Well, it's nice they didn't end things on a super shitty note. Since New Line Cinema was affectionately known as "The House that Freddy Built," I'm glad that the powers that be saw fit to put a better cap on the Elm Street series than the really, really bad Freddy's Dead. I can't say if it was financially motivated or not, but I'd like to think that they did it out of respect for Mr. Krueger. While New Nightmare isn't anything special, it's a big step up in just about every aspect from parts 4-6. (I would entertain arguments about part 4 though.) I also think that it was probably a necessity for Wes Craven to bring us Scream - New Nightmare plays as a sort of test run for how to present the meta-horror ideas that are prominent in that film.
New Nightmare is about Heather Lagenkamp, the lead actress from parts 1 and 3. She's playing herself here in the "real world," where all six previous films exist as just that - films. The ten year anniversary of the original Elm Street is coming up, so she's invited to appear on a talk show with Robert Englund (also himself) to talk about the franchise. Since they'll do anything for a buck, New Line executives ask her if she's interested in being in a new sequel - Craven is working on a new script and she's slated to be the star. She passes on it... but maybe the movie won't let her?
You see, Heather is having terrifying dreams similar to those in the old Elm Street films - but dreams don't leave distinctive slash marks around the house! Plus, her husband was killed when he "fell asleep" while driving, and her son is showing signs of serious medical issues - it's diagnosed as some sort of childhood psychosis, but Heather knows better. She meets up with Craven (again, playing himself) who is in the middle of writing the new script. He admits to her that it's coming to him in his dreams. In the script, the "real" Freddy is some sort of ancient dream demon - held at bay by people's fears of "Freddy" in the movies. But six movies in, people aren't that scared anymore. The real dream demon (who looks suspiciously like movie Freddy) is gaining power to cross over to the real world. Although I like to imagine he was just pissed at how bad Freddy's Dead was.
And it turns out that this "script" just might be the very movie we're watching. That's the main thing that sticks out about New Nightmare - the whole movie in a movie thing (a la Adaptation). It's not particularly clever (as it's been done a lot better since), but I think that aspect of it may have played a bit better in 1994. At any rate, the franchise had pretty much mined Freddy's backstory for everything they possibly could have by this point (his childhood, his parents), so they couldn't really go back to that well. So the meta- direction works to an extent. Ultimately, it feels sort of gimmicky, but it brings a bit of life back to the gloved one.
And that's indicative of the whole film - everything just looks a lot better and things seem more lively. The film has a nice crisp look to it and is well shot - it just looks more professional than most of what I've seen out of this series. The kill scenes are solid (although there aren't very many - just three if I remember?), and conceptually one is the same as one I hated on hard in part six (an invisible Freddy throwing a person around). But here it's awesome - the people have weight, the violence hits hard, it isn't played for laughs - and it's so much better for it. It also echoes nicely to the "room flipping" from part one.
New Nightmare doesn't really play up the gore/makeup too heavily for most of the film; it leans a little more on psychological horror. In particular, the threat of Heather losing her child looms over her for much of the film (be it from Child Protective Services or the Dream Demon). You don't get a lot of wacky Freddy one-liners - he's presented here as a legitimate menace.
But of course, there has to be the final scene in a nightmare (I think - even though this was the least confusing film in the series "rules-wise" for me, I still didn't quite get where they ended up), and it honestly disappoints a little bit. Heather, her son, and Freddy end up in this basement/dungeon thing, and it really isn't better than anything we've seen before the the series. Since the whole film seemed to be elevating the game, I was a little bummed that the climax seemed more like a retread than a "new breed of terror," or whatever.
So I'm a bit torn on New Nightmare - on it's own, I'm not sure it it's really worth it. It may have had a bit of novelty for the meta-ness of it all 20 years ago, but that angle doesn't hold up too well. It looks good and there is a really memorable kill scene, but overall it felt kind of hollow. However, if you have the misfortune of seeing the later sequels and want to clear the taste out of your mouth, by all means check it out. It's like providing closure on a good relationship that went sour.
I would see what other Elm Street films you've seen, then decide if I would recommend this film.
No comments:
Post a Comment