New Nightmare


Starring: Heather Langenkamp, Robert Englund, Miko Hughes, Wes Craven, John Saxon
Directed by: Wes Craven
Rating: R
Genre: Horror
1994

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Heather Langenkamp (Heather Langenkamp) is trying to move on with her life after the Nightmare on Elm Street movies have ended. However, she gets strange calls from someone reciting Freddy's chilling nursery rhyme, and her young son (Miko Hughes) begins having nightmares of a bad man with claws. Heather begins to suspect that Freddy Krueger may be trying to break free from the film world into the real world- and only she can stop him.

Review:

Tim: At the very least, New Nightmare deserves credit for turning the Nightmare on Elm Street series on its head. Wes Craven deserves some credit for creating an almost unbelievable switch. This film happens in "real" life, as Heather Langenkamp, Wes Craven, John Saxon, and Robert Englund all play themselves. However, we still have a Freddy Krueger movie, as he tries to break free into the real world. This is pretty stunning for the 7th entry in this franchise.

Before making this movie, Wes Craven rewatched the first six movies, and came away with the same realization audiences had- the storyline was impossible to follow, and the sequels became a silly farce of what these movies should have been. Craven restarts (and offically ends) the franchise here with a film that feels much closer to his classic original than the forgettable sequels that followed. That is an achievement in and of itself.

Fortunately, this also happens to be a very frightening movie. In the previous five sequels, I never once cared about any of the characters, knowing full well that they only appeared so that Freddy could kill them. I don't think I felt afraid for a single moment. However, this film is different. We aren't given weak two-dimensional characters whose only job is to die. No, here, we have "real" people- Heather Langenkamp the actress and her family. This causes us to actually be invested in their characters. I didn't really care if Nancy Thompson died- but Langenkamp- a "real" person with a husband and child? I do care about her. This is brilliant on Craven's part.

This film is scary mostly because of the stunning performance of Miko Hughes. Hughes is an adorable little boy, and the audience immediately grows to like him. You want him to live, not be terrorized by Freddy. I can't remember the last time I so cared about a character in a horror movie, but Hughes' performance is incredible, and he makes the movie. I was scared for him- and so, I can admit, this movie made me feel afraid.

While Craven creates the best Nightmare on Elm Street movie since the original, this film still doesn't live up to its potential. While Freddy has stopped being a one-liner, silly joke, he still has a few moments which cause us to roll our eyes. The giant Freddy Krueger emerging from the sky is a bit stupid, and his giant tongue is ridiculous as well. I really believe that Freddy is more effective the less he says. Whenever he opens his mouth, his effectiveness decreases.

One of the scariest aspects of this franchise is that Freddy Krueger attacks us through our nightmares. How can we battle something that only strikes in our sleep? That is one of this franchise's greatest strengths, and this movie played to those. The nightmarish final battle between Heather, her son, and Freddy is one of the best conclusions to any of these films. It is freaky and creepy, and exactly what we want.

New Nighmare is notable because it proves that Freddy Krueger movies can indeed work. Craven further proves his horror chops by taking a franchise that floundered without him, and gives us the second best film in the entire series (second, obviously, to his original). This is all relative, though, because while this film did a great deal right, it still had a few of the flaws that have plagued this franchise for years. For that reason, I can say that this film is decent, but it isn't exactly a very good movie, either.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: A Nightmare on Elm Street