A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985)

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985) - Jack Sholder

This really strange sequel comes to us from Director Jack Sholder and not Wes Craven. Craven had shown disinterest in Directing another slasher film. He had soured on the genre. It's a pity. This film could have been huge. Instead, we get a strange cult horror picture with overt homosexual overtones. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Freddy is back in Springwood and has found a new teenager to torment. The young, sexually confused Jesse Walsh. Jesse and his family have moved into Nancy Thompson's old house on Elm Street. They start to notice some Freddy Kruger staples (nightmares, temperature control, dying pets, and possessed children) not to mention Freddy is "deep inside" Jesse. All of this is happening when Jesse should just be getting more serious with his "girlfriend" Lisa. Can the "true love" of his girlfriend be enough to tear Jesse away from the treacherous Freddy?

This film is pretty fast paced and has a number of notable scenes. Only a handful seem to stand-out; the Pool Party is the most iconic. Either that or the creepy school bus scenes. They are the only scenes you really need to watch. Everything else is just weird.

Check this movie out if you want to get into the Freddy lore. You wouldn't be doing yourself an injustice by skipping this and moving right ahead to Dream Warriors. It's a far superior film. This movie does have it's little charms but doesn't hold up to the original.

Director: Jack Sholder
Starring: Robert Englund, Mark Patton, Kim Myers
Style: Serial Slasher
Studio: New Line Cinema

Did you know...

Brad Pitt, John Stamos, and Christian Slater all auditioned for the role of Jesse.
David Chaskin deliberately wrote his screenplay to contain homo-erotic subtexts. Director Jack Sholder was completely unaware of this.
The running time for this film is 87 minutes, Freddy appears in just 13 of them.

Comments

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