#thedreammaster

I know A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge is a divisive chapter among fans, but it contains good ideas. At the very least, it takes the concept of a killer that can strike at you while you’re asleep in a new direction. It's trying something new. The same can’t be said for #4, The Dream Master. This sequel is pointless; an unimaginative entry whose existence can barely be validated.

After defeating Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) at the end of The Dream Warriors, Kristen (Tuesday Knight), Kincaid (Ken Sagoes), and Joey (Rodney Eastman) have been released from Westin Hills and are living normal lives. When Kristen has a nightmare about the child killer, she questions whether Freddy is truly gone.

So basically, this fourth chapter begins by undoing what happened during the previous film. It’s Alien 3 all over again, and even at that, it can’t quite get it right. The plot is not about Kristen and the other survivors digging deeper into the mystery of Freddy. We follow a bunch of new teens instead: Rick (Andras Jones), his sister Alice (Lisa Wilcox), their friend Sheila (Toy Newkirk), and Debbie (Brooke Theiss). They go through the motions we’ve seen three times before as they experience nightmarish scenarios whose originality varies wildly. All so they can learn Freddy Krueger is and more horrifyingly, the audience can realize this franchise has turned into a joke.

The kills are particularly disappointing. Aside from a scene where Freddy morphs into a demented surgeon, the man’s slumming it big time. The best part of this series was always the visuals. Unlike in other slashers, the killer is free to hacking people whichever way he chooses. Freddy Krueger is not stuck with a butcher knife or machete. Nobody told director Renny Harlin. At least the special effects are good.

I suppose I should cover what the “Dream Master” in the title refers to. It’s bullshit. The series has run out of ideas and now, it's scraping the bottom of the barrel, looking for something to do. Time to introduce a new concept out of thin air to keep things going. It’s so lame and half-baked I'm certain it'll be forgotten about it by the time the next film comes around.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master is an obligation. The people who made it were cashing in on a name. They had no ideas worth exploring, nothing new to say. Similarly, the viewers are simply making their way through the franchise. With the franchise out of the theaters for close to 30 years now, that's what you do. No one would call this entry their favorite in the series or look forward to it again during a marathon. The weak story ends in an unsatisfying manner. The performances are not good. As a sequel it’s particularly disappointing, eagerly throwing away pre-established characters and ideas in order to re-tread on familiar territory. (On Blu-ray, April 13, 2018)