OscarsFan 2.3
03-23-2010, 02:01 PM
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Like RRA, I am an unabashedly unashamed horror fan (I would like to think the biggest after him and Blasty). The first film I ever saw - albeit a TV edit - was A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (that, Blasty, if I never answered it before is the primary reason why the "roach motel" sequence disturbs me as much as it does) when I was four years old.
For a horror series, Nightmare did end up being the most constant series on the block (although Hellraiser had its moments, primarily with the first three sequels and, to an extent, the DTV Hellseeker).
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET - the best of the best. Even today, with its slightly outdated effects, it still manages to instill a sense of dread about what happens to you the moment you turn your bedside lights off, pull those covers over you and close your eyes. While the film will never be cited for its acting, that little imperfection is made up with passion, primarily from Heather Langenkamp as Nancy, a primary face of feminine empowerment alongside the likes of Laurie Strode or Kirsty Cotton. Charles Bernstein's primarily-synth score is still a chiller for a good Halloween party. (5/5)
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2: FREDDY'S REVENGE - what the hell was New Line thinking? This question goes two ways: the whole plot itself (Freddy attempting to infiltrate reality) and the casting of the distractingly effeminate Mark Patton. Take out Freddy and make it into an allegory to a young man dealing with his sexual identity, it would have been a decent movie; but if I had to hear Mark Patton say "He's trying to get inside me" one more time, I would have screamed louder and more girlie than he did. Freddy does have his moments where he proves to be somewhat scarier than he was in the original, but those moments can't salvage the majority of a great (or bad) drinking game idea for a gay old Saturday night. Easily the worst of the Nightmare series. (2/5)
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 3: DREAM WARRIORS - of the non-Craven Nightmares, this one proves to be the best sequel. A great mix of horror and humor, Freddy gets his best line (and gimmicks) in the whole series, the cast proves to be genuinely likable and the dream style proves to be as memorable. (4/5)
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 4: THE DREAM MASTER - just to get it out of my system as quickly as humanly possible: yes, I am still afraid to this day of the roach motel sequence and it is the primary - ridiculous, I will admit; but at least its not Creepshow - reason why I had to knock it down a grade, but as I got older, I started to dig The Dream Master a little more. It has the most likable (and somewhat relatable) characters of the series; Englund is at the top of the Freddy game here in looks, glove design and acting (unlike Blasty, my somewhat token horror actor to make my top 10 that year was Kenneth Cranham in Hellbound: Hellraiser II); and Craig Safan's score proves to be the most spine-tingling since Bernstein's original. (3/5)
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 5: THE DREAM CHILD - I'll admit, this one gets more flack than it actually deserves. Yes, this is when the jokes really started going overboard and the burn makeup started looking more like a bad Halloween mask, but here, instead of going OVERboard on dreams (though the production design for this one is inspired), the writers and Stephen Hopkins (future Predator 2 helmer) take the time to explore Alice's life post-Dream Master and her friends (though one question I have is: if they're all her best of best friends, where the hell were they when Kristen, Rick and everyone were getting filleted two semesters earlier?). (3/5)
FREDDY'S DEAD: THE FINAL NIGHTMARE - some time ago, I read the original theatrical running time was around 105 minutes while the version that's been circling on VHS and DVD has been slashed down to 85. Maybe in that missing twenty minutes was something that would have made this a more worthwhile film. I do enjoy Freddy's Dead, but more as an afternoon guilty pleasure. The last twenty minutes do make it fun when Maggie (Lisa Zane) starts going to town on daddy with a bow and arrow, the glove and a pipe bomb. (3/5)
WES CRAVEN'S NEW NIGHTMARE - New Nightmare was THIS close to making my top 10 of 1994. Craven's return was a necessary for this series. It all works - acting, story, terror, Freddy, the whole kit-and-kaboodle. Well, maybe not Miko Hughes so much, but we can forgive him. (5/5)
FREDDY VS. JASON - this is one I always have a hard time reviewing as I get older. It's Nightmare characters acting like Friday the 13th characters. Jason DOES get the blood, but Freddy barely gets the glory. I do give the writers points for at least remembering to make Freddy sadistic again, even if character smarts get lost in the process. I'm also disappointed in how Jason appears in this one after the genius appearance in Friday VII: The New Blood. After The New Blood, it seemed as if the makeup artists weren't even trying (though it had its moments in Jason Goes to Hell). (3/5)
Like RRA, I am an unabashedly unashamed horror fan (I would like to think the biggest after him and Blasty). The first film I ever saw - albeit a TV edit - was A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (that, Blasty, if I never answered it before is the primary reason why the "roach motel" sequence disturbs me as much as it does) when I was four years old.
