**PLOT SPOILERS** Heather Langenkamp plays herself in this. She has a (fictional) husband and child. She starts having nightmares about Freddy Krueger (Langenkamp starred in the first "Nightmare on Elm Street" movie) at the same time that Wes Craven is writing a new "Nightmare" script. Krueger was killed in 1991 but Craven decided to try it one last time. Krueger does NOT exist but it seems a demonic force is using his persona to come into the real world...and kill Langenkamp because she was the first one to "kill" him.
I applaud Wes Craven for this idea (he wrote the script and directed this). It's very inventive and a good way to bring back a classic horror character without insulting the audience. It's very well done with excellent special effects and it's fun to see Robert Englund, Wes Craven, John Saxon etc etc appearing as themselves. But, sadly, it just doesn't work. Certain key ingredients are lacking.
First is Langenkamp--she's just awful. She tries (you can tell she is) but she basically is just going through the motions. I never believed her for one second. Her young son (well played by Miko Hughes) is constantly being put in danger or is seeing people slashed to death. I don't like seeing children used that way in any picture. The movie is also too long and the script sometimes gets repetitive--at least SEVEN earthquakes hit L.A. in the course of one week. Is that really factual? Also Freddy is sorely missed in this one until the last 20 minutes or so.
This was not a big hit at the box office--I heard it made less than any other "Nightmare" film ever. I don't think fans enjoyed having Krueger "explained" away. Critics however loved it--that's very unusual for any horror movie. If you're a horror fan you should try to take a look at this. If not--use your own judgment.
I applaud Wes Craven for this idea (he wrote the script and directed this). It's very inventive and a good way to bring back a classic horror character without insulting the audience. It's very well done with excellent special effects and it's fun to see Robert Englund, Wes Craven, John Saxon etc etc appearing as themselves. But, sadly, it just doesn't work. Certain key ingredients are lacking.
First is Langenkamp--she's just awful. She tries (you can tell she is) but she basically is just going through the motions. I never believed her for one second. Her young son (well played by Miko Hughes) is constantly being put in danger or is seeing people slashed to death. I don't like seeing children used that way in any picture. The movie is also too long and the script sometimes gets repetitive--at least SEVEN earthquakes hit L.A. in the course of one week. Is that really factual? Also Freddy is sorely missed in this one until the last 20 minutes or so.
This was not a big hit at the box office--I heard it made less than any other "Nightmare" film ever. I don't think fans enjoyed having Krueger "explained" away. Critics however loved it--that's very unusual for any horror movie. If you're a horror fan you should try to take a look at this. If not--use your own judgment.