Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994)

Tagline: This time staying awake won’t save you.

Curiosity: Apparently, Wes Craven had the idea for this movie while writing The Dream Warriors. One wonders why New Line took this long to give it a try.

Plot: Heather Langenkamp, star of the original A Nightmare on Elm Street, dreams she is on the set of a new Nightmare sequel when Freddy Krueger’s glove comes to life and kills two crew members. She’s shaken from this nightmare by an earthquake. But as things get weirder – New Line reveals that they really are planning a new Nightmare flick, her son, Dylan (Miko Hughes, Michelle Tanner’s asshole friend from Full House), also suffers from strange nightmares, and scenes from the original film crop up in her real life – Heather beings to question her sanity, as well as the possibility that maybe Freddy is real.

Thoughts: Generally thought of as a thematic precursor to his Scream series, New Nightmare finds writer/director/co-star Wes Craven questioning what it means to make a horror film. His story isn’t as glib as Scream (or as punishing as, say, Funny Games), but it does raise some interesting ideas, such as positioning New Nightmare into a greater context. Let’s be honest; these flicks are only scary if you’re a kid. Craven posits New Nightmare and the Krueger character as a modern day fairy tale, even going so far as to parallel the story of Hansel and Gretel.

The film doesn’t entirely hold up under this premise, as it eventually hits the same rote point of the other Nightmare sequels, that of the Final Girl trying to convince everyone else that the killer is real and will strike again. Coupled with a lack of onscreen time for Freddy and an overabundance of Dylan doing a tired creepy kid Omen shtick, the scenes become repetitive.

Still, when Robert Englund gets to debut the “new” Krueger costume, it’s pretty dang awesome. The original costume was designed to be garish; this one is meant to look cool, with a black overcoat, more demonic makeup, and fuller frame complementing Krueger’s classic fedora hat. I could live without the new glove, but Englund drops the “jazz steps” approach to the character to give something that’s much more brutal. When the film finally, finally, finally gets to Krueger, New Nightmare soars. His scene in the hospital is among the series’ best.

Reflection: I maintain my original statement – A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Dream Warriors, and New Nightmare form a comprehensive trilogy. Show ’em to your kids!