Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
Sometimes in a popular cinematic franchise, a complete shift in tone and mood (while still retaining basic elements) are exactly what is needed to reinvigorate the series and give it a new, entertaining life. In the years after the first Nightmare On Elm Street, the films had not only been a huge moneymaker for its studio (New Line Cinema), but Robert Englundâs Freddy Krueger had caught fire as being a bona fide pop cultural icon. Despite the misfire of Part 2 with its gay themed story of possession, there is no doubt that Wes Cravenâs Part 1 with its suburban slasher concept given a supernatural edge and Part 3 with its wonderfully grim, dreary, almost gothic atmosphere about teens banding together to stay alive in a mental institution have been and always will be true horror classics. But that is notwithstanding the fact that even with the dark mentality of these films and Freddyâs stature as a demonic figure from the shadows that Krueger was now showing up on MTV as a guest VJ along with actually appearing in music videos and also constantly being referenced in all other forms of media and entertainment at that time. In short, the people loved him, and while New Line Cinema obviously considered it a no brainer to continue the series, they were also fully aware that they had to change things up to keep it fresh as they knew all too well that audiences were now coming to see Freddy in order to âcheer onâ his evil deeds rather than coming to actually be scared. To that end, they actually went to the trouble of asking Craven himself if he had any ideas to which Craven perhaps facetiously submitted a storyline involving time travel through dreams which was roundly rejected. Eventually they got what they were looking for from future Oscar winner Brian Helgeland who turned in a script that got the green light before they also hired future blockbuster maker Renny Harlin as director thus also ensuring that a real visual style would be on display as well. In addition, Englund himself was given the ultimate show of respect from the producers by now being given star billing above the title even though he probably had less overall screen time than the other major players. Now while some people complained that this film made rather a mockery of the three surviving Dream Warriors from Part 3, it must be said that a closer look at that entry reveals that despite the trioâs constant insistence here that they had somehow âbeatenâ Freddy, in reality it was Freddy who had actually WON at the end of Part 3 by managing to kill his two most hated enemies (Nancy Thompson and her father) and had merely granted an extension of sorts to the three survivors (who actually had little to no say in that outcome itself) in order to give them the false impression that they were safe even while he had always been waiting, watching and planning out his return. To that end, while Joey (Rodney Eastman), Kincaid (Ken Sagoes) and Kristen (Tuesday Knight trying very hard to replace the very popular Patricia Arquette, who had reportedly backed out due to either pregnancy or salary demands depending on who you ask) still retain their bond from the previous film, theyâve actually gone in different directions in their social lives, as Joey and Kincaid more resemble misfit outcast loser types at their high school while Kristen has now gotten in with a so called âcoolâ crowd of popular kids who all seem to have an upbeat attitude and have never dreamed nor for the most part have ever even heard of Fred Krueger. When Kristen starts dreaming about boiler rooms and the infamous house from the previous films, the panic stricken girl pulls her old compadres into the dream so that they can stand together again, but it turns out that Joey and Kincaid are not amused, telling Kristen to go back to living a normal life while foolishly still believing that Freddy is actually dead. Of course, Freddy takes this as his cue to quickly cut down Joey and Kincaid as if they were nothing (which was true since they never posed a threat to him at any given time) and then sets his sights on Kristen in order to put the finishing touches on The Elm Street Kids whose parents had originally burned him alive. It is also here that the film finds a way to transition the lead heroine role status from that of Kristen to her best friend Alice Johnson (Lisa Wilcox), a shy, withdrawn type with a hip brother (who is dating Kristen) and an apparent knack for enjoying the comfort and control that she has in her own dreams. When Kristen finally bites the dust, she transfers her ability to bring others into her dreams over to Alice apparently in the hope that she might actually legitimately destroy him, but more importantly it opens the door for Freddy to start targeting the entire new circle of friends none of whom were ever subject to the original Elm Street Curse. The most notable (and controversial) quality of the film is the changeover from Freddy being a truly scary villain to that of a wisecracking âstand up comicâ who now always performs his kills with a one liner and extra panache, but that aspect is not nearly as troublesome as it would seem since sooner or later Freddy always being such a dark, shadowy character was going to get real old real fast (many forget that with Part 2 they nearly recast the role with an actor who had a similar height and build since Freddy had never really been intended to talk all that much just like Jason) and bringing him out and up front into the light and allowing Englund to entertain us with his theatrics is just what the doctor ordered and indeed, a number of the best and most interesting kills in the series are on hand here, including an asthmatic girl whom Freddy sucks the life out of, a karate expert who gets a few kicks in on Freddy and stupidly thinks that he has him beat, and best of all a (very beautiful and sexy) girl whom Freddy manages to turn into a giant cockroach and then squash, with the fact that the character is actually such a vain, airheaded bimbo making it an all the more satisfying display of wonderful grossness. But the real story here is with Wilcoxâs Alice, as after the âtransferâ of power between her and Kristen, she suddenly finds her dowdy wallflower who is saddled with a miserable (and pathetic) alcoholic father altogether realizing that just as Freddy is killing off all of her friends and claiming their souls, she is actually inheriting all of their âpowersâ as well as some of their personality traits (including Kincaidâs), transforming her into a stronger and more powerful woman in the process (and making the rather hapless Kristen really look that much weaker in hindsight) all while her drunken dad seems to think that her and her friends are into some kind of suicide or death cult in a grand display of parental denial all up until itâs time for the big showdown with her badass, ultra confident demeanor being a prelude for the likes of Buffy The Vampire Slayer and many other asskicking females of pop culture that were yet to come (albeit though she has to quickly figure out that when you fight Freddy in the dream world the even remote chance of doing actual physical damage to him is an impossibility and thus you must resort to more, shall we say, symbolic means in order to survive) and the unfortunate fact is that in the realm of all time great horror movie heroines Alice seems to find herself to be quite underrated just as this movie itself is (and even in the actual Elm Street series as the overall fanbase still seems to prefer Heather Langenkampâs beautiful, brave but ultimately ineffectual Nancy Thompson to her theatrics) but at least here Freddy is dispatched in such a way that even though he would indeed come back, his defeat is actually quite genuine and not just another mindgame that heâs playing in order to deliberately set up a sequel as was usually the case. Harlin directs the movie to a bold, strikingly stunning end, along with a 80s music soundtrack that doesnât ever wear out its welcome. In the end, Freddy does indeed loosen up and deliberately plays to his fanbase for the very first time, but what we get out of it is a fantastically entertaining film that while it might be more of a cool horror movie than an actual scary one, it was really just reflecting and acknowledging on the reality of its era when the bastard son of a hundred maniacs was actually a much bigger deal than most rock stars of that timeâŚ
9/10