Last good Freddy movie

Did “Wes Craven’s New Nightmare” take some getting used to? Here we have a director trying to connect a classic character’s past lore to a somewhat different present. We also have a director in the beginning stages of what he would become quite famous for later- some very meta movie within a movie stuff which created another classic horror franchise in “Scream”. If nothing else, the film is a showcase for innovation.

The film has Heather Lankenkamp returning to the series for the first time since the first film, playing not Nancy, but herself this time. She is essentially playing herself, an actress, but one being harassed by a stalker pretending to be Freddy Krueger and for some reason having nightmares regarding claws attacking people and the same thing seems to be happening to her young son Dylan (Miko Hughes).

It was the 10th anniversary of the first film at this point and she’s being bombarded with talk show questions regarding new movies, what her feelings are about violence in horror movies, and whether more is in store from the franchise. Then these shows usually trot out Robert Englund, dressed up in full make-up, striped shirt, fedora, and claws, to do a few growls while the audience looks on in delight.

But what’s going on with those dreams? And why do the claws keep reappearing, in real life, crawling across bed sheets, car sheets, ect, until they maul their target. Deaths end up occuring, other members of the “Nightmare” movies are experiencing the same sleep issues, and Dylan especially seems to not only be haunted by the spectre of Freddy Krueger but also fascinated by death.


Freddy, who we of course know was after revenge on the offspring of the people who killed him, is undoubtedly operating on another wavelength this time, or so it seems. Craven leaves the audience to dangle for a bit, trying to find some explanation for these new killings and whether they fit the character. Indeed, Craven hasn’t traveled far; Freddy’s wrath is still strong and it again all comes down to a different kind of death.


Yet the concept adds some fresh blood and seeing Craven, Englund, and President of the Studio that produced the series, Bob Shaye, play themselves- all considering the very real possibility that they all had a hand in unleashing pure evil on the real world- create a fun kind of ominousness.


Is Craven considering how his horror movies affect real world people? There’s one terrific scene in a hospital where the staff not understanding the real danger only adds to Heather’s paranoia, delusion, and sleep deprivation. She’s in the midst of a nervous breakdown over her son, Dylan is deep in the throes of Freddy’s web, and on top of that, the staff all believe this dialed up to 11 situation is all being caused by movies.


Freddy does eventually show face too and he doesn’t disappoint. Scenes like a complete mauling in a hospital room, or Dylan wandering across 8 lanes of traffic, or Heather and he skulking around an underground lair are everything we could want- made all the worse by Freddy being able to pull the strings, again not in dream state, but as if a God playing puppetry.


Langenkamp, as a mother desperately trying to save her son, gives her best performance here. Hughes (the Penis/Vagina kid in “Kindergarten Cop”) is a bit more underserved in terms of character but I like how he was told to just go for it in a creepy, forever quoting “Redrum” kinda way. And i’m not sure if Englund has to do much more than he already has to be the face of true, depraved evil.


So it does take a while to really get into it but Craven is a suspense-meister, he gradually works up to more and more frightening images and trademarks until the descent into hell finale. He’s not just a jump scare guy either. This is a pure nightmare, and what makes it even better is the cleverness with which he is able to do self-referential dread as well as irony. This would be his last Freddy film, and not surprisingly, also the last good one.