Freddy's Dead - The Final Nightmare
by Rachel Talalay
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Lezlie Deane, Lisa Zane, Robert Englund, Shon Greenblatt, Yaphet KottoDirector: Rachel Talalay
Brand: NLV
Writer: Rachel Talalay
Producer: Michael De Luca
Writer: Michael De Luca
Producer: Robert Shaye
Producer: Aron Warner
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 96 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2000-08-22
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: New Line Home Video
Movie Reviews of Freddy's Dead - The Final Nightmare
Movie Review: The Final Nightmare: Freddy's Finale!
Summary: 5 Stars
When 1989's "Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child" failed to live up to the box office standards set by its predecessors New Line Cinema decided to borrow a page from Paramount Pictures' "Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter" movie. Promising to put an end to Freddy Krueger's reign of terror over the dreams of Springwood's teens once and for all "Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare" was released in 1991. Directed by "NOES" series veteran Rachel Talalay (a John Waters refugee) and featuring cameos by a slew of celebrities (Roseanne and then-husband Tom Arnold, Johnny Depp in his only 'other' "NOES" appearance besides the original film, Alice Cooper, etc.) "The Final Nightmare" could have been a decent ending to a horror movie series that had gotten progressively less scary and more ridiculous with every passing installment. Instead the powers-that-be at New Line chose to once again travel the well-worn path of comedic overkill that had robbed Freddy Krueger of his menacing aura in "NOES" movies 3-5. Though marginally better than the abominable creative abyss that is "The Dream Child" this sixth and last "NOES" movie is only marginally better than its predecessor.
In part six of the Nightmare on Elm Street series, dream monster Freddy Krueger has finally killed all the children of his hometown, and seeks to escape its confines to hunt fresh prey. He takes the last surviving teenager in Springwood out of his domain and into the real world, in order to recruit his daughter as part of a plan to escape the confines of Springwood, and continue his killing in the rest of the world. However, she discovers the demonic origin of her father's powers and meets Dad head-on in a final showdown.
In the film John Doe, has lost his memory and Maggie believes that only way for him to get back to go back to Springwood. Unknowingly, Tracy Spencer and Carlos are in the back of the van. Maggie eventually discovers that she is the daughter of Freddy Krueger. And once she discovers the demonic origin of her father's powers she sets out to destroy him for good.
Doc has found a way to get Freddy for good. Maggie goes under and tracks him down. She sees what is behind his madness. Being picked on by kids at school. Being abused by his evil stepfather (played by Alice Cooper). She finds him, grabs him, where Doc wakes her up. Freddy appears and begins chasing Maggie. They battle for awhile, where Maggie finally kills him off. Doc, Tracy, and Maggie walk on happily, knowing Freddy is finally dead.
The story involves some mumbo-jumbo about the existence of a real-life Freddy Krueger daughter that could potentially be the only person that could kill pizza face for good (hey, wasn't this also the same premise for 1993's "Jason Goes to Hell"?). The town of Springwood could sure use a savior because (a) all the kids have left town in order to avoid dying in their sleep and (b) the adult population has grown catatonic with guilt and shock over the whole Freddy Krueger thing (especially since they unleashed the monster on their offspring by burning alive the child rapist with vigilante justice). Dr. Maggie Burroughs (Lisa Zane) recruits the help of a helpful guy simply known as Doc (Yaphet Kotto, clearly owing someone a favor by appearing in this film) and hightails it to Springwood to investigate. Maggie brings along a bunch of psychotic teens (Lezlie Deane's Tracy, Rick Dean Logan's Carlos, etc.) whose sole reason to exist is for Freddy to dispatch them one by one via some of the silliest set pieces to ever appear in an "NOES" movie. If you thought the Freddy Krueger character had become a caricature of itself in "Dream Warriors," "Dream Master" and "Dream Child" then "The Final Nightmare" pushes the audience's tolerance level for unfunny gags and insufferable situations well past the breaking point.
