Rating: 3.5/5
Sleep. Those little slices of Death. How I loathe them. — Edgar Allan Poe
Kristen has those awful nightmares starring everyone’s favorite pedophilic murderer, Freddy Krueger. When she wakes up, she cuts her wrist, so her parents admit her to a psychiatric hospital
She learns that she is one of several kids who are sleep deprived, doing everything possible not to sleep and see you-know-who. It just so happens that Nancy from movie 1 works there as an intern, so we get to know all the kids in the ward from her introductions
We learn that Kristen has the gift of pulling people into her dreams, and she pulls Nancy in to help her escape. Little does she know how valuable this power will be, especially once others discover their abilities in the dream world
Straight away, the atmosphere is so much creepier than in 2, but Craven has never been able to avoid a little goofiness here and there. Still, this feels human and cohesive in a way that I can forgive some slower moments
It does not let up on the bizarro kills and effects, though:
- The faucet turns into Freddy’s claws
- The roasted pig coming alive
- Slimy worm Kreuger swallowing Kristin
- The TV set comes alive
- the souls of children embedded in Kreuger’s body like sores * Jason and the Argonauts-style skeletons
The chemistry between Patricia Arquette and Heather Langenkamp feels special — Nancy is such an inspiring character who found the ability to escape Freddy and live her life but gives that up to help these kids. Kristen is sensitive and frightened, but through Nancy, she finds the strength to be who she sees herself as
The ending is another, “But why?” but I won’t get into it. I will say that I think a choice or two was a mistake for the franchise, but Craven didn’t care about that