Rating: 3.5/5
Closeted queer boy Jesse Walsh is having nightmares starring your boy Freddy Kreuger
— Mommy, why can't Jesse wake up like everyone else? — Oh honey, he's just having a bad dream
Lisa — his… girlfriend? — is still trying to figure out his deal. When she’s with friends, he’s “just a ride to school,” but time proves otherwise when she finds Nancy’s diary and the two learn the story of the first movie
The two facets that make this worth watching:
- The outrageous special effects
- The homoeroticism
This movie goes hard on the special effects from the get-go — it opens with a dream sequence in which Freddy drives a bus over the precipice of hell — later, Freddy rips off the top of his head to show his brain — so many objects and creatures catch fire and explode — Freddy crawls out of Jesse’s chest, which may be an all-timer for me
The homoerotic undertones are subtle at first but ramp up, starting with running into his gym teacher in a leather bar, then watching Freddy tie him up and spank him before “running him through.” When he and Lisa have the opportunity to hook up, he runs to his friend’s to be kept safe
He's inside of me, and he wants to take me again... he owns me
Freddy represents (sometimes, kind of) his desire to come out, manifesting with Freddy crawling out of him and culminating in the confusing ending that I won’t spoil or attempt to explain
I think the movie’s greatest success is how fun it all is. While the first one is more imaginative and coherent, this one is willing to abandon all logic for a set piece. If it were anywhere in between, this would be a much worse movie
Stay Thoughts
- The girl checking out Jesse’s ass while he’s fighting — same girl
- Opening the fridge in the middle of the night and spilling things is also my M.O.
- The bird attacking the family and then blowing up in a cloud of feathers is funny
- Jesse’s a scream queen — he belts some real squealers