Review of A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child (1989) by Filipeneto — 30 Apr 2021

I have seen the several films in the franchise "A Nightmare on Elm Street", and found that I have enjoyed more than most slasher films of the same time ("Halloween", "Friday the 13th" etc.). However, the quality of the franchise has visibly declined with the time and the films that have been released.

The script of this film follows the story of its predecessor, but the way the story was developed lacks tension, suspense and even logic, with the characters acting randomly and thoughtlessly. The film does not have a developed or appealing content and this is reflected in our interest: I feel that I lost interest in the story in the first half hour, and I simply watched the rest without feeling involved or interested in what I was seeing.

The cast counts, of course, with Robert Englund in his usual role, and that he knew how to play wonderfully. It is not by chance that he was never replaced in the role of Krueger. However, I felt that the actor was too good for the film and the dialogues did not do him justice. Younger actors do what they can, but they can't match him, and they have very simple and uninteresting characters. Lisa Wilcox, who has already made the previous film, is the most capable actress but is limited to doing an average job.

The director, Stephen Hopkins, offers us a boring and uninspired job, where his main bet is on creating a visual style that makes the film more attractive. The problem is that there is no content to justify it. I liked the imaginative sets, and some scenes seem to be inspired by German expressionism, but the cinematography, full of contrast and intense colors, did not help and detracted from the unorthodox look of these scenes. The editing also seemed amateurish, to say the least. The soundtrack escapes these problems a little: not being particularly memorable, it works satisfactorily.