Skip to main content

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.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ju-On (2000) - Takashi Shimizu

Watching Japanese horror is similar to watching British comedy. If you enjoy dry whit then you probably enjoy the boys of Monty Python in drag. That's the joke, they're dressed like women. Get it? Well, that's British humor. But if you're like most Americans you probably prefer Adam Sandler farting his way across a football field and hooking up with chicks that are way out of his league. Americans usually prefer this more in your face, crass brand of humor. My point is funny in England is different from funny in the US. The same goes for J-Horror. What the Japanese consider scary is very different from what Americans consider scary and it shows in this horror film. Japanese horror is generally slow (a little too slow sometimes), suspenseful and creepy. Ju-On is a creepy effing film. The movie has almost no soundtrack. It is incredibly suspenseful and the pay-offs are pretty awesome, but I think that it was done better in the American version (cultural t...
Post a Comment
Not scared yet? »

Sleepy Hollow (1999) - Tim Burton

Tim Burton's take on the old Sleepy Hollow tale is really interesting. He adds his own flair of course. He delves very deeply into the original story by Washington Irving. The casting is usual for Burton. Johnny Depp of course in your lead. Helena Bonham Carter, thrown in for some flavor. The score is done by Danny Elfman. It's literally just the Ichabod Crane story run through the Tim Burton machine. But in a good way. Sleepy Hollow has a problem with a guy, running around, taking people's heads. Like, a lot of people. The town sends word for assistance and the nervous  Constable Ichabod Crane reports. He starts to unravel clues that take him down an incredibly strange path. With the Horseman still murdering patrons, Crane tries finding who's next before they lose their head.  I've always been a big fan of the Disney cartoon,  The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad . This movie is a far cry from Bing Crosby and quaint animations....
Post a Comment
Not scared yet? »

Le Manoir du Diable (1896) - George Melies

According to Wikipedia in August of 2011, Le Manoir du diable by Georges Melies is the first horror movie. Well, actually its a short film (about three minuets or so) but film was really hard to come by in that time so this counts as a film to me. The plot of the film is basic, you have your hero being tormented by demonic things in a crazy castle room... However, that plot isn't what brought the crowds. The thing that drove the popularity of these films was the fact that you were seeing motion on screen. I suggest going and seeing Hugo. That film is spectacular. It answered so many questions that I had. It really sets the scene and the tone. The film has strong christian overtones and actually ends with Christianity prevailing over the "tides of darkness". I provided a link at the bottom of this review for anyone that would like to see this pioneer in Horror Film. The movie uses very, very early "movie magic" that is an abundance of smoke and m...
Post a Comment
Not scared yet? »