Review of Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991) by Adam R — 29 Jun 2011

Acting as sort of a one-off sequel to a horror series past its prime, "Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare" operates in a bizarre no-man's land between the original five films (all can reasonably be considered entries in the same series where this one really can't) and the post-modern reinventions that tend to raise continuity problems despite their superior quality over the latter films in the original quintet.

"Freddy's Dead" is certainly a peculiar odd-man-out: Apart from Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) and a cameo from Johnny Depp's Glen from the original "A Nightmare on Elm Street"), there are no characters carried over from the initial films, and Elm Street and Springwood themselves barely feature in the movie. Freddy's backstory is fleshed out more -- credibly and not to the film's detriment, to the creators' credit -- but the additional exploration of the baddie's psyche is more of a supplement to the film than a major addition.

That said, "Freddy's Dead" is a decided improvement over the weak conclusion to the original films, "The Dream Child." While both entries share a somewhat puerile, cartoonish way for Krueger to butcher his victims, this film at least shows effort in its killings, unlike the preceding chapter's insufferably lazy visuals and uninspired death sequences. One scene even partially revisits the darkness present in the first two films, where Freddy stalks a hearing-impaired child abuse survivor (Ricky Dean Logan) through a nightmarish tenement flat and reenacts childhood traumas. Sure, the scene concludes with a demonic hearing aid and a head exploding due to the drop of a pin, but the initial grim approach giving way to grotesque comedy is at least inspired compared to the drabness in "Dream Child.".

And yes, this is the "Nightmare on Elm Street" film where Freddy makes reference to the Power Glove and kills a character through the digital magic of Nintendo (not exactly a ringing endorsement, but who knows how their minds work). And the acting -- especially from Shon Greenblatt and most especially from Lisa Zane, the ostensible leads -- is probably among the weakest in the series, "Freddy Vs. Jason" included.

Even with these rather sizable weaknesses, however, it's better to have a movie that feels like a (lesser) "Nightmare on Elm Street," rather than engaging in the comedy-saturated, underwritten stupidity far too prevalent in its predecessor. Besides, who can argue with a third act wherein a pair of 3-D glasses possesses magical powers capable of assisting the heroes' campaign against the dream killer?