Well, this is a funny one, I remember as a young lad borrowing a pirate copy of The Three Fugitives starring Nick Nolte, after the credits rolled on that perfectly enjoyable comic caper, the logo of New Line Cinema appeared, I could have stopped the tape as I was unaware of anything else being on there, but I let it run and before I knew it, I was well into the introductory credits for A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master.
Nearly 30 years later, I still look back at that moment and wonder what would have happened if I had stopped the tape, as Freddy Kruger has basically been and still is, one of my all-time favourite movie characters across all genres, so much so, I used my mother’s hair clips for razors on an old glove my father had and then to top it off, usurped one of my father old fedoraesque hats to complete the look.
As for the movie, thank you Renny Harlin (the studio didn’t actually want him) I love, love, loved this movie, it had everything in it, more Freddy, but not too much, more one-liners which were still funny, creativity in the deaths and a really good story that opened things up for further sequels, that sadly however, didn’t quite match up to the previous entries.
I mentioned in my review of the original Nightmare On Elm Street, that Freddy remained in the shadows for a lot of it and how that was a good thing and I maintain that, due to the tone of that particular movie. However, for this fourth instalment and especially after ANOES Part 3: Dream Warriors, Freddy has now taken centre stage and rightly so and ask any fan, he is the reason they watch these movies.
Ok, Freddy’s back, purely because Kristen (now played by Tuesday Knight) just cannot stop him entering her dreams and soon, she calls on ‘one of her little friends’ for help, namely her fellow survivors from Part 3, the now talkative Joey and even more moodier Kincaid.
Key to this movie however is heroine Alice (Lisa Wilcox), she is the sister of Kristen’s boyfriend Rick. When Alice enters proceedings, Freddy has pretty much completed his murderous agenda and killed off the last Elm Street kids, including the brilliant ‘wet dream’ death of Joey. However Kristen, just before her demise, brings Alice into her dream, inadvertently giving Freddy the way into the dreams of the next batch of unsuspecting teens. Freddy proceeds to use Alice’s dreams as a kind of gateway to get into the dreams of her friends, and wastes no time in bumping them off in some hilariously gruesome ways, suffice to just say I was off pizza for a week and have never stepped on a cockroach since.
Whilst Freddy gathers his victims souls with each death, Alice harnesses their power and this will be key to the final battle, well this and a nursery rhyme Alice remembers literally at the death, which destroys Freddy for the 4th time.
I can wax lyrical about this for at least another 500 words, but all I want say is, watch this movie, it has everything, you’ll be entertained for the full 90 minutes and trust me, you will want to see Part 5…. unfortunately.