Rod's Thoughts on NOES 5 The Dream Child

[rodvcpetrie]

I have just finished watching NOES 5 The Dream Child.

First things first:

1. ATMOSPHERE:

This film has a pretty eerie atmosphere which would be lost in Freddy's Dead. I haven't watched this much but what struck me on this viewing was how effective Stephen Hopkins used atmosphere in this film. In some cases it almost borders on a gothic feel.

2. FREDDY KRUEGER:

His one liners aren't his strong point in this film. However having said that he isn't as "Comedic" as he is in Freddy's Dead. A lot of people wouldn't agree but I think he's around the same, wise-crack wise as he is in NOES 3 Dream Warriors.

I like the make-up on Freddy during the comic book kill (I'll put down my thoughts on this later in the review) as it suited the lighting well.

The cameo from Englund is priceless.

3. CHARACTERS:

Pretty much your standard fare, however Eyvonne (sp?) was different because she didn't immediately believe Alice about Freddy. In NOES 4 the characters from NOES 3 knew about Freddy but even so it didn't take long for the other characters to believe he was doing the killing.

4. MUSIC:

I like the music in this entry. I think there were only two themes I didn't enjoy. I liked the music during the comic book kill. One other thing about the music; this isn't really to do with the score but I feel that a film should adhere to the score even during the credits.I don't like some song playing during credits that doesn't really have any meaning other than a marketing tool to sell that artist's albums.

Overall the theme was pretty good. However it is bested by the first film which has the best music by far in the series.

5. THE KILLS:

The worst kill is the comic book guy death. It is even more cheesier than the Wizard Master death in NOES 3. Super Freddy was super shit and I think they could of had a better idea for how to kill of this character.

The best kill would have to be Dan's. It was gruesome and while watching this I was thinking of what it would be like to be in a head-on and what your skin and everything would look like.

The other kills are pretty poor.

6. FREDDY'S RESURRECTION:

Not really as absurd as his resurrection in NOES 3 but still not something to write home about. A little creative as the NOES 3 resurrection was but other than that its pretty weak.

7. FREDDY'S "DEATH":

I didn't really like his "death". It was okay; better than his death in FREDDY'S DEAD by far. That death was corny. Still its better than his resurrection in this.

8. END OF THE NIGHTMARE:

This Nightmare wasn't as good as NOES or NOES 3 or NEW NIGHTMARE; better than FREDDY'S DEAD, NOES 2, and on par with NOES 4 but a little darker and oppresive.

Stephen Hopkins did an admiral job. Still not as good as Wes or Chuck Russel but better than Renny Harlin.

I give this 7 sleeping pills out of 10.

[Duke Nukem]

I mostly agree. No where near as "bad" as people make it out. Freddy was still tolerable here compared to the joke he became in the super cheesy "Freddy's Dead." Loved the gothic atmosphere and themes in this too.

But, I also liked the death scenes more than you did. You really have to put yourself in the bitchy's girl's point of view when Freddy force-fed her all that food. It's a shame that MPAA gave this film such a hard time in the blood, because in actuality, Freddy slit her chest and was feeding her her own intestines. And Dan's death was even more cool originally as well.

And Freddy's "death," going by the gothic theme playing this time with Freddy's mother, was fitting if you think about it.

This film easily deserves an above average rating - **1/2 out of 4 stars. It doesn't deserve the *1/2 and 4/10 ratings it mostly gets by critics and schmoes around these boards.

[X-Nightcrawler]

I actually think Dream Child is a pretty good sequel. The Nightmare series has the one thing no series has: It adds something new to the universe with every entry (sequel added Freddy posession; 3 added dream powers and pulling people into dreams; 4 added on 3's concepts and added the heroine who gets her friends' powers as they die; 5 added about fetus dreams and Amanda's influence; 6 didn't add anything because it's terrible; 7 changed the entire universe in a very clever fashion) and this wans't the exception. It has decent kills (except comic book), decent acting, the great presence of Alice who I love and a badass confrontation at the end.

Not the best, but a pretty good sequel.

[Jason Vorhees]

Dream Child is my favorite in the series. I love Alice. She was my favorite and I think she was better then Nancy. She was definitley prettier too! Ivon (Sp) wasn't so bad herself. I liked the characters in this one. The loser like comic book dude was funny. The mother forced model girl. Dan and Alice's chemistry. Ivon was good too. Dan's parents etc etc. I just loved the characters. Freddy was his best since the 3rd one in this flick. My favorite one liner ever "It's a boy!" I liked the whole freddy can get to Alice through her baby deal. So I say besides the 1st and maybe the 3rd this is the best in the series.

[XtianDF]

Originally posted by Duke Nukem
It's a shame that MPAA gave this film such a hard time in the blood, because in actuality, Freddy slit her chest and was feeding her her own intestines. And Dan's death was even more cool originally as well.

I've a VHS of this sequel with all the gore intact. Can't believe they released the censored version on the NOES boxset...

[leafboy]

An embaressment to the series.

[night_hawk7]

I also am a big fan of Nightmare 5. It's definitely the creepiest of all the films and Alice is a great character. And that really does suck about the censored Greta scene. I was watching it on DVD after not having seen the movie for a good 2 years or so and the scene felt abbreviated. I remembered more gore. The original VHS scene was great.

[teenkiller]

I commend Stephen Hopkins for trying to make the series feel dark again after the mostly sunny setting of NIGHTMARE 4 BUT... I don't really care for the gothic look all that much as I never really considered this series to be gothic. FREDDY'S one liners really start to get out of control on this one and a fair share of them are just throw aways. One minor thing that bothered me is that Rick is hardly even mentioned in the movie. He is referenced in one line and not even by name. For me that sucked because he was one of my favorite characters in ANY movie.
On the plus side I really like Alice. I think it was pretty cool that so late in the series they were still able to come up with such a worthy adversary for FREDDY. The whole angle with him trying to mess with the dreams of her unborn child to resurrect himself was also pretty cool. I think the ideas and enthusiasm behind this movie were well meaning but the execution didn't come through as planned.
In comparing it with movies in general I would probably give this a 9/10 but with comparing it to the rest of the NIGHTMARE series I would give it a 7/10. Not as cheesy as FREDDY'S DEAD would go on to be, but could have been a little better.
Well thats all for now GOoD JOURNEY my fellow schmoes.

[Kevin Smith fan]

IMO, this is where the serries bottoms out. This film pulls a Tim Burton, in that it has all the atmosphere and potential of being a great film, and just cops out in the routine mediocre predictable plot. It's almost as if the background is being paid more attention than the central items such as a plot and originality. While NOES 4 is entirely too sunny and bright a nightmare for me, this one is overly oppresive in a situation that cant quite live up to the drastically down beat tempo it sets for itself. The cast is equally dismal and I really didn't care if Freddy even died at the end. Probobly why Freddy's dead was made after this in such a comic light. I give it a 68/100 (D+).