At one point Freddy becomes a videogame character and beats one of the expendable teens with a modified NES Power Glove (remember that useless peripheral?). Not only is this whole videogame death sequence (a) not funny, (b) not scary, (c) not gory and (c) not particularly well made, but it also follows on the heels of "NOES 5's" similar comic book-inspired death scene. The filmmakers are clearly running low on energy and ideas at this point of the series. How else to explain Krueger dressing up as the Wicked Witch of the East from "The Wizard of Oz"? Or the asinine and pointless 3D ending that (a) explains nothing about Freddy's past and (b) hasn't even been given a proper video transfer for the stand-alone DVD version of "Freddy's Dead"? "The Final Nightmare" didn't turn out to be Freddy Krueger's swan song (two movies have been released since starring the gloved one in quasi-supporting roles) but it ended up being the last "NOES" movie in the original series. What a pathetic whimper of a sendoff New Line Cinema ended up giving what was at one point the company's biggest intellectual property asset! On its own or as part of its venerable slasher series "Freddy's Dead" is an absurd and idealistic stab at keeping a movie franchise sunk deep in a hole of its own making.
Released in September of 1991, "The Final Nightmare" is an amusing bad movie that looks pretty good on DVD. The Widescreen Anamorphic (1:85:1) & Full Screen (1:33:1) Video Transfers are the best yet for a "NOES" movie, upholding the high standards that New Line's Platinum Series DVD's are known for. No compression artifacts, visible flaws or film imperfections will take viewers' attention away from the movie's atmospheric cinematography (a mix of psychedelic colors, shapes and shadows that recall the syndicated Freddy Krueger TV series), serviceable special effects (the Nintendo-inspired Freddy videogame sprite gave me "Comix Zone" Genesis flashbacks!), creative art/set designs and serviceable camera angles. Even though I personally dislike the look of "Freddy's Dead" (especially since it lacks the support for 3D glasses that its counterpart in the Eight-Disc Box Set offers) it certainly holds its own on the DVD format. The English Dolby Digital 5.1 & 2.0 Surround Soundtracks do serviceable justice to the movie's noisy sound effects, music (strident and generic throughout the movie's running time) and beyond-idiotic dialogue are excellent across the board. The 5.1 mix features the best speaker separation and panning effects yet in the series; even the 2.0 Surround audio track is passable (though the 5.1 track is obviously the preferred one).
English Closed Captions are also included, along with a handful of bonus features inherited from the "NOES" Box Set. One of them, sadly, isn't the ability to watch the movie's anti-climactic ending in true 3D. The Theatrical Trailer, 'Jump to a Death' Feature and DVD-ROM Content (screenplay, Cast & Crew information and the sixth of seven Dream World trivia games related to each individual movie's body count, classic catch phrases, etc.). The absence of the bonus features from the Eight-Disc DVD Box Set in "The Final Nightmare's" stand-alone disc would be lamentable if the movie wasn't such an atrocious and ill-conceived ending to one of horror cinema's biggest icons. Oh well, at least this isn't as puke-inducing a waste of celluloid as previous Freddy Krueger disasters like "The Dream Child" or "The Dream Warriors."
The last movie in the original "NOES" lineage before the spin-offs ("Wes Craven's New Nightmare") and knockoffs ("Freddy Vs. Jason") took the series in a whole new direction, "Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare" not only lies in its title. It also fails to give one of cinema's best horror icons a sendoff worthy of the character's wasted potential. Technical specs are solid but the bonus features (including a gimmicky use of 3D for its underwhelming ending that ISN'T included in this stand-alone version) continue to leave a lot to be desired. If you want to own this movie bad enough then you might as well spring for the "NOES" DVD Box Set and the envelope with the 3D glasses that upgrades "The Final Nightmare's" ending from terrible to laughably terrible. Here's my rating of Freddy's Finale.
PLOT: The story was actually quite good, it invovled Freddy's daughter destroying him once and for all. Overall, I found the Freddy's Dead storyline to be quite entertaining. The only problem I found with it was that a bit too comical, and it therefore took out a lot of the intensity and suspense that a final sequel should have. 7/10
GORE: By far this film has the silliest and most comical death sequences in the whole series. A guy getting sucked into a video game after smoking weed, and latino boy who explodes from a demonic hearing aid. The death's in this film are as ridiculous as they come, but their still entertaining to watch. Overall, the death scenes did have some gore, but not a whole lot. 7/10
BODY COUNT: The same body count as the previous film, only three people get killed by Freddy Krueger. Freddy's comical approach to killing teens was brought from the previous film "The Dream Child". 5/10
NUDITY: There is no nudity in this film
OVERALL RATING: 6/10
Well there who have it folks Freddy's Finale, ENJOY!!
Summary of Freddy's Dead - The Final Nightmare
A child psychologist`s nightmares lead her to the town of Springwood and Freddy Krueger.Similar DVD Movies
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