A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors

  This is one of my favorite X-Men films. Okay, maybe that sounds a bit snarky, but I think it’s a fair comparison. This is the one with a bunch of teens who discover their latent super powers (dream powers, anyway) to fight back against the forces of evil.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (from here on out referred to as Dream Warriors) was written by Wes Craven (A Nightmare on Elm Street), Bruce Wagner (Maps to the Stars), Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption), and Chuck Russell (The Blob) and was directed by Russell. Dream Warriors was made on a budget of roughly $4.4 million, made $8,880,555 upon opening, and went on to make $44,793,222 worldwide. Dream Warriors was released on February 27th, 1987 to generally positive reviews.

Dream Warriors is set one year after the previous installment, and six years after the original, and sees Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp, A Nightmare on Elm Street) guiding a group of teens who are being hunted by Fred Krueger (Robert Englund, A Nightmare on Elm Street). When Kristen Parker (Patricia Arquette, Boyhood) displays the power to pull others into her dreams, Nancy realizes that the kids can access powers in their dreams to fight back against the dream demon.

Dream Warriors is ridiculous. I say that with a lot of affection. It’s patently absurd. That doesn’t mean it isn’t marvelous. This film isn’t nearly as scary as the original, but it does tap into the beautifully unhinged possibilities of this franchise. Why shouldn't these kids get dream powers to fight Freddy? 

The return of Langenkamp is delightful, and Arquette is a great new Final Girl to the franchise (I hate Nancy’s death, but at least it is more dignified than Alice’s in Friday the 13th: Part II). The special effects and dreams remain truly imaginative and creative, although some of the kid’s “dream powers” are more than a bit silly.

Still, the atmosphere is chilling and the setting of the hospital creates a horrible prison for our protagonists to be trapped in even before they start encountering Freddy in their dreams. This installment also excels at diving into the specific fears of the victims. As exploitative as it is, the death of Taryn (Jennifer Rubin, The Twilight Zone) is heartbreaking.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors is excellent, and one of the most popular in the franchise, for good reason. It expands the legend of Freddy while expanding the mythology of the franchise and also including some great set pieces. 

Rating: 4 Hypnocil out of 5

Other Observations:

• Does the Dog Die? No animals are killed!

• Harrison’s Favorite Scare: The marionette kill is so upsetting.

• “Welcome to Prime Time, bitch!” - ICONIC

Next Week: I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of this movie called Scream, but that’s what I’ll be covering.