A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 (1987)
|
|
|
|
| |
|
| Directed by: |
Chuck
Russell
|
| Starring: |
Heather
Langenkamp/Nancy |
|
Craig
Wasson/Neil |
|
Patricia
Arquette/Kristen |
|
Jennifer
Rubin/Taryn |
|
|
|
| RATING
|
 
|
|
PLOT-CRUNCH:
|
|
Freddy’s (Englund) still kickin and
this time he’s after the last of the Elm Street children. That’s until
his old nemesis Nancy (Langenkamp) walks in to help the hunted youth and
defeat the dream buffoon.
|
|
THE
LOWDOWN: |
|
Freddy steps into the spotlight along with the visual effects. This film
takes the concept of the original and stretches it a tad further for the
better and for the worse. The effects are bigger and crazier (loved the
Freddy snake), the stalk scenes are replaced with fight scenes, the dreams
are more fantasy oriented and so are the kills. The problem with the new
direction is that Freddy is no longer the frightening devil stalking in
the shadows, now he’s the goofy tour guide, the one liner spitting host,
Freddy takes center stage and it’s not for the better if you’re a
horror fan. Most of the kills are very cruel but not scary ( I could of
went without the kid turning into a wizard, that was too cheesy for me).
This marks the series hint into mainstream. I mean Part 4-5-6 are almost
family flicks. .
Putting my
disappointment of the series’ entry into fantasy/camp aside I will give
credit where credit is due. This film is pretty slick. It has a very large
cast and gives every character enough time to develop. All the kids are
credible troubled teens and that helps. The film continues the story set
up by the first one: we learn more about Freddy’s origins, Lt Thomson
(Saxon) comes back and so does Nancy (Langenkamp). The film is a roller
coaster ride of effects and imagination that rarely quits. The visuals are
quite impressive, it doesn’t get much better than that human puppet…
This flick gets it both ways, it has a strong story and is also great eye
candy.
But all that fun
has a price. That price is the soul of Freddy Krueger. The man of horror
fans dreams becomes the man of everybody’s dreams…now that’s scary…
|
| ACTING: |
|
Heather Langenkamp (Nancy) gives her weakest performance of the series.
She just felt off. Craig Wasson (Neil) does good
and survives his scenes with Langenkamp, that’s talent. Patricia
Arquette (Kristen) is introduced to movie fans around the world, she does
fine. Ken Sagoes (Kincaid) plays one of those characters you’ll love or
hate, he likes calling Freddy a pussy and yells a lot. Rodney Eastman
(Joey) doesn’t have many lines but his character always shines through.
Jennifer Rubin (Taryn) rocks the house and gets to sport a funky mohawk.
Bradley Gregg (Phillip) is very kool and I was sorry to see him go so
fast. Penelope Sudrow (Jen) is very sympathetic as the wannabe actress, I
liked her, where is she now? John Saxon (Donald) shows up again and I
adored every second he was onscreen…love that guy. A pre fame Laurence
Fishburne makes an appearance…solid as ever.
|
| GORE: |
|
Some tasty stuff here. My favs being the human puppet being strung along
by his veins (bloody) and of course the giant Freddy snake (wow). I will
say that the living skeleton effect is very weak.
|
| T
& A: |
|
Some blonde nurse honors us with a pair of boobs that deserve to be molded
and be put on display in a museum…god I love women…
|
| DIRECTING: |
|
Chuck Russell does good with his first film. Lots of mood, smooth camera
movements and a great use of sound. This entry is also less dark in tone
than the previous two…is that good?
|
| SOUNDTRACK: |
|
A wonderful score by Angelo Badalamenti and some hard rock courtesy of
Dokken.
|
| BOTTOM LINE: |
|
Freddy’s not totally pop yet but this flick opens the
door. The film still paints many creepy images but Freddy is without a
doubt less scary. He has more one-liners, is less in the shadows and he’s
slowly becoming the hero. At least the flick has a mean streak and funny
one-liners: Welcome To Prime Time Bitch. The series should have ended
here, this flick wraps everything up. But cash registers called loud and
Freddy answered.
|
| BULL'S EYE: |
|
The scene in which Neil Gordon (Craig Wasson) is thrown into the grave and
partially buried by the skeleton of Freddy is a tribute to Body Double, in
which Wasson's character is similarly buried alive.
When the clay puppet face turns into
Freddy's, special-effects man Doug Beswick used stop-motion animation.
Filming began with a clay Freddy face that was made plainer in each frame.
The result was then run backwards, and that is what appears in the final
cut of the film.
The movie on TV that Jennifer
watches before she dies is Critters.
Discuss
this movie on The Arrow's HORROR BOARD
|
