Review of Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994) by Filipeneto — 08 May 2021

In this film, Freddy Krueger will haunt the nightmares of the actress Heather Langenkamp who, ten years earlier, gave life to the heroine of the first film in the franchise, and who this time comes back to play herself. The script is constructed as if Krueger were real and were, in fact, haunting the film's production, which is undoubtedly an original variation of what we already know.

This is the last film in the classic franchise "A Nightmare on Elm Street", one of the most successful horror slasher films. The films before this one already revealed the wear of conventional formulas and everything indicated that no more films would be made to continue the franchise. However, the creativity of Wes Craven (who also signs other films of the genre, such as "Scream") managed to make this film revive the public's interest in this material a little. However, it is a film that wears out as it passes, and the ending is somewhat disappointing.

Wes Craven is creative and can imagine good stories, but he was never the ideal director to demand the most from the cast. Heather Langenkamp interprets herself, but the truth is that one can hardly consider her dramatic interpretation to be really good. The actress just didn't seem to be engaged. For the last time, Robert Englund brings the character that immortalized him to the big screen, and does a competent job, even though I feel that the actor's work has been considerably better in previous films.

Technically, the film seems to be expensive and has more money involved than the previous ones in the franchise. Cinematography is standard and does not present anything truly remarkable. Englund's makeup work doesn't look as interesting and authentic as it did in other films, but it does its job competently. The sets and costumes are good, and there is a touch of originality that is felt slightly in the visual and special effects, as well as in the dynamics of the film, which was very well edited.