A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master

  Now things are gonna get weird. Not that this franchise wasn’t weird from the beginning, but this is where it starts to go really off the rails. For a lot of fans The Dream Master is where the quality of the series takes a serious dip and while I agree that it’s not as strong as the first and third films, I don’t think it (nor the fifth) is as bad as its reputation might lead you to believe.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master was written by Brian Helgeland (Mystic River) and Ken and Jim Wheat (Pitch Black) and was directed by Renny Harlin (Deep Blue Sea). The Dream Master was made on a budget of approximately $6.5 million, made $12,833,403 upon opening, and went on to make $49,369,899 worldwide. The Dream Master was released on August 19th, 1988 to mixed reviews.

One year after the events of Dream Warriors, Kristen (Tuesday Knight, Mistress, replacing Patricia Arquette) begins to fear that Krueger (Robert Englund, Chuck) will return. Her fears prove correct and she and the other survivors are killed, but not before she can transfer her dream powers to her friend Alice (Lisa Wilcox, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventures). 

The film is definitely sillier than the previous entries (even Freddy’s Revenge) but it’s still a fun time to be had. Lisa Wilcox’s Alice is a great protagonist and I believe is vastly underrated. Unfortunately, Alice is looked down upon because of Kristen’s unceremonious death (and recast). Tuesday Knight does a great job with Kristen, but unfortunately doesn’t really get to do much due to how quickly she suffers from Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome.

The kill sequences are fun, though not quite up to the standards of the previous film. The standout here is Debbie’s (Brooke Theiss, Just the Ten of Us) roach motel death. It’s silly and gross and just what I want in a Nightmare kill. 

Overall, The Dream Master is far from the best of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise but it’s fun and silly. If you go in with the right mindset, you’ll have a good time.

Rating: 3.5 useless inhalers out of 5

Other Observations:

• Does the Dog Die? The dog lives, but his fiery piss does resurrect Freddy (like I said, it’s a weird movie)

• Harrison’s Favorite Scare: The aforementioned roach motel scene.

• Sheila (Toy Newkirk, Days of Our Lives) was a sweetheart and deserved to live.

Next Week: It’s the first week of our next Friday the 13th month! It’s Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives.