A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988 film)

Copyright: New Line Cinema

Halloween's closing in, and we have this year's Nightmare entry.  I believe this was the first Nightmare I saw in the theater, a drive-in in this case.  If you ever get a chance to go to a drive-in, I highly recommend it.  Getting to watch a film in the comfort of your own car is pretty fun.  They're sort of rare nowadays, but if you look, you should be able to find one.

So, on to A Nightmare on Elm Street 4!  This is the second of the Dream Trilogy, with Kristen and her friends from the previous film returning to deal with Freddy, alongside a new group of friends.  The film starts with Kristen dreaming bout the house again, and a little girl drawing in chalk on the front porch.  Going inside, and being trapped there, she calls in Kincaid and Joey for help.  The two, not too pleased with being drawn into her dream, show her that the place is abandoned, and Freddy's furnace is cold.

Unfortunately, their assertions prove invalid, as Kincaid awakens in the trunk of a car in an old junkyard.  Freddy arises from his grave and dispatches Kincaid, then goes after Joey, as well, in his own dream.  Kristen knows what's happening, and tries to warn Alice and the others about the undead killer.  But, with Freddy tearing through the group, can Alice stop his rampage as her own set of dream powers increase in strength?

This film was really good.  It has a nice pool of victims, good special effects, a pretty good storyline, everything worked out for this one.  Patricia Arquette was west to reprise her role as Kristen here, but she had to bow out due to a pregnancy (she had to leave another role in a different film for the same reason).  The new Kristen, Tuesday Knight, did well with the role, showing the right amount of paranoia at times.  She was also in The Fan and The Babysitter.  Playing Alice, the heir to Kristen's experience and Freddy's new target, is Lisa Wilcox.  She's also been in Watchers Reborn, the Fear Clinic series on FearNet, and the recent film The Church.

Another excellent entry in the Nightmare series, and a pretty good entry in my list of articles.  I give it a 5 out of 5.  Next up, I'll be tackling the third and fourth entries in the Friday the 13th series.  Until then, this is Red Hawk signing out!