For a horror series, Nightmare did end up being the most constant series on the block (although Hellraiser had its moments, primarily with the first three sequels and, to an extent, the DTV Hellseeker).
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET - the best of the best. Even today, with its slightly outdated effects, it still manages to instill a sense of dread about what happens to you the moment you turn your bedside lights off, pull those covers over you and close your eyes. While the film will never be cited for its acting, that little imperfection is made up with passion, primarily from Heather Langenkamp as Nancy, a primary face of feminine empowerment alongside the likes of Laurie Strode or Kirsty Cotton. Charles Bernstein's primarily-synth score is still a chiller for a good Halloween party. (5/5)
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2: FREDDY'S REVENGE - what the hell was New Line thinking? This question goes two ways: the whole plot itself (Freddy attempting to infiltrate reality) and the casting of the distractingly effeminate Mark Patton. Take out Freddy and make it into an allegory to a young man dealing with his sexual identity, it would have been a decent movie; but if I had to hear Mark Patton say "He's trying to get inside me" one more time, I would have screamed louder and more girlie than he did. Freddy does have his moments where he proves to be somewhat scarier than he was in the original, but those moments can't salvage the majority of a great (or bad) drinking game idea for a gay old Saturday night. Easily the worst of the Nightmare series. (2/5)
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 3: DREAM WARRIORS - of the non-Craven Nightmares, this one proves to be the best sequel. A great mix of horror and humor, Freddy gets his best line (and gimmicks) in the whole series, the cast proves to be genuinely likable and the dream style proves to be as memorable. (4/5)
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 4: THE DREAM MASTER - just to get it out of my system as quickly as humanly possible: yes, I am still afraid to this day of the roach motel sequence and it is the primary - ridiculous, I will admit; but at least its not Creepshow - reason why I had to knock it down a grade, but as I got older, I started to dig The Dream Master a little more. It has the most likable (and somewhat relatable) characters of the series; Englund is at the top of the Freddy game here in looks, glove design and acting (unlike Blasty, my somewhat token horror actor to make my top 10 that year was Kenneth Cranham in Hellbound: Hellraiser II); and Craig Safan's score proves to be the most spine-tingling since Bernstein's original. (3/5)
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 5: THE DREAM CHILD - I'll admit, this one gets more flack than it actually deserves. Yes, this is when the jokes really started going overboard and the burn makeup started looking more like a bad Halloween mask, but here, instead of going OVERboard on dreams (though the production design for this one is inspired), the writers and Stephen Hopkins (future Predator 2 helmer) take the time to explore Alice's life post-Dream Master and her friends (though one question I have is: if they're all her best of best friends, where the hell were they when Kristen, Rick and everyone were getting filleted two semesters earlier?). (3/5)
FREDDY'S DEAD: THE FINAL NIGHTMARE - some time ago, I read the original theatrical running time was around 105 minutes while the version that's been circling on VHS and DVD has been slashed down to 85. Maybe in that missing twenty minutes was something that would have made this a more worthwhile film. I do enjoy Freddy's Dead, but more as an afternoon guilty pleasure. The last twenty minutes do make it fun when Maggie (Lisa Zane) starts going to town on daddy with a bow and arrow, the glove and a pipe bomb. (3/5)
WES CRAVEN'S NEW NIGHTMARE - New Nightmare was THIS close to making my top 10 of 1994. Craven's return was a necessary for this series. It all works - acting, story, terror, Freddy, the whole kit-and-kaboodle. Well, maybe not Miko Hughes so much, but we can forgive him. (5/5)
FREDDY VS. JASON - this is one I always have a hard time reviewing as I get older. It's Nightmare characters acting like Friday the 13th characters. Jason DOES get the blood, but Freddy barely gets the glory. I do give the writers points for at least remembering to make Freddy sadistic again, even if character smarts get lost in the process. I'm also disappointed in how Jason appears in this one after the genius appearance in Friday VII: The New Blood. After The New Blood, it seemed as if the makeup artists weren't even trying (though it had its moments in Jason Goes to Hell). (3/5)