Review of A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child (1989) by Zachary H — 11 Aug 2011

My third least favorite Nightmare film. This one begins taking away all that I liked about the fourth movie. It no longer has a very campy Freddy. There isn't much to say about this film. I hated it because I enjoyed campy Freddy a bit and they decided that that was what people didn't like about the fourth one.

While the death scenes are interesting, they are too spread out and too few in numbers for it to make much difference in the overall impact of the movie. Also, the ending really annoys me. It is another Deus ex Machina ending that I really felt they could've done better.

Also gone is the more independent Alice. While she does appear to be just as strong-willed and independent as she was in the fourth, she loses some of her bad-assness between films. Also, the baby subplot, while an interesting concept, was handled very weirdly and I'm not 100% on why Freddy was feeding her baby souls.

Was he going to have the baby be a reborn him? If so, why does he keep acting like the baby is his child? Was he going to raise the baby? How? Anyway, plot holes are the least of this film's worries.

There is nothing of not in the acting in this film. Most people play a stereotype and the effects are nothing to be wowed at. All in all, I'd say skip it, but it is my favorite of the least favorites, so if you can handle Freddy's Revenge and Freddy's Dead, I recommend you watch this one.