The initial script for this had a grown up Jacob David Johnson (the child of Alice from the last film) fighting Freddy and the "Dream Warriors" from the third one coming back to assist him. Ultimately, director Rachel Talalay (making her directorial debut with this film, though having worked on some of the previous films as both an effects person and a producer) disliked the script and had Michael de Luca (a screenwriter and New Line executive who later wrote In the Mouth of Madness, which I discussed two years ago) re-write it. Another idea (from Peter Jackson. Yes, that one) had teenagers coming into Freddy's realm to beat him senseless. Several major celebrities made cameos including Alice Cooper (without make-up), Rosanne Barr, and Johnny Depp, making a return to the franchise that put his name on the map. The last ten minutes were in 3-D, though this feature was removed from some releases (including the one I saw). The late John Carl Buechler, who directed Friday the 13th, Part VII, did the effects for the film. The film did well, having highest opening-weekend box office gross of the series, and the fifth overall best, but was lambasted by critic, many placing on a list of the worst of 1991.
So, Freddy (Robert Englund) is not in fact dead, but has wiped out all the children and teens in Springwood. However, one lone survivor (Shon Greenblatt) manages to wriggle his way out, but is knocked unconscious, and gains amnesia. While recovering in a troubled youth center, he becomes a patient of Dr. Maggie Burroughs (Lisa Zane, sister of Billy) , who also treats Spencer (Breckin Meyer), Tracy (Lezlie Deane) and Carlos (Ricky Dean Logan) at the center. She is fairly skeptical of her colleague's Doc (Yaphet Kotto) "dream therapy". Burroughs tries to take the survivor ("John Doe") back to Springwood, and the three teens hitch a ride in an escape attempt. And well, Freddy gets bored easily, apparently.
Okay, this has some interesting moments, particularly exploring Freddy's youth and his death, finally giving hints as to how he manages to have these abilities. The effects are superb as usual, and the last ten minutes are pretty good, managing to conclude this incarnation of the series with a conclusive death.
I complained about how cartoonish some of the deaths had been in the last one, and this one is far worse. There is literally a segment where a character is trapped in a video game, and Freddy spouts old Nintendo ad slogans. The other major deaths are potentially interesting, but they either go on too long or they're just absurd. I finally get why this version of the character got on people's nerves, because it does get grating to have him spout puns and jokes all the time, and it really took the menace out of him. Add to that, again, the writing isn't that good, with reused scares and ideas that never really get explored. This doesn't even have good dream sequences to make up for that, so there's really nothing to see here.
Yeah, I'm going to go out on a limb, and say this is probably the worst of these. I think this is a good skip, unless you really want to finish the series or see how he was demolished before Freddy vs. Jason. Otherwise, I can't think of any reason to see this.
Alright, now we get on to Wes Craven's New Nightmare tomorrow.
So, Freddy (Robert Englund) is not in fact dead, but has wiped out all the children and teens in Springwood. However, one lone survivor (Shon Greenblatt) manages to wriggle his way out, but is knocked unconscious, and gains amnesia. While recovering in a troubled youth center, he becomes a patient of Dr. Maggie Burroughs (Lisa Zane, sister of Billy) , who also treats Spencer (Breckin Meyer), Tracy (Lezlie Deane) and Carlos (Ricky Dean Logan) at the center. She is fairly skeptical of her colleague's Doc (Yaphet Kotto) "dream therapy". Burroughs tries to take the survivor ("John Doe") back to Springwood, and the three teens hitch a ride in an escape attempt. And well, Freddy gets bored easily, apparently.
Okay, this has some interesting moments, particularly exploring Freddy's youth and his death, finally giving hints as to how he manages to have these abilities. The effects are superb as usual, and the last ten minutes are pretty good, managing to conclude this incarnation of the series with a conclusive death.
I complained about how cartoonish some of the deaths had been in the last one, and this one is far worse. There is literally a segment where a character is trapped in a video game, and Freddy spouts old Nintendo ad slogans. The other major deaths are potentially interesting, but they either go on too long or they're just absurd. I finally get why this version of the character got on people's nerves, because it does get grating to have him spout puns and jokes all the time, and it really took the menace out of him. Add to that, again, the writing isn't that good, with reused scares and ideas that never really get explored. This doesn't even have good dream sequences to make up for that, so there's really nothing to see here.
Yeah, I'm going to go out on a limb, and say this is probably the worst of these. I think this is a good skip, unless you really want to finish the series or see how he was demolished before Freddy vs. Jason. Otherwise, I can't think of any reason to see this.
Alright, now we get on to Wes Craven's New Nightmare tomorrow.
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