A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 - The Dream Master
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Movie Reviews of A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 - The Dream Master
Movie Review: My personal favorite so far.
Summary: 4 Stars
I've been slowly, but steadily watching all the Nightmare films lately, and so far, this is my favorite. While a lot of people adore Dream Warriors, I'll put that one just slightly behind Dream Master. Forget that the title of the movie doesn't make any sense (there isn't really a dream "master"...more like a dream novice), this is the one where Freddy starts getting funny and more interesting with his kills. Of course, it's not perfect. There are a few problems with the plot (not as bad as the second NoES), and once again, the dvd is terrible and I'm starting to have little faith in the next few installments.
We start out with the three survivors from Dream Warriors who are somehow out of the mental asylum. This bugged me a little bit because they don't mention how they got out/got released, and at the end of the third film, they're just seen at the funeral for their friends. Nothing is mentioned that they're being let go once. Either way, Kristen is still pulling people into her dreams, and warns Joey and Kincaid that Freddy is back. They don't believe him, stating that he's done for in every way possible. We all know by now, you can't keep the stylin' man down, and he truely is back. They talk about this at school (from an insane asylum...to a public high school...good job there Wes) where we're introduced to Kristen's boyfriend Rick and his sister Alice. They don't know much of what's going on aside from rumors of previous kids dying and what their parents did to Freddy years ago. Freddy builds his way back up into their dreams and starts picking them off. Que the sweet deaths. You got Joey whose lust for a naked woman inside of his water bed leads to Freddy giving him a real wet dream, you got Kristen who's thrown into a god damn furnace, one girl's turned into a roach and squished, and another sucks face with Freddy...or the other way around. They did a great job with the special effects in this installment, and they probably only get better from here. But before Kristen dies, she pulls Alice into her dream and gives her soul to her so Freddy can't have it. Alice begins to gain power from each person Freddy takes out, building her rage even stronger. A very cool idea, especially for the time. Later on, it's up to her and her love interest to stop Freddy once more. Their relationship is kind of silly though. He doesn't really know she exists, and tags along, learning about the whole Freddy situation within seconds. Typical highschool kids I tell ya. All in all, I was entertained throughout the whole movie, and it didn't drag on. And once again, I have to mention the great job they did with the make-up and special effects. When Freddy's about to reach his end, they went all out. You'll see. Oh, and look out for Nancy's grave when they cut to the cemetary. That's funny, I don't remember her dying in the last movie...
The picture quality was about average. Not quite vhs quality, but you can tell it hasn't been touched recently. It's probably a port of the laserdisc version like the first NoES was. There's not a whole lot of grain or anything going on, but it could've been sharper. As for the audio, it's great. I had to keep turning the sound down because of various screams, belts, slashes and other sound effects that jumped from the speakers. More movies from this decade should get the same treatment.
And here we are again at the special features. Usually, when a dvd is done right, my review is much bigger, where I go on about each special feature. Well not here...or with any of the previous (sans the first which has one whole extra: an extremely boring commentary track) Elm Street movies. There's nothing here at all. No deleted/alternate scenes. No story boards. No featurettes. Not even an easter egg. 'looks like I'm saving time for you and me right here thanks to the lack of anything.
Though this is another NoES that doesn't make use of its title, it's a good and fun movie. Hopefully the next few ones have at least some special feature that'll net it 5 stars. I still say you're better off just buying the Nightmare box set since it's saving you a ton of money, and has a disc devoted to extras. Why bother buying a dvd version of a movie with no special features when you might already have the same thing on vhs? Not that I favor vhs in any way, I'm just saying...this is pratically the vhs version thrown onto a dvd. Oh well, I'll be glad as soon as I get that set and have this one around. It won't get boring for a long time.
Movie Review: One Of The 3 Best Nightmares
Summary: 5 Stars
One of the very best of the "Nightmare" series, along with the original Elm Street and the "Freddy Vs. Jason" crossover. Assuming an epic, larger-than-life air the kind of which would not be equaled in the series until the landmark confrontation with Jason Voorhees, "A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master" finds Freddy Krueger more powerful than ever, practically unstoppable until encountering Alice, the titular 'Dream Master', whose timid, in-drawn existance has seen her live her life in daydreams, to the point where, when drawn into Krueger's world of making nightmare real, she attains the ability to become a foil for Freddy, tapping into a latent ability to use her imagination to resculpt the dreamworld herself. It brings to a head what could be interpreted as the whole undercurrent of the series up to this point, that of all Freddy's power being rooted in altering his victims's perceptions of reality to the point where they in effect become reality; and Usually (but not always)the only way to effectively fight him is to either disbelieve his hold on you strong enough, or to find a way to alter the physical parameters of the dreamworld in the same way he does. It becomes a stage of nightmare and fear vs. dream and fantasy, with the demonic Krueger representing the former and Alice (excellently played by Lisa Wilcox, in one of the best turns of an Elm Street heroine) representing the latter.
This isn't to suggest that the whole movie is purely metaphorical and ultra-philosophical throughout. The film certainly isn't hurt by the fact that it's also one of the sexiest, most effects-laden, action-packed and dynamically filmed entries in the Elm Street line. The successful melding of the physical and the metaphysical, the gory and the implied, makes "Dream Master" easily one of the best of the Freddy Krueger movies.
Movie Review: Sweet!
Summary: 5 Stars
First off, to the A. C. Cronvich review, if you're going to be a smartass, at least get your facts straight. There is a story and Freddy returns with an explaination.
It takes place where 3 left off. Kincaid's dog and Kincaid dream that they are at the junkyard. The dog digs up Freddy's remains, and since it's a dream and anything can happen, he fiery pisses on them. That magicly revives Freddy and he starts killing again. Pretty cool deaths, and lots of fun! Better than the first three.
Movie Review: Enjoyable but not the best in the series
Summary: 5 Stars
I Like the NOES series; as a whole they work well. It's pretty obvious that Renny Harlin was brought in to add a commercial zing.
It's got the right mix, but not the touch that Wes Craven adds like he does in 1,3, and 7.
Freddy Carries the rest of the films, and does so very well.
This is a great popcorn film, but if you look at it too closely it falls apart, and does not add up. It's a good part of the overall mythos, but not a solid ride, and is part of the downward slide up til film 6, where Rachel Talalay proves she should never have been at the helm of the Freddy vehicle 6.
Still, worth a watch, especially if you are a fan, and want to see the whole shebang ... take it with a grain of salt... after all, Renny is at the helm :-)
Movie Review: Took his funny moments and terrors and ran away 4 a while!
Summary: 4 Stars
This just mixed everthing you could ever imagine..... by Freddy! This just shows the sequals dont have to give up what they show in the first! For example, in the 3rd he becomes a comedian and i good scream but he does not give all that up in this! He stays pretty much the same way. Awsome killing stages! Have to admit not as great as teh 3rd!... fyi :Dream Wariors. After you see it you'll wish you dog peed fire and reaurected you relatives. Dont not see it by that coment! k? k.