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Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994) - Wes Craven

This was something else... let me tell you. Just because something is your dream doesn't mean it's going to be amazing. This is Wes Craven's semi-uninhibited version of what he would want Freddy Kruger to be. Although imposing, this Kruger comes off more cartoonish than the version he was trying to avoid. He does have a cool new claw. I have to give it to him for that. Past cast and crew return focused around Heather Langenkamp, Nancy from the original. It also stars of course Robert Englund, Miko Hughes, John Saxon, and Wes himself.

 This movie takes place in the "real world" where Heather Langenkamp and other former stars of the Nightmare franchise are being haunted and murdered by a new, Supernatural and ultra-intimidating Demon Freddy. Wes explains it as an ancient entity that was awakened when he filmed the original movie. However, It's driving him to complete his script. To defeat it? Heather's son Dylan seems to be acting as some kind of conduit for the Demon Freddy. Some kind of weird and annoying conduit. Freddy seems to be gunning for Nancy, while the movie warps into an homage to the original. Culminating in a face-off between Nancy and Freddy in the (real?) Dream World?

Craven focuses on the lore behind Freddy Kruger and the "Dream Demon" in this film. The problem is that he doesn't really think out the full scope of his own mythology before putting it down. Throughout the movie we get updates on where Wes is in writing the new script that Heather will be in. It makes me feel like he was writing the movie as it was being filmed and this was his way of showing it. It just doesn't feel well thought out. This Ancient Being or Demon, was awakened when Wes Craven made Nightmare right? So was this Demon just a fan of the series and decide to manifest itself as Freddy? Or was Fred Kruger a "real life" murderer that this Demon attached onto? Who knows.

 I also had a problem with how the movie looked. It was cheap. Freddy looked like he was in a big rubber suit most of the time. Heather Langenkamp was annoyingly in distress the entire film. I saw no other emotions in her. There are numerous frustrating scenes with her. Most of them taking place in the hospital. This is definitely something of spin-off quality. I wouldn't highly recommend this movie to anyone. Sorry to say it just feels like most of the movie is a waste of time. Good job making Freddy more menacing I guess.

  • The events in this film revolve around Heather Langenkamp having a stalker. In real life she did have a stalker, and Wes Craven got her permission to weave it into the story.  
  • The large rocket ship used in the park scene went into actor Miko Hughes's backyard after his father bought it. 
  • In the ending credits, Freddy Krueger is credited as himself, even though Robert Englund reprises the role. 

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