Favorite Nightmare On Elm Street Movie

  "Welcome To Wonderland Alice" - Freddy Krueger
   

The Nightmare on Elm Street is a top three horror franchise. An imaginative premise with a creepy but very popular villain Freddy Krueger kept me looking forward to seeing what they would come up with from film to film.  I consider the series to include seven films only, the original Nightmare on Elm Street on to Freddy’s Dead plus Freddy vs Jason. Really the first six are the series with Freddy vs Jason acting as a bonus dvd. It’s hard to turn down those bonus dvds even if you only enjoy 8 minutes of material from it. Over time Freddy vs. Jason has grown on me. That's for a later post.

My favorite Nightmare is not the best entry for the series.  What makes it great is that it is so easy and enjoyable to watch. Anytime it’s on cable I can watch it to the end. I had very little regard for this film when I first saw it. My biggest issue being that it was not scary. After years of repeated viewings on vhs, I recognize A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master as a certified classic!

1988 was not an easy year for me. 12 years old with a 5-year-old brother copycatting me, going to the movies was my escape. I mean he wanted to do everything I wanted to do. If I went out to the park, he'd tag along and now I was watching him. If I wanted to play with my WWF figures, he wanted to play with my WWF figures. Sheesh..If I could relive that time spent I would. It was to be cherished. But at that time I would take a pass. I'd ask mom for money for a movie every time she got a paycheck. She'd oblige if she could and drop me off. It got me out of her hair for a little over an hour and gave me time to myself.

Summer of '88 there were some fun flix released. Tom Hanks in Big, Chevy Chase in Funny Farm, Jessica Rabbit in Who Framed Roger Rabbit and everybody's favorite Christmas movie Die Hard were released that summer. Most of the movies I didn't see until later when they were available for rent on video.
   

Near the end of summer, Freddy was back and mom had just gotten paid. Mother may I..? Yes, you may. She dropped me off for a Saturday matinee screening of this film in Oxon Hill, Md. Lucky for me the theater was down the road from the apartment complex we lived in. I sat alone waiting to be shocked. 90 minutes later...NOTHING. There was too much daylight in this film. The parts I was looking forward to seeing from the commercials, like the glove moving through the sand like Jaws after Kristen weren't surprising anymore. Add that to the fact that the follow through characters from The Dream Warriors, Kincaid, Joey and Kristen were axed in the first 10 minutes, the stage was set for major disappointment. And so I was disappointed.
   

A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 4 The Dream Master is the only movie in the series that doesn't have long portions that drag as the plot moves forward. As much as I love The Dream Warriors, the scenes with Neil and Sister Mary Helena really slow the film down.
   

The Dream Master expands beautifully on the idea of dream powers started in The Dream Warriors. The characters are the last group of semi-likable characters introduced in the series. Alice is an Elm Street legend. None of the films that followed; Dream Child, Freddy's Dead nor Freddy vs. Jason introduced a new character that fans of the series could get behind and believe in. Debbie's death scene is as fun and troubling as Phillip's death scene a year and a half prior, but not quite as gruesome. Not as dark as the previous entries or those that followed, The Dream Master is a bright spot in the series and my favorite Nightmare on Elm Street movie.