Nightmare on Elm Street movie releases were event films in
the 80's. The original's heady combination of slasher flick and dark fantasy had
proven a hit for New Line Cinema and they were quick to build a franchise. The
sequel, Freddy's Revenge, had done okay box office, but for many - including
myself - it didn't really feel like an Elm Street movie. Freddy and the rules
of the nightmares all seemed drastically different and, while an interesting
movie in its own way, it just wasn't much fun.
That changed with the release of Nightmare on Elm Street 3:
Dream Warriors, which once again put the focus on Freddy and the Elm Street
kids. It also ramped up the special effects and gave Freddy a lot more screen
time. It was really the start of the more over-the-top, Freddy-centric nature
of the later films. This proved to be box office gold, but it led the series
down a path that ended up in self-parody and emphasized spectacle and
one-liners over characters and story.
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| First step on said path. |
The Medium
Some time ago I purchased the Nightmare on Elm Street blu-ray collection. This is actually the
first time I've dug it out to watch these entries in the series, though!
They're excellent, if not quite as good in either the quality or extras
department as the first and last films. It's much better than the old DVDs,
though, and can usually be found at a decent price.
The Movie
Dream Warriors. Admit it - the theme song is already in your head. This was
probably the first of the Nightmare films I got to see in the actual theater
and for a long time was my favorite of the bunch. Time has dampened my
enthusiasm somewhat - the first and the seventh are my favorites nowadays - but
it's still an enjoyable entry in the series and manages a better balance
between story and spectacle than the later entries.
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| That song really does get in your head, though. |
Nice to see Wes Craven's name on the screenplay, and I'd
forgotten that Frank Darabont had also worked on it.
Kristen Parker (Patricia Arquette) is sent to the Westin
Hills psychiatric hospital after an apparent suicide attempt. There she meets
several other patients who are experiencing the same issues she is - namely
persistent and terrifying nightmares featuring a disfigured killer sporting
knives on one hand. The kindly Dr. Gordon is sympathetic, but disbelieving and
it's not until a new therapist - Nancy Thompson - arrives that anyone will
listen to the kids, and even with her arrival it'll be too late for some.
I'd forgotten Patricia Arquette was in this, and the guy
from Body Double. And Laurence Fishburne
as an orderly (and billed in the credits as 'Larry' Fishburne)! It was also a
great idea to bring back both Heather Langenkamp and John Saxon to reprise
their roles from the first film.
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| Yeah, that's pretty much what I'd be doing too. |
This is probably the last of the main Nightmare films where
I'm really invested in the characters. They're broadly drawn and more defined
by their character quirks (so that Freddy can more easily terrorize them), but
they're still sympathetic and interesting. I also like the venue change -
putting the kids in a psychiatric hospital rather than a high school affords a
more contained setting and forces them to interact with each other in different
ways. Less "he-ing and she-ing" (in the words of my old acting
teacher) and more friendship and support.
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| Or support group, anyway. |
I'm less enthused about the 'origin story' for Freddy. A nun
raped in a tower, the 'bastard child of
a hundred maniacs' feels like something out of a much earlier (and cheaper)
sort of film.
The big twist for this movie is that Kristen actually has
the ability to pull people into her dreams, an ability that allows for the kids
to (eventually) work together in an effort to defeat Freddy. The scene where
she first does this - hauling Nancy into a nightmare version of the old house on
Elm Street - is a nicely horrifying set piece. Freddy appears as an enormous
snake and begins to swallow Kristen alive. Nancy is pulled in to the dream and
stabs the Freddy-snake in the eye. He turns and, upon seeing his old nemesis,
growls "you..." before disappearing. It's a good effect and the moment
of recognition is creepy as hell.
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| Do you really want THIS guy to recognize you? |
None of the supervisors at the hospital believes any of the
kids, of course. That's part of what makes it a true Elm Street film, when the
adults are essentially obstacles to the kids rather than helpers. After a few
deaths Kristen ends up sedated and Nancy leads the survivors into Kristen's
dreams to try and save her and another kid, Joey. At the same time, Dr. Gordon
forces Nancy's father (Saxon) to lead him to where Freddy's bones are buried in
a bid to lay Freddy to rest for good.
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| It proves more difficult than expected. |
I'm always a little bothered when the rules of a series are
broken, and the Elm Street rules - Freddy can kill you for real in your dreams,
but only your dreams - are broken constantly here. Jennifer ends up head first
in a TV set with no visible way for her to have gotten there by sleep walking (without
a trampoline that is), another character being controlled by Freddy by his veins
(like puppet strings) simply walks through a set of locked doors. Most
egregiously, Freddy's bones rise up like he was in a Harryhausen movie and
kills Nancy's dad. There's always been a little bit of that - Nancy dragging
Freddy's hat out of her dream in the first movie comes to mind - but it's the
blurring of a line that makes the stakes seem less important somehow. If he can
get you in the real world, what's the point of trying to stay awake in the
first place?
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| Avoiding this. Right. Forgot. |
This is picky, though, and asking a lot of what's
essentially a jumped up slasher series. And to be fair - some of that real
world crossover is pretty cool (all the cars going berserk in the junkyard, for
instance).
This could have been a nice end to the series, with heroic
sacrifices, last minute defeats and resurrections, and the feeling like more
than one spirit has been laid to rest. Alas, box office returns and studio
bottom lines dictated otherwise.
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| Shoulda taken the blue pill is all I'm sayin' |
The Bottom Line
Dream Warriors a fun
movie overall, with great set pieces, decent characters, fun Freddy bits and it
even manages some occasional scary moments. Something that would get harder to
come by in later installments.
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