When you talk about the modern monsters of the silver screen the one that really tops the list is the one and only Freddy Krueger. Created from the mind of Wes Craven and fleshed out by Robert England, from the beginning to the end of the franchise the audience is taken on a voyage that reaches into the very depths of their dreams and nightmares. With the added real science, and theories, about dreams these movies touched on something that each and every person can relate to. So on those basic instincts that people have, Craven was able to tap into those things that terrify us the most. Keeping the terror on a personal basis drives the storylines of each of the movies, and most audience members walk away with the idea that they've seen something in the film in their own dreams.
A Nightmare on Elm St. - A killer is stalking the teenagers of Springwood through their dreams, but when Nancy finds out the secret that the parents have been hiding the nightmare becomes even more terrifying. The strongest part of this story is the fact that you never get a clear look at Krueger, so that the tormentor remains faceless up until the very end. One of the inventive things that Craven was able to do with this film was the flipping back and forth from dream to reality, leaving the viewer with the feelings disorientation of not knowing just where they were. The bending of reality is a great gimmick that Craven uses to the extreme, and coupled with the razor glove that Freddy runs around with, your left with feeling that you've just watched a classic horror film.
A Nightmare on Elm St. 2: Freddy's Revenge - When a new family moves into the house on Elm St. Freddy begins to possess the teenage boy in order to escape into reality. Trying to work off the success of the first film, the concept of possession is added to the storyline to give Freddy more to do in his bag of tricks. Unfortunately, other than some fairly decent sequences the story falls flat from the high bar that the first film set. Also, the introduction of new characters that are in no way tried to the original story drags the audience to have to watch a whole retelling of the origin story which is to much for anyone to watch.
A Nightmare on Elm St. 3: The Dream Warriors - After a rash of suicides and accidents among the teenage population, a small group of kids band together to fight against the killer in their dreams. Back to basics is what this movie is about. With the reintroduction of Nancy, the heroine from the first film, the audience is given a direct line to follow in the story. What we also receive here is more information about Freddy's background from the point of conception. One of the ideas that is used in this chapter of the story is the use of some basic ideas about dream therapy. Having the dreamer take control of situations and believe that in the dreamscape realm anything is possible even for themselves.
A Nightmare on Elm St. 4: The Dream Master - Freddy returns after being coaxed into the dream realm by Kristen's persistent dreams, and starts to slaughter a whole new group of kids. More of a direct sequel to the last film, we're given a chance to see what happens to the survivors from the 3rd movie. More of the mythology about the dream state is drawn on to expand the storyline and the realm of Freddy's influence. Even though not all of the actors return from the last film to reprise their roles, the new actress playing Kristen picks up the mantle and makes the transition flawlessly.
A Nightmare on Elm St. 5: The Dream Child - Freddy begins attacking Allison and her friends while their awake by using the dream state of Allison's unborn child. Using the theory that unborn children dream while in the womb, the filmmakers try to extend the series one more time. But like most stories that have over extended themselves it slow and repetitive and the audience becomes board with the film. The effects are good and some of the situations are decent but the film on a whole is barely worth watching. Its reasonable to watch for the whole Freddy story but by this point the producer should have given up on reviving Freddy.
Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare - Freddy returns and uses his long lost daughter to find new victims and to escape the confines of Springwood. Trying one more time to revive and put to rest Freddy Krueger, the writers decide to fill in the gaps of his past and create a daughter that he can now chase. But like the film before the story falls flat and at times becomes comical and loses the terror factor that the series survived on. Even though the introduction of a long lost daughter is a little lame after all this time of not having the character, the story line of his past is interesting as an added feature to the tale, however none of this was strong enough to make the film a success.
Wes Craven's A New Nightmare - As Heather Langenkamp, Nancy from the original film, is moving on in her life when she starts to be plagued by stalker phone calls and nightmares about the Freddy character from the horror movie series. Having a movie about the making of a movie has been done before, but here the added idea that Freddy is trying to break into the real reality and attacking the actors and filmmakers of the Elm St. movies is to far fetched. Like in the previous movie there are cameos by original actors from the original film, and from Hollywood in general, just isn't enough to carry the story. And like in all of the films the moving back and forth from reality to dream is the name of the game but here it becomes so tiresome that the audience is left hoping that this is truly the end of the series.
The one thing that is consistent throughout the series is the graphic special effects, from the first film to the last the effects are realistic and believable in the settings of the dreams, which makes them all to familiar. I don't know if you can truly say that these are slasher films, yes Freddy goes around cutting people up, and there's more girls than guys that he kills, but having him attack from the dream realm, in my opinion, makes him more of a monster than a slasher. Even though the series slowly degraded to the point of unwatchability, we are left with one of the most enduring characters in horror since the Universal monsters of the 1930s and 40s.
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