Co-screenwriters Brian Helgeland (L.A. Confidential, Mystic River Conspiracy Theory, The Order) and Jim Wheat (Pitch Black, The Fly II) got together and penned A Nightmare on Elm Street 5 (NOES 5). The film became the highest-grossing entry in the series, not because it is the best of the Freddy films, but rather due to the fact that the franchise had four years to build NOES by word of mouth. As a result, people finally came by the truckload to see director Renny Harlin’s (Die Hard 2, Mindhunters, Cliffhanger, Exorcist: The Beginning) next installment of Kruger on the big screen.
Freddy Kruger (Robert Englund, A Nightmare On Elm Street, Dead & Buried, New Nightmare) returns to hunt down and kill the remaining Elm Street children. However, Kristen Parker (Tuesday Knight, New Nightmare) possesses the ability to draw non-Elm Streetian individuals into her dreams, which is exactly what she does with her friend Alice Johnson (Lisa Wilcox, NOES 5). Freddy quickly seizes her newfound ability as it presents the possibility for unlimited victims.
It seems as if Helgeland and Wheat devised the plot around the actors after interviewing them beforehand and finding out which ones would and would not be returning for the next installment (after Patricia Arquette’s role as Kristen, a pivotal player in the series at this point if the it were to remain continuous, had to be filled). You can almost feel Craven flinching after he attempted to put a capstone on Freddy in order to thwart the possibility of any other NOES mishaps, after rectifying Jack Sholder’s sequel by cowriting NOES 3. Few would argue with Wes’s reaction after seeing NOES 4. However, the work does try but, unfortunately, in all the wrong places, beginning with Kristen’s belated honing of her ability to control her dreams (blatantly created in order to keep the franchise afloat), and continuing with literary and cinematic in-jokes and allusions while the plot goes by the wayside.
First the good news: NOES 4 serves as the first time the writers had overt fun with the material. Kincaid’s dog, sardonically named Jason, is the genesis for Freddy’s resurrection. Shortly thereafter, Harlin wastes little time in having his demonic antagonist dispense the remaining Elm Street children (apparently most of the cast had become bored) because, in allowing other, non-Elm Streetians into Freddy’s realm (thus violating one of the central precepts in the mythology yet again), all he had to allot for by the end of the film was a sole survivor. Helgeland and Wheat have even more fun with the script in that they reference other nightmare realms: Franz Kafka is mentioned prior to Debbie being transformed into a cockroach atop the final female being named Alice. Other homages include dangling chains during the opening scene, à la The Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Hellraiser, take your pick, as well as Alice being sucked into a movie screen, thus becoming part of a film currently playing, reminiscent of Woody Allen’s The Purple Rose of Cairo. Lastly, and funny due to its poor taste, is the title of the diner where Alice works, the Crave Inn.
The bad news: Chronologically, the first major concern with the NOES 4 is that Harlin makes no attempt to justify how Freddy surmounted his supposed demise in NOES 3 after being buried on sacred ground. Instead, the director merely proceeds with the plot hoping that the audience’s memory falls short of a year. The screenwriters’ efforts were apparently exhausted on the minute details when they should have invested their energy securing the plot and characterization. As such, NOES 4 is a roster of 1980’s stereotypes, complete with one and all hosting “big hair.” We have Dan Jordan (Danny Hassel), the jock, Sheila Kopecky (Toy Newkirk), the nerd, and Debbie Stevens (Brooke Theiss, Catwoman), the party girl (in more ways than one). Also consist with its forerunner (continuity being a perpetual problem with the series, yet the foreshadowing color scheme is once again present with the ol’ red and green), is the satirical, razor-tongued Freddy. However, as banal as the overused phrase between the sleep-deprived Elm Street kids becomes, “We have matching luggage” they mutter coyly as they point to one another’s darkened eyelids, Kruger’s less-than-inspired quips, i.e. when Debbie, transformed into a cockroach, finds herself trapped in a roach hotel as Freddy notes, “You can check in, but you can’t check out,” come across as trite at best. For those with memories that extend back beyond yesterday, we are also given the figure of Roland Kincaid (Ken Sagoes, Intolerable Cruelty, NOES 3, Project X) once more who, apparently between films, grew to be a bad ass since we last left him as the humble, likable fellow in NOES 3. Surprisingly, we also have yet another locker room scene with the boys, cf. NOES 2, leaving the audience feeling as if the series has run out of locations and is having to return to well worn ground.
The work is arguably the least energetic of the series and second only in amateur execution to NOES 2. Renny Harlin’s film suffers under the apparent agenda of the production company to keep the series profitable and open as writers Brian Helgeland and Jim Wheat scribble around the cast and watch as their forced hands concede to the creation of trite scenarios which have no respect for their audience once the ticket has been purchased. Considering the director’s resume, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 fits comfortably in alongside his other disappointing cinematic exploitations.
Conversation piece: Freddy Kruger’s popularity began to rise considerably during the making of this film, so much so that Robert Englund was forced to resort to police escorts to and from the sets due to his surging fan base.
-Egregious Gurnow
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- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
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- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
