Sadly, Wes Craven passed away back in late August and left us with an uneven, but mostly impressive filmography. A Nightmare on Elm Street, his stab at the slasher subgenre went on to become not only one his best films, but also one of the greatest horror films of all time. Several sequels inevitably followed and here’s how I rank the franchise (potential spoilers ahead!):
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
If you ask me, it’s still the best film in the franchise. Even if you’re not a fan of slasher flicks, you can’t deny it has an original and unique premise. What’s more terrifying than Freddy Krueger, a deceased & vengeful child murderer killing teens in their dreams where they’re so vulnerable? Robert Englund is convincingly scary and funny as Freddy and is one of the main reasons why Freddy has become one of the most memorable horror film villains of all time. The rest of the cast is pretty damn good, including Johnny Depp in his film debut. It’s easily one of the most innovative slasher films of all time.
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)
Wes Craven returned to write this one, and the film really benefits from it. The whole concept of the teens (aka the “Dream Warriors") teaming up to fight back against Freddy was a great one. They’re all pretty likable and well developed, especially Kristen, a girl who has control over who she can bring into her dreams. Heather Langenkamp also makes a welcomed return to the series as Nancy, who teams up with the Dream Warriors to fight Freddy. The film also gives us a disturbing backstory for how Freddy came to be and is by far the best sequel in the franchise.
New Nightmare (1994)
This sequel brings Freddy into the real world and it works quite well. Instead of going for another by the numbers sequel, Craven was way more creative and ambitious. The whole cast is great with the material, basically playing themselves and their characters from the first film, although Miko Hughes can be a little irritating as the kid. Overall, it’s a great entry in the series that really kick started the whole “meta-horror” subgenre in the 90’s.
Freddy vs. Jason (2003)
It’s not a perfect film by any means, but it sure is damn great entertainment. It helps to be a fan of both the Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th franchises in order to really get into this one and appreciate it. If you find yourself favoring Freddy over Jason or vice versa, you’ll likely be disappointed. They did a good enough job I thought of not making one more powerful than the other. The characters are actually quite memorable and fun to watch. It helps that they got Monica Keena and Jason Ritter especially. Who wins in the end is made cleverly ambiguous and a sequel would be great, but chances of it ever happening are zero to none, unfortunately.
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985)
This one gets a lot of hate, but I like and enjoy it even though it’s not perfect. Having Jesse, a teenage boy being possessed by Freddy and doing his bidding was a different approach and works in regards to the film’s homoerotic tone. This one also features Freddy at his creepiest and some cool nightmare sequences.
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)
My biggest gripe with this sequel is that they kill off the surviving dream warriors from the previous film in the first half hour. It felt cheap to bring them back only to kill them off so early on. Also, Patricia Arquette didn’t return to play Kristen for whatever reason, which was a bummer. Otherwise, it’s a lot of fun and not too bad actually. It features some creative and gruesome kills, one of them so disturbing that it’ll stick with you and make you dread cockroaches all the more.
Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)
This one is way more comedic than all of the previous entries. Who knew Freddy could have so much fun with the Nintendo Power Glove of all things? It goes deeper into Freddy’s past too and there’s quite a shocking revelation halfway through. You’ll like this one whether or not you enjoy a lot of comedy with your horror. Personally, I enjoy it despite not being big on it.
A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989)
It picks up where The Dream Master left off and while it’s not terrible, it’s not particularly good either. The story and the characters are dull for the most part despite some strong special effects. Overall, the concept just didn’t quite work.
A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)
Ugh, this one really sucks. To be fair, Jackie Earle Haley is better as Freddy than most are willing to give him credit for. Filling the shoes of Englund was no easy task. The main problem is that it feels so pointless and unnecessary. When it’s not copying the iconic moments from the original, it’s dull and doesn’t seem like they were trying to do anything new or very creative. It’s the prime example of how NOT to do a horror remake.
No comments:
Post a Comment