My older brother used to have a poster of Freddy Krueger on his bedroom door. I would avoid it like the plague. Once, he pushed me in and held the door knob. Instead of trashing the room or maybe ripping the poster down, all I could muster was a peculiar shriek. He ran in immediately, ripped it down, and threw it away. By then, however, Freddy had cemented himself as my favorite Slasher… in that “Stockholm Syndrome-ish” kind of way.
Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master is like the annual update of a sports video game: same good shell, questionable additions, full price. Don’t pay attention to the dialogue. Look away from the nonsensical story. Freddy is back, and that’s all that matters!
Most of the Slasher’s were written as one-offs. However, the box office success had the studios scrambling for sequels, resulting in character inconsistencies. In Nightmare 1, Freddy was exacting revenge. In Nightmare 2, he was trying to join the living through possession. In Nightmare 4, he needs someone to bring fresh souls to collect.
There were benefits to the sequels too. As more films were made, the characters became more defined. By Nightmare 4, Freddy had found stride as a creative, sadistic asshole with a total flair for theatrics! His use of the victims’ insecurities and phobias to gleefully terrorize their last minutes made it for a terrifyingly good formula.
Start with characters who Love karate, are obsessed with body image, and a supermodel swimming in a teenagers water bed… Now add an alcoholic father, a holy water-pissing dog, and a pizza with vocal meatballs… That’s Nightmare on Elm Street 4 for ya!
The story is nonsensical, but you won’t care if you like the genre.
The kills are creative, brilliant and fun. Freddy is at the top of the character development bell curve, his best hammy self. It may not be the best of the series, it may not be the second best, but it’s top-of-the-line Freddy, and he makes it good.
If you don’t like the genre, there isn’t much I can recommend. On the merits of dialogue and story alone, there is very little to see here. Your best bet is to watch the first one. Now, that’s an American Cinema Classic!
Three Toilet Paper Rolls out of Seven… Four, if you’re a Slasher fan!
