwood which caused the adult townsfolk to go crazy and some don’t even want children to visit because they fear Freddy’s wrath. On top of this the town is located in some other dimension where Freddy has control. Once you enter it becomes nearly impossible to escape.
We also get the most backstory to Krueger than ever
before. *Spoilers for the rest of this paragraph* It
turns out he’s been psychotic since he was a child by mutilating helpless small
animals and then as an adult he probably killed his adoptive father (Alice
Cooper (music shit)). Later he murders
his wife and gets ratted out by his toddler daughter on the child
homicides. It turns out Freddy
brandished all sorts of knife gloves with various sharp implements at the tips. The cops took his daughter away so that’s
part of the reason why Freddy pursues children in their dreams. This point seems kinda moot though considering
he was already targeting kids. And we
get a glimpse at the demons that Krueger bargains with to live on killing folks
in their dreams. Phew! That’s a helluva lot to fill in.
Best death has to go to Carlos (Ricky Dean Logan (Back to
the Future II & III)) who wears a hearing aid as a result of child
abuse from his parents. Krueger turns
his hearing super sensitive so that a pin drop sounds like a bomb
exploding. What’s genius about the setup
is they found a way to incorporate the knife glove into the finisher. Freddy pulls out a small chalkboard and
there’s a great simple eerie effect where he stretches it larger. He then scratches his knives across the board
to create that dreadful screeching noise that most people cannot stand (I’m
actually not one of those people, I mean it’s not pleasant but it’s not the
worst sound to my ears). Krueger builds
the squealing up and he goes into what looks like an orgasmic trance until
Carlos’ head explodes. Bravo.
What I Didn’t Like: Ok even though I just pointed out
some of the comedy is pretty humorous the overall tone is too light. Krueger isn’t really threatening at all in
this one because he toys with his victims more than usual and I swear he looks
at the camera more than once while making a quip. At times this is like a Looney Tunes Nightmare.
The studio mandated that the finale be shot in 3D and oh boy
do they lean into that shit (this explains the image on the poster of Freddy
sticking his glove directly in your face).
Our hero Maggie (Lisa Zane (Bad Influence)) puts on 3D glasses
before the last stretch because she’s told they’ll help her see things she
normally wouldn’t in the dream world.
Really this is the cue to the audience to put their glasses on. Then all this crap is pointed towards the
camera like a spiked baseball bat, the knife glove, Freddy’s stretching arms,
etc. to give you a thrill in threee deee!
And of course Maggie takes the glasses off when she’s finished so you
know you can take yours off too now.
One of the biggest issues with the film is how dated it
is. The grunge soundtrack by Brian May
(no, not Queen guitarist Brian May, a different dude who did the soundtracks to
Mad Max 1 & 2) is bad enough but the numerous video game references,
specifically the 8 bit Nintendo type stuff and the power glove, are the worst
offenders.
Overall Impressions: Long time Nightmare producer and all around film guru Rachel Talalay used this as the springboard for her directing career. She intentionally wanted to make something funnier and not as dark as the rest of the series by pushing Freddy’s sense of humor to the breaking point. And with the dilapidated oddball town angle she was aiming for a Twin Peaks vibe too. In those terms she succeeded.
Freddy’s Dead is a strange bird because it comes off
as more of a reboot. There’s an odd Escape
from New York style intro that shows a computer screen map of the US with
text explaining how Springwood is a shell of a town meaning either a lot of
time has passed since the last episode or we’re dealing with an alternate
timeline. Plus Freddy doesn’t seem to
need a conduit to get into other kids’ dreams anymore and he can completely
take over the real world, well at least this one town. Most of what’s been setup in the previous
installments is inexplicably ignored yet this is billed as the next sequel.
The filmmakers all knew there wasn’t a good way to end the
series but they did their best to make it definitive instead of leaving the
whole thing open ended. I know I keep doing
this with whatever number I’m on but part 6 is probably the weakest film
yet. I like the darker Nightmares
better.
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