1991’s Freddy’s Dead,
The Final Nightmare, directed by Rachel Talalay.
Starring Lisa Zane, Robert Englund. Shon Greenblatt, Lezlie
Deane, Ricky Dean Logan, Breckin Meyer, Yaphett Kotto, Tom Arnold, Roseanne
Barr, and Johnny Depp.
What is it about?
Set many years after the events of the last Nightmare On Elm Street 5: The Dream Child,
the town of Springwood, Ohio now is practically extinct from teenagers, with Freddy Kreuger
(Robert Englund) killing all of them off. The town’s sole teenager, John Doe
(Shon Greenblatt), after being hunted by Freddy, suffers amnesia, and is taken
to a shelter for at risk youth. Dr. Maggie Burroughs (Lisa Zane) takes John, as
well as teens Spencer (Breckin Meyer), Carlos (Ricky Dean Logan), and Tracy
(Lezlie Deane), on a trip to Springwood to try to cure his amnesia. Eventually
Freddy shows up, and it is revealed that there are family ties involved- will
any of Freddy’s spawn be able to make concrete the film’s title?
Why is it worth seeing?
After 5 films of various degrees of quality, Freddy’s Dead knows exactly which side
of the fence it resides on- the lame one. Virtually impossible to remember after
viewing, its most remarkable feature is its naked attempt to revitalize cheap 3-d
gimmickry. It’s also a hilarious movie- unintentionally. It accidentally
switches protagonists- not Freddy, the real star who is the disfigured face of
a franchise running on fumes who according to the title is going to die, but a
character so anonymous he’s named John Doe accidentally is replaced by a
different person as the film painstakingly chugs along. Its odd, but you’d be
forgiven for not noticing since you were probably sleeping. You’d only be so
lucky if Freddy would come for you.
The character of Freddy has been morphing from a menacing figure in the shadows to a talk show-like comedian since Dream Warriors (pt.3 for those keeping score), but by this point even he seems bored with trying to find creative and innovative ways to eliminate his indifferent subjects. They’re frustrated- and he’s uninterested. Is there any wonder the audience feels the same way? Even the spunky aspects are hacked to pieces- not by Freddy’s iconic claws but by an inert screenplay.
The key to a successful horror franchise is rules. They exist to give us a framework for relating to unknown territory and tropes hitherto undiscovered. So what to make of how Freddie continues to kill in his victim’s sleep, but then erases people’s histories in the real world? Clearly the franchise is going in a different direction based off of the official computer typing noises being entered at the start of the movie- Freddy as a data manager. He’ll delete you if you’re not careful!
Full of odd cameos (Oprah Noodlemantra?) and forgettable characters (Bill Maher’s child?) making stupid decisions, it’s tough to care about a movie that cares so little about itself. It’s not often you want to get a therapist for Hollywood executives- but they can afford it when they’re laughing all the way to the bank.
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