Internet Janitor
When I saw it this way back when it premiered, I absolutely hated it. I had never gotten on board with the increasingly jokey nature of the series. Yet, these oh so many years later, I’ve found that there was a lot to appreciate in this entry. Yes, it still has numerous jokey scenes, but I found the use of practical and old-school special effects to be awesome and no matter what, it’s better than the awful 2010 remake.
After the events of A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Master, young Alice (played by Lisa Wilcox) thought Freddy (played, as always, by Robert Englund) was gone for good. However, he is back and has found a way to attack her friends through her while she is awake. Worse is that it all has something to do with her unborn child.
Yes, the story is pretty thin, but the way they tell it is endlessly creative. Remember, this was before they could just whip up some generic CGI nightmare like they can today. A lot of thought had to go into how to pull off all of these set pieces. You just do not see this level of practical effects used in horror movies very often anymore. They even use stop-motion animation, which was fun to see in 2024.
The jokes are still there, and I would have preferred a much more serious tone. Still better than that generic garbage of the 2010 remake. But I digress. It very well carries over from the fourth movies story, it’s almost like Nightmare on Elm Street 4.5 than it’s own film.
Like all films of the time, some versions have numerous scenes shortened or cut, which is hilarious. You see worse violence than this on any of the medical or cop shows now during the day.
There’s a lot to appreciate here. Give it a chance.