"A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master" (8/10)

[Brock Landers]

The Fourth "Nightmare"…"A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master" A Brock Landers Overview…

"Dream Master" picks up where "Dream Warriors" leaves off. Kristen… now played by Tuesday Knight instead of Patricia Arquette… finds herself back at the Elm Street house experiencing the usual "Nightmare" stuff. She pulls fellow "Dream Warriors" survivors Kincaid and Joey into her dream, but they bluntly explain to her that Freddy's dead… obviously they're wrong, 'cause if they were right I wouldn't have been watching this flick last night and we would refer to it as the "Nightmare" trilogy. So, slowly the "Dream Warriors" are snuffed out, and a new band of Elm Street kids are brought into the mix. The reason Freddy is able to start off fresh, is because Kristen gives her friend Alice her dream power, when she introduces Alice into one of her dreams, just as she's being killed in her dream. It's confusing on paper, but it makes sense in the film, or does it? Now Alice, her friends, and her brother, are being hunted down in their dreams, and only Alice has the power to dive into the looking glass and drink me. Wait. I mean, eat me…

"Now I lay me down to sleep… the master of dreams, my soul I keep… and in the mirror of my mind's eye… evil shall see itself and it will die…" With that in mind, the dialogue, story and characters in "Dream Master" blow. But visually, it's got something no other "Nightmare" film had before or since. It's a huge, sprawling comic book, with visual flair, some really cool deaths and a nice action film feel to it. Renny Harlin makes "Dream Master" a really fun flick…regardless of whether or not we care about who dies, who lives or what smart-ass remark Freddy can pull out from under his dirty fedora. The special effects in this film are pretty much kick-ass…just check out the scene where Freddy attacks Kristen on a beach…or the scene where this chick has the life sucked outta her… or the one where the girl turns into a cockroach. Freddy's make-up also looks better than in any other "Nightmare". It's definitely the most "accessible" film in the series with its Music Television influences. When I say accessible, I mean that you really don't have to know much about the other films as long as you know a little bit about Freddy…Overall a mindless but fun flick…

[Horror whore]

I am watching this movie right now and it is a mindless fun flick but 8/10 is a little high...I'd give it a 7/10

[pennywise46]

6/10

[ilovemovies]

One of the weakest elm street movies is not bad, but nothing special either. **1/2

[XCoRyX]

This is one of my favorite movies...awesome!Simply awesome...very underrated because of its cheesyness i call cool,and the acting,killings and music is great,i simply cant put this in words- 8.5/10

[Cyclonus]

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

Director: Renny Harlin

Cast: Lisa Wilcox, Tuesday Knight, Robert Englund, Rick Johnson.

Screenplay: Brian Helgeland, Scott Pierce.

Producers: Robert Shaye, Rachel Talalay.

A New Line Cinema release.


http://www.hayalevi.com/sinema/afisler/a_nightmare_on_elm_street_4_thn.jpg


Well, it was inevitable. After the box-office success of the first three Nightmare movies, business dictated that there be a fourth, logic be damned. Wes Craven had attempted to wrap up the series with part 3, but you can't keep a good ghoul down. The last film clearly implied that Freddy was gone for good, so any attempt to bring him back is blatant commercialism at its worst. It doesn't help that the method used to revive him is just plain silly, even if it's a dream sequence. (It does assume you've seen the last one) He isn't even scary any longer; his character has been reduced to a comedian.

Upon his return, he sets out to complete his unfinished business: the slaughter of the last of the Elm Street children. This pretty much negates their previous victory over him, but never mind: New Line has some cash to rake in. Patricia Arquette wisely refused to reprise her role, so the Kristen character was recast. Tuesday Knight isn't as good, and quite frankly it doesn't even feel like the same character. This is a clear sign that as long as they were going to make a sequel, a fresh start, with entirely new characters, was warranted. As the so-called "Dream Master," Lisa Wilcox is okay, but her part isn't milked for all its worth. She pretty much has Kristen's powers passed down to her and that's it.

On the technical side it's admittedly well-made. Renny Harlin makes everything slick and glossy, you'd expect no less from the man who later gave us Die Hard 2 and Cliffhanger. Robert England is as gleefully bad as ever, and the manner in which Freddy makes his demise is actually quite gripping on a visceral level. Overall though, it's just a generic sequel.

5/10.



[This message has been edited by Cyclonus (edited 01-16-2002).]

[Dehydrator]

This has to be the crappiest of all Nightmare flicks. What makes me dislike this movie I'd like to call "rotten cheese".

"Rotten Cheese" means something that is silly and silly in a bad way. And this movie is loaded with stuff like that : I hated the cockroach-scene, I hated the dog-urine-ressurection and I REALLY hated the pizza scene (one of the worst examples of how you can drive a fun horror villan like Freddy to shit).

This was the point in the series where they took it too far. Although the basic elements were there in DREAM WARRIORS, here they are executed disgustingly silly. I hate it when movies go that way. This whole "comic" thing sucks arse, not only if you think about the first Elm Street movie, I think it sucks arse in ANY movie. Part 5 was slightly better, even if that comic-like stuff was even more in it but it was way less annoying than in this one.

I guess it depends on personal taste but for me, this is the lowest point this series ever had ( yeah, I liked FREDDY'S FINALE more).

[Cyclonus]

*psst* it's called Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare! http://www.joblo.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

[Dehydrator]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Cyclonus:
*psst* it's called Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare! http://www.joblo.com/ubb/biggrin.gif</font>

I DON'T CARE HOW THEY CALL IT, I CALL IT FREDDY'S FINALE - A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 6 BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT'S PRINTED ON MY T-SHIRT OF THE MOVIE! http://www.joblo.com/ubb/biggrin.gif http://www.joblo.com/ubb/biggrin.gif http://www.joblo.com/ubb/biggrin.gif http://www.joblo.com/ubb/biggrin.gif http://www.joblo.com/ubb/biggrin.gif