Review of A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child (1989) by Lucas M — 19 May 2010

The boilers are getting cold with this sequel. The movie that kills the Freddy momentum. No, it wasn't Freddy's dead. This movie is on par with the new remake of "A Nightmare on Elm Street," in the sense that it just went wrong on so many different levels, that the few good things it had going for it, just blended in with the rest, and felt like a huge mess in the end. This is my personal least favorite film of the entire bunch, and also the most boring. Now, even with that said, it still for a fan is pretty enjoyable, and I'm sure not everyone is going to dislike it. I won't even call it a downright bad movie, but it is just disappointing. After the first four more or less solid Freddy movies, and the momentum building, it seems clear at this point that it also died just as soon as it came on top. This movie felt stale, slow, dark and dreary (which they try to pass for a gothic Freddy)and sadly, the franchise might as well have died with the last of the elm street children in part 4.

This movie is completely different than its predecessor, and it does have a darker vibe to it, but not necessarily in a good way; definitely not in a scary way. More in a depressing, quiet, subtle way, that makes you miss even the most silly aspects of the 4th one; the dog peeing urine comes to mind. However, It also is a bit better than the remake because it still has Robert Englund portraying Freddy, and the character Alice (Lisa Wilcox), and her boyfriend Dan (Danny Hassel), return from the forth one and deliver solid enough performances to make the movie watchable. We are also re-introduced to the character of Amanda Krueger (Beatrice Boepple), and she is the key again to stopping Freddy for good, which is similar to the 3rd movie.

Now, it is unfair to call this movie weak because of the acting. The new kids on the block this time around were interesting enough, but still fall short when compared to all of the other flicks. We have the popular pretty girl, Greta (Erika Anderson), who seems to be interesting enough, and photogenic enough to catch the casual viewer's interest; there is the geek, Mark (Joe Seely), the athletic girl Yvonne (Kelly Jo Minter), and a few others, including Alice's dad (Nicholas Mele) from the previous sequel. They all do what they can with the script they're given, but at the end it still feels like a forgettable watch. Though there were a few good moments. "Buon appetit, bitch!".

The story starts by Alice having nightmares again, but Freddy wasn't in them. She didn't feel in control though, for the first time since the events of the last movie, and sure enough, eventually Freddy finds a way to come back, this time by being seemingly reborn, and hiding in Alice's baby; she shortly afterwards learns that she is a "little" pregnant, by her good friend Yvonne. Technically now that Alice didn't even need to sleep for Freddy to work, he started off taking everyone out one by one, yet again. First to go was Dan, followed by Greta, and then later Mark. All of them had interesting enough death scenes; Dan's being particularly gruesome. Eventually Yvonne believes Alice, after being defiant throughout most of the movie, and together with the help of Amanda, and Alice's unborn son Jacob (Whit Hertford), Freddy gets banished yet again.

With all of the interesting details here and there, the solidly done death scenes, and solid performances from Robert Englund and Lisa Wilcox mainly, the movie still falls flat. Lisa Wilcox was just better in the fourth; Robert Englund played Freddy as an all out jokester in this one, and not nearly with enough humor or energy as he had in the previous installments, and the rest of the cast was just not as powerful or interesting as what we've seen in the prior sequels. The score was also weaker than the previous installments, surpassing possibly only the 2nd, but even that one had the scare factor, which this one lacked. This movie also completely lacked any exciting soundtrack, music wise, which the last one had, did not seem to have the same scary, or even larger-than-life Freddy that the 4th one had; he even had silly makeup, arguably the worst in the series. Robert Englund seemed bored playing Freddy, and the acting came across as mocking himself almost; ironically enough he was still one of the stronger performances in the movie. Alice is now her own woman, but her chemistry with the others was not as strong as in the 4th movie. I can't pinpoint on exactly what it was, that made this movie not work, but I'm pretty sure all the different tangents when they came together, just did not make a "whole." Perhaps even the budget had something to do with it which was only half of its predecessor. You could even feel it. It felt like a "cheaper" movie. Less effort, rushed perhaps, and unfortunately it shows.

It just in the end, when it all came together, did not deliver. The box office showed that, and so did fan and critic reaction alike. This movie is the reason the next one was titled "Freddy's Dead." They decided it was his time to go, and after watching this one, unless you are a hardcore fan, and love the movie along with the actors in it (which I personally do), you pretty much don't care anymore about Freddy; the boilers are finally getting cold.

However, as a side-note, it's still more interesting than the remake.