Seems like this Halloween marathon is almost fully the highlight series. We’re now at the 6th and supposedly final installment. But we know that isn’t the case 😉
Before we do head into the review, I’d like to say that I had to rearrange my schedule a little for the marathon. It may not be fully horror movies but we’re adding a book review and some full reviews of podcasts I did over at That Moment In. I’ll link it appropriately when those reviews come up. I realize that time is scarce and with other priorities and even though I’m on track with the Halloween marathon, I tend to run out of time to do life things, you know. It just happens so I have alternatives and this is one of those cases. I am working on watching a few more movies to hopefully get more variety in this movie marathon. I’m hoping it’ll work out but just a little update on how this marathon is going as I plan it out. One thing I do promise, this highlight series, A Nightmare on Elm Street is going to be fully reviewed. All movies accounted for by October 31st 😉
Let’s check it out!
Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)
Director: Rachel Talalay
Cast: Robert Englund, Lisa Zane, Shon Greenblatt, Lezlie Deane, Ricky Dean Logan, Breckin Meyer, Yaphet Kotto
Freddy Krueger returns once again to haunt both the dreams of his daughter and Springwood’s last surviving teenager.-IMDB
I made it through this one. That is an accomplishment in itself. Freddy’s Dead felt so long! It was only 96 minutes and it felt like an eternity to reach the end. I started dozing off in the last 20 minutes or so but no, I refuse to watch this again. Freddy 2 was boring for many reasons but this one takes the cake so far at being the worst in the series as of now. I’m not sure any of the other ones could be worse. I honestly don’t.
Why was it bad? What did I not like? I know you’re all dying to know. Maybe not…but bear with me, okay? This is supposed to be a review. I promise you that by the end I’ll have something good to say about this. It was a complete failure.
First things first, what happened to Freddy? What happened to the tone of the movie? In 10 years after the last event (or I think that is what it said), there was only one teen left in Springwood and this is how the story works out. Its a complete mess in the sense that we never really know when its real and fake. Was that the supposed effect we were to feel? The building of characters here are so many that they don’t even have time to focus on anything. But, I’m jumping around right now. Freddy turns into a joker. He isn’t funny, not sadistic, not crazy, not impactful, just plain boring. It seems like after a whole turn of events, Freddy is going back to nothing.
While they try really hard to give the kills a little something different, it just feels campy but in a really bad and ridiculous way. Honestly, this one is a complete mess. The biggest reason that nothing makes sense. Next part is scene example. If you haven’t seen this, skip to the end of the spoiler to continue. **SPOILER** The guy here who is the surviving teen escapes but gets caught in this recurring dream where Freddy has him trapped in the house on Elm Street over and over again and every time he makes and escape, it doesn’t make sense. Like, the house crashes downward and his character would have a follow through motion where he goes sideways out the window. Excuse me, but that isn’t how physics works. You don’t drop downwards and the impact makes you go sideways. That’s just one example. Another one was where he falls down and hits his head on a rock and when he wakes up, the blood he shed from his forehead is on the other side of the rock where he didn’t hit. **SPOILER ENDS** It might just oversights on scenes but its just sloppy work. At this point, its like they don’t care. Sometimes, I wonder if it is deliberate to re-emphasize on the campy slasher genre that its been. Still, this one is really nonsensical.
But, I told you that I’d tell you something good and we’re at that part. Freddy’s Dead has one good feature that kind of redeems it a little, but doesn’t at the same time. What it does well is that it still ties in to the Freddy and Springwood and how he’s killing the teens. What works even more is the fact that they built on top of the backstory we’ve known and now we get the reason of why he chose to kill the kids of the parents who murdered him as revenge instead of say, killing the surviving parents to dealt him the pain in the first place. This is where we bring in his daughter and ties it all up. While that does work, the story itself is so choppy and meaningless that its hard to feel engaged and that is where it has its downfall mostly.
Overall, Freddy’s Dead/Part 6 is lacking and unengaging to watch. Its easily one of the lesser installments in this series so far. Freddy isn’t fun to watch, his kills are not either. While the premise and backstory for Freddy adds a little positive, the pacing and nonsensical approach made it feel double the length that it actually was. Its definitely not a great way to end such an iconic franchise, if it actually was the end.
Have you seen Freddy’s Dead? What did you think?
Tranquil Dreams 