DVD Box for Film

Welcome to Wonderland, Alice. – Freddy Krueger

First off, another explanation.  I know I promised reviews of The Haunted Airman and a couple of other films before I got to the Big Three, but I want to make sure I get these posted on time this year.  So, after Halloween is over, you can expect to see the other reviews on here.  So, now that that official business is out of the way, on with the review!

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master holds a special place for me.  It was the first Freddy film I saw outside of home (at the drive-in).  I don’t remember what it was playing with, but I remember I enjoyed seeing it, sitting in the car with my snacks (popcorn, candy bars, etc., all the HEALTHY things!).  So, it’s with great pleasure that I bring this film to you.

The film opens with Kristen, one of the three survivors of the previous film, walking up to a little girl who’s making a chalk drawing on the walkway leading up to the old Krueger house.  When Kristin asks who lives there, the little girl tells her "Nobody lives there."  She approaches the house and finds her way to the basement.  After some sounds and steam come up, she calls on Kincaid and Joey, the other two survivors, and they appear in her dream.  Both upset by her calling them, they convince her that Freddy’s not back.  Right before the dream ends, something approaches through a large steam pipe… Kincaid’s dog, who’s not happy to be dragged in, either.  He bites Kristen’s arm and they all wake up (with blood on the dog, Jason’s, mouth).

The next day at school, we meet the rest of our cast.  Kristen’s boyfriend, Rick, and his sister, Alice, are the first we meet, followed by Debbie, a weight-lifting tough girl, and Sheila, an asthmatic bookworm.  We also see Alice has a thing for football player Dan (throughout the first part of the film, we’re privy to Alice’s daydreams).  From here, the action more or less follows both Kristen and Alice, with more of a focus on Kristen.  She’s confronted by Kincaid and Joey in the hall about her dragging them into her dreams again, asking her if she ever thought her focusing on Freddy so much might bring him back.

That night, Kincaid falls asleep next to his dog, Jason, and awakens in a junkyard inside the trunk of a car.  When he gets out, he sees Jason digging.  When Kincaid approaches him and asks what he’s doing, the dog turns and barks at him viciously, then lifts his legs and literally pees a line of fire.  The line cracks open the ground, showing Freddy’s skeleton where it was buried the previous film.  Freddy’s skeleton reconstitutes itself, with the glove and hat reappearing last.  Freddy gets out of the crater and starts stalking Kincaid, who drops a car on Freddy (Kincaid is super strong in his dreams).  Unfortunately, this doesn’t stop Freddy, who surrounds Kincaid with a ring of cars.  Kincaid yells to the sky "Kristen!  Freddy’s back!" which echoes over and over again as we pan out and see that his universe is nothing but junkyard now.  Freddy comes to him and stabs him in the stomach, then whispers, "One down.  Two to go."

Original Theatrical Poster

The makeup and special effects in the film are amazing.  This was the highest theatrical grossing Nightmare film, up until Freddy Vs. Jason (if you count that one in the same continuity).  Robert Englund did his usual masterful job as the nightmare killer.  We get a bit more of Freddy’s wisecracking in this film, but he’s still the deeper-voiced incarnation that we saw in the earlier films.  He had so many great lines in the film that I had trouble picking just one for the above quote.  A couple of others I thought to use were:

You shouldn’t have buried me.  I’m not dead. (Freddy’s first line upon his resurrection)

How sweet.  Fresh meat.  (A classic line of his)

The rest of the cast are as follows: Tuesday Knight (Kristen) replaces Patricia Arquette, who couldn’t play the part as she was pregnant when they were filming.  In addition to acing in the film, Tuesday also performed a song on the soundtrack.  Ken Sagoes (Kincaid) reprised his role from the previous film, as did Rodney Eastman (Joey).  They didn’t have too big of roles, but they were good with what they had.  Lisa Wilcox (Alice) did an excellent job in her role, transforming through the course of the movie from an almost literal Plain Jane to a completely capable woman who could stand on her own two feet.  She would return to reprise the role in the next film.  Andras Jones (Rick) had some pretty funny lines, and had a good fight with Freddy in the film.  He was previously in one of my favorite low budget films, Sorority Babes at the Slimeball Bowl-o-Rama.

An excellent film, and well deserving of my highest grade, 5 out of 5.  Thank you for your time, and join us next time when we look at the fourth iteration of the legendary Friday the 13th series.  It’ll be a great time!  Take care, everyone, and this is Red Hawk signing out!