Ranking the A Nightmare on Elm Street Series

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1989) - Nintendo Entertainment System

Now that I've watched all the worthwhile Freddy films I feel able to rank them based on how good I thought they all were. I still might watch Freddy VS Jason completely sometime, but that doesn't count in the Freddy chronology to me. As for the remake, I will avoid that as long as I possibly can.

So, in order from best to worst it goes like this:

1. A Nightmare on Elm Street
2. Wes Craven's New Nightmare (7)
3. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
4. A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
5. A Nightmare on Elm Street (5): The Dream Child
6. A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge
7. Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (6)

Initially when I put this blog together I figured it would only be used for writing about movies I hadn't already seen, hence why the first two don't have blog entries. However I guess I have changed my mind now since New Nightmare is one I'd seen before.

Back on topic of the listing, there is no question that the top films are the first and the last. I have friends who think the "Dream" trilogy are dumb, but personally I thought it was pretty decent. There were some really fun effects showcased in the films too. 3 and 4 are the best though as by 5 it just feels like the story has dragged on long enough.

The 2nd movie is so terrible I hate that they had the gall to call it "part 2". However, it isn't quite as bad as 6. By that point Freddy got worn down into a silly, completely unscary antagonist who picks on disturbed teenagers. They're both pretty bad but if you absolutely need more of the series, then they'd do in a pinch.

With the A Nightmare on Elm Street series down I might go to Halloween or Friday the 13th next. I watched most of the Halloween flicks already but they're still kind of neat and I wouldn't mind a refreshing watch of 'em.

Actually, thinking of it now there is the Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy documentary that I need to watch. Apparently it is 4 hours which sounds perfectly wonderful. I had almost bought that when it came out because it came with a special poster but that time has since passed. Heather Langenkamp is apparently in the middle of directing her biography I am Nancy which you can bet I'll need to see whenever it comes out. So, it looks like Freddy will never quite die.

A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child

Year: 1989
Director: Stephen Hawkins
Writer: Wes Craven, John Skipp, Craig Spector, Leslie Bohem
Genre: Horror: Slasher

The Dream Child is a continuation of The Dream Master. Alice is still alive and kickin' and apparently busy doing the deed with her high school sweetheart. However, he ends up dying and so do a lot of other kids because Freddy is back for yet another round. Also, Alice is pregnant.

The movie is somewhat like a super toned down Rosemary's Baby because Freddy (Satan) is taking the fatherly role for the developing fetus. The unborn boy is in fact the catalyst for the dreams - as apparently fetuses can dream. Whether this is true or not doesn't matter but because he dreams Alice can not ward off sleep.

Freddy intends to use the baby as a vehicle to birth him back into the world. What for, I can't really say, as Freddy shouldn't have his dream powers in the real world anyway. Either way, stuff goes down. This movie continues to try and outdo the last with effects. However, by this point things are starting to feel really silly. One guy fuses into a motorcycle for Christ's sake. This isn't a Final Fantasy summon this is supposed to be a horror movie!

The whole trope of this group of kids from Elm Street is tired by this point and that's probably why this is the last movie to continue that specific storyline. It took me a while to realize it, but all the movies with the "Dream" subtitle were part of a trilogy within the Nightmare series. It's pretty weird how they did that.

PS: Apparently this is the movie that has Freddy stuffing a girl until her cheeks puff out impossibly huge.

PPS: There was a fantastic song which played during the movie in a section and was the first credit song. I am pretty sure it's not meant to be the theme song for The Dream Child but I will imagine it is anyway.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master

Year: 1988
Director: Renny Harlin
Writer: Wes Craven, William Kotzwinkle, Brian Helgeland, Scott Pierce
Genre: Horror: Slasher

The Dream Master is one of apparently the last movie in the series that retains the number in the title. There's nothing wrong with them taking it out for future iterations, but I prefer it. Without numbers all these "dream" subtitles tend to blend together.

So, 4 starts off where 3 left off. At the end of 3 some kids were left alive and so here they are in this next movie alive and older. Despite Freddy being gone for a while Kristin keeps bringing her old team back into her dreams, much to their dismay. Of course, as soon as they begin to yell at her for it is when they probably need it the most. Freddy predictably comes back and gets straight to killing off the remaining kids.

Before Kristin dies, she gives her dream-pulling power to her friend Alice. The story from continues on into 5 and since I watched them together it's difficult for me to discern which cast of teens is from which movie. Regardless, what I do remember is this film was pretty cool. The moment Freddy put on sunglasses at a beach I busted out laughing. The kids feel like they die off a little too fast and in to large an amount, but the story is still extremely entertaining.

While this isn't the best one storywise, it is pretty intense with special effects. This movie seems when they started really going crazy with Freddy. Not only Freddy, but there are some horrible effects forced upon the teens. One girl has her body break apart as cockroach limbs spurt out. Another girl is forcefed by Freddy until her face is grotesquely swollen like a psychotic chipmunk. These might be from the 5th movie, but I'm thinking they happened here. The effects are still done very well and they're all very creative.

I wish more horror movies would capitalize on being silly and cool. I also wish they wouldn't try to force computer graphics on everything. I'm glad that sometimes movies rely on real effects these days, even if it's just a few.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors

Year: 1987

Director: Chuck Russell

Writer: Wes Craven, Bruce Wagner, Frank Darabont, Chuck Russell
Genre: Horror: Slasher

A Nightmare on Elm Street has been one of my favorite horror movies since I first saw it some years ago. Freddy is my favorite of the big three slasher characters and really is a "character". Despite my fondness for the first movie and A New Nightmare I really have not seen much of the huge series. I decided to change that today so I watched part 2 and 3. As it turned out, I'd already seen 2 but 3 was totally new to me.

Whereas 2 is really a big let down 3 was surprisingly incredible. It's fun. Something I always want to see more of is the power of Freddy's dreamscapes. Dreams don't make sense and are allowed to be as crazy as possible. In this movie it felt like the world was very dream-like. For example, there was this part where a character was attempting to run from Freddy. She ran and ran but her feet were practically in tar so she couldn't move. That's dream logic to the extreme and more movies need to make use of dreams for horror. 

The characters were all relatively likable and it was cool. The music was also memorable, if tremendously 80s. I don't think any of the other sequels I will watch will be nearly as good as this, but I can hope. 

By the way, a lot of parts of this movie were really unintentionally hilarious. From an attempt to seduce a young boy to a scene where Freddy attempts to literally eat a girl, I was laughing out loud when I wasn't supposed to. The acting wasn't necessarily off, but it was a very unusual story with strange effects. The giant girl-eating Freddy head especially was weird as hell. If nothing else, I'll probably remember that part for a good long time.