Product: New Nightmare [VHS] (1994)
Rating: 4.0
Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994)
Director: Wes CravenCast: Heather Langenkamp, Robert Englund, Miko Hughes, Wes Craven, John Saxon, Robert Shaye, Sara Risher, Marianne Maddalena, David Newsom, Gretchen Oehler, Jeff Davis.Running Time: 112 minutesRated R for violence, gore, and language."Wes Craven's New Nightmare" is a complete overhaul of the "Nightmare on Elm Street" formula, transferring it from the fictional Elm Street and into the real world. It would seem like a cheesy premise, Freddy is such a bad guy that he's even coming to life on the movie sets, but the idea makes it work. Wes Craven has been having nightmares again, and since his nightmares tend to be where he gets his best ideas (much like many other horror writers, directors, etc, not the least of which is Stephen King), he decides that this must mean it's time to make another "Elm Street" movie. Heather Langenkamp, who played the terrorized Nancy Thompson in the original "Nightmare" and "Dream Warriors", takes on the role of herself. She's now 30 years old and has a child, but is gradually coming to realize that the strange things that have been happening and nightmares of Freddy that she has been having are way too similar to what happened in her movies, and she gradually comes to realize that it's all real. Some of the best moments are when she goes to talk to Wes Craven about it, to tell her what has been happening, and it is all stuff that he has already written into his new but unfinished script.Craven explains that the evil inside Freddy Kruger is actually an ancient evil that has merely been temporarily trapped inside the character of Freddy and the stories of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies, that as long as the story is kept active, the evil can be contained. Now that the movies have ended, he explains, the evil force within Freddy has been set free. There's a great scene where he tells Heather that the reason the story has died is because that's what happens when people water it down to make it an easier sell. This is a strikingly insightful comment to be made within a horror film, but it strikes me as strange since it's so obvious that he's referring to the load of bad sequels in the Nightmare on Elm Street series, only two of which he directed (the original and this one) but almost all of which he either produced or wrote. Freddy has managed to separate himself from both Robert Englund, the actor that played him in the movies, and the Nightmare movies as well, and have entered our world. The movie takes place in an interesting parallel reality, it's not the reality in the movies and it's not the real world, but somewhere in between. All of the actors from the movies all play themselves and there is much talk of 'our world' and 'the real world,' but only the actors from previous movies play themselves, all the other people in the movie are characters played by actors, not the least of which is Heather's son, Dylan, who turns out to be the most powerful person in the movie. Dylan starts having nightmares and reacts as any kid his age would, not wanting to go to sleep and wanting mom to spend the night with him. Why she refuses for most of the movie is never really explains.Ultimately, Freddy is able to come through and kill people when Dylan sleeps, and it seems that Freddy capitalizes on this, using the kid both as leverage and as a means to get into his world. There is a scene where Dylan runs across a freeway at night during heavy traffic, and Freddy appears in the sky and lifts him up, helping him across the freeway unharmed. This leaves the question of whether Freddy did this to protect his path into this world or just to taunt his mother, Heather, who is following closely behind and ready to run into traffic herself to save her son. Needless to say, there is a climactic scene in a horrific dungeon setting, with Heather and Dylan trying to escape and kill Freddy at the same time. "New Nightmare" stands as one of the best of the entire series, along with the original film, and despite these weak shortcomings, it is a tremendously well-made horror movie. It's thought out where most horror films aren't, it has a premise that's fascinating in the same way that things like time travel are fascinating, and it will surely please Nightmare fans eager to get a look at the "Nightmare on Elm Street" sets as well as the cavernous mansion that Craven has managed to afford from being royalty in the horror movie production world. A unique, innovative adventure in terror.