A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master

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🎙️ EPISODE 585: 10.27.22 Waiting for these movies to start getting worse has been an interesting experience. Not unlike the "boiling a frog" parable, really. They're entertaining enough, even at their cheesiest and worst acted, that the sensation that the quality is diminishing has been blunted. That being said, Part 4 isn't as good as any of the first three. This is clear in retrospect even if it wasn't during viewing. But it's still pretty damn good! It's at least incredibly fun and inventive. Acting has never been the main draw in any of these movies but here we see it suffer not only from an absence of good performances but from a muddled and muddy script. You get the feeling most of the time that these kids are doing the best they can with this insane material.

And it is insane. This is often called the "MTV generation's" version of ANOES and all the fast handheld zooms and cuts and flashy colors definitely give credence to the monicker. Part 3 probably still holds the mantle place for best special effects but this one is not far behind. Two leftover characters from that entry are killed off very early and we get to see the continued mastery of the FX team at work right away, especially in Joey's waterbed death sequence. Finnish newbie director Renny Harlin was brought on so New Line could save money and he certainly adds a more youthful and crazed flair. The kills overall aren't as clever as its predecessor but they're the most gory they've been since the original. The plot (and more specifically 'the rules' of this universe) are hanging on by a thread. But as 90 minutes of "shut your brain off" entertainment, this still works completely.

CHRONOLOGICALLY
⫷ EPISODE 584 - (YOU ARE HERE) - EPISODE 585 ⫸

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A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master is a 1988 American fantasy slasher film and the fourth installment in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. The film was directed by Renny Harlin and stars Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger, Lisa Wilcox, and Danny Hassel. Following the death of Nancy Thompson, Krueger reappears in the dreams of Kristen Parker, Joey Crusel, and Roland Kincaid. After completing his revenge against the families who killed him, Krueger uses Kristen's best friend, Alice Johnson, to gain access to new victims in order to satiate his murderous needs. It is often popularly referred to as "the MTV Nightmare" of the franchise It was released on August 19, 1988.