Despite the success of the first film, Wes Craven refused to return to direct a sequel, not wanting to have a franchise. So, the duties for this film went instead to Jack Sholder, who directed the slasher Alone in the Dark (unrelated to the game series). The idea for the film came from Leslie Bonham, who had initially pitched a pregnancy plot homaging Rosemary's Baby, before switching to a demonic possession. After attempting to replace Robert Englund, it was realized that it just didn't work without his iconic performance. The screenwriter, David Chaskin, added more focus between the male lead, Jesse, and his girlfriend. He also added a homoerotic subtext to the film, particularly in showing the main character as a closeted gay man dealing with repressed feelings. The actor, Mark Patton (himself closeted at the time) resented this and Chaskin for many years. Released on November 1st, 1985, the film grossed over $30 million on $3 million budget, and received mixed reviews.
Five years after the first film, the Walsh family has moved to the now named Springwood, into the old home of the Thompsons. Sure enough, the son, Jesse (Mark Patton) starts to have strange visions of Freddie Krueger (Robert Englund), following him, terrorizing him. Eventually, he and his girlfriend Lisa Webber (Kim Myers) find the diary of Nancy from the first film, learning of her experiences. Soon, there are a number of strange events occurring throughout the Walsh house, and Jesse is told to kill by Freddy. And as he struggles, he slowly succumbs to that command.
Despite Craven not being at the helm, Sholder does a competent job, managing to capture the feel of the first film, with its ominous atmosphere and bright lights, while putting his own spin. That, and the unique plot of Freddy trying to seize control of a person in the real world, make this feel a lot different than the first. It has different scares, a different plot, different characters. It feels almost like an entirely different franchise, connected to the first only by Freddie's presence and the prominence of dreams. I did enjoy the ways they portray Krueger slowly taking over Jesse's body, even having Freddy jump out face-hugger style towards the hour mark. While it is very distinct from the first one in many ways, it manages to retain one of the key elements of the first that worked best: defeating Freddie through sheer willpower and overcoming fear. Finally, the scenes have even bigger scares and even bigger stakes, which is appropriate for the film.
Like the last one, it feels too short, and a lot could've been elaborated on or explored, including Jesse's relationship to his family and his new schoolmates. It also has the cliche criticism of second act problems, where it drags a bit and it stops for a bit, (though that has some good scenes of Jesse's descent). Copying the first's ending was a bit much, especially since the rest was very distinct from the first.
If I hadn't read about it, I probably wouldn't have picked up on the famous gay subtext of this film, but having read it, it does contextualize a lot of the film, especially how Jesse's internal rage was manipulated. So, as an artifact, it is pretty interesting and I suppose it can be recommended for academic purposes? Otherwise, pretty good horror movie, would recommend to people who liked the first one.
Alrighty, tomorrow is Dream Warriors.
Five years after the first film, the Walsh family has moved to the now named Springwood, into the old home of the Thompsons. Sure enough, the son, Jesse (Mark Patton) starts to have strange visions of Freddie Krueger (Robert Englund), following him, terrorizing him. Eventually, he and his girlfriend Lisa Webber (Kim Myers) find the diary of Nancy from the first film, learning of her experiences. Soon, there are a number of strange events occurring throughout the Walsh house, and Jesse is told to kill by Freddy. And as he struggles, he slowly succumbs to that command.
Despite Craven not being at the helm, Sholder does a competent job, managing to capture the feel of the first film, with its ominous atmosphere and bright lights, while putting his own spin. That, and the unique plot of Freddy trying to seize control of a person in the real world, make this feel a lot different than the first. It has different scares, a different plot, different characters. It feels almost like an entirely different franchise, connected to the first only by Freddie's presence and the prominence of dreams. I did enjoy the ways they portray Krueger slowly taking over Jesse's body, even having Freddy jump out face-hugger style towards the hour mark. While it is very distinct from the first one in many ways, it manages to retain one of the key elements of the first that worked best: defeating Freddie through sheer willpower and overcoming fear. Finally, the scenes have even bigger scares and even bigger stakes, which is appropriate for the film.
Like the last one, it feels too short, and a lot could've been elaborated on or explored, including Jesse's relationship to his family and his new schoolmates. It also has the cliche criticism of second act problems, where it drags a bit and it stops for a bit, (though that has some good scenes of Jesse's descent). Copying the first's ending was a bit much, especially since the rest was very distinct from the first.
If I hadn't read about it, I probably wouldn't have picked up on the famous gay subtext of this film, but having read it, it does contextualize a lot of the film, especially how Jesse's internal rage was manipulated. So, as an artifact, it is pretty interesting and I suppose it can be recommended for academic purposes? Otherwise, pretty good horror movie, would recommend to people who liked the first one.
Alrighty, tomorrow is Dream Warriors.
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