In 1984 a new horror franchise series was started. A small company ,New Line Cinema, put everything they had into this film. And when it became a hit ,New Line changed from being just a distributor of small cult films,into one of the bigger movie companies. This film was the original Nightmare on Elm Street.
Nightmare on Elm Street-Based off some articles Wes Craven had read about some Asian teens who were afraid to go to sleep,this film introduced the world to Freddy Kruger. Even today this original entry has some great FX and amazing set pieces. It is also one of the earliest acting jobs for Heather Langencamp and Johnny Depp. Overall the film is great. And if it wasn't for a really shitty ending it would be almost a perfect slasher film. But the ending,which is one of 3 filmed,is so bad it hurts the rest of the film. B-.
Nightmare on Elm Street 2:Freddy's Revenge-Rushed into production when the first film was such a runaway hit. It is now one of the most hated entries in the series.The writers ignore the rules about Freddy that were set up in the original film. And the acting is just goofy. I don't like the film that much,but don't hate it like most fans do. D+.
Nightmare on Elm Street 3:Dream Warriors-Made 2 years after the last one. This had Wes Craven and Heather Langencamp coming back. Dream Warriors is the first of the series I saw,and it is still my favorite. We get appearances from a young Patricia Arquette and Larry Fishburne.To me at least this one does the most work with the mythology of the film. And progresses the storyline the farthest.A.
Nightmare on Elm Street 4:The Dream Master-Part 3 was a huge hit and helped propel Freddy into the mainstream audience. So New Line quickly got to work on a sequel. While most people hate part 2 the most ,part 4 and 5 are the ones I hate the most. We get some OK FX. But most of the acting is pretty bad. C-.
Nightmare on Elm Street 5:The Dream Child-This was the first of the sequels to not make more money than the previous entry.We get a storyline that is a parable about the abortion debate.The FX is better than part 4 and so is the acting. But they both aren't enough to make this a good film. C+.
Freddy's Dead:The Final Nightmare-This was made 2 years after part 5. It was at the time New Line's final Freddy film . So they went all out.We got some great FX and the final 15 minutes or so of the film were in 3D.This is usually most fans second least favorite entry in the series. I personally enjoy it. Sure Freddy has become a borsh belt comedian. But it is way more fun than either parts 4 or 5.I enjoy how they kill off Freddy for the final time. B-.
Wes Craven's New Nightmare-Made 3 years after what was suppose to be the last Freddy film. But this film is a meta-fiction film. And I believe Wes was inspired by Lucio Fulci's Cat in the brain. We get a redesigned Freddy. And this new look for Freddy is great. He looks super creepy. Heather Langencamp comes back and has really improved her acting skills. This would have been the best way to end the series. A-.
Freddy VS Jason-Made almost 10 years after the last Freddy film. This is one that the fans had been wanting for years.And really the film is more about Freddy than Jason. We get a nice throwback to the cruel and evil Freddy of the early films. And less one liners. A-.
Nightmare on Elm Street Remake-Wow were do I start. First off for some unknown reason they replaced Robert Englund with Jackie Earle Hailey. Now Hailey is a good actor. And brings a great amount of sleaze and creepiness to Freddy. But when you think of Freddy you think of Robert. Freddy isn't like Jason,Michael,or Leatherface ,in that you can't really change actors.I saw this opening night,and as of now it is the second worst film I have ever seen in theaters. The FX ,which was mostly CGI was shit. The lead actors were horrible. And most of the changes to the story are bad. The remake is the only entry in the series I don't own. And unless it is given to me or I find it for say a buck I doubt I will ever own it. F-.
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