A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: Dream Child Review

MPAA Rating: R
Released: 1989

Like the Energizer bunny, this series keeps going and going and going…

A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: Dream Child came out just one year after the whopping success of its predecessor, Dream Master. By this time the wisecracking Freddy Krueger had become the man of the year, which of course means that throughout the film the dream stalker spits out more one-liners than a stand-up comic. But that little annoyance aside, Dream Child introduced some new ideas into the mix rather than allow the formula to become too stagnant. Did these new ideas succeed? Find out in our Feature Attraction…

In the year 1989 A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: Dream Child was released in theaters, and although by now the series was over five years old, Freddy-mania was still running strong.

It was clear the writers and director Stephen Hopkins were trying to keep Freddy fresh and interesting rather than let him stagnate like his horror rival Jason in the endless Friday the 13th series. Not only did they provide a unique and unexpected twist in A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: Dream Child, they also fleshed out Freddy's background by showing us how he came to be the sadistic child killer he is.

The movie begins one year after Alice Johnson (Lisa Wilcox) defeated Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund), and she has picked up the pieces of her life. She's in a loving relationship with her boyfriend, Dan Jordan (Danny Hassel), and she is graduating from high school. The devastation of Krueger's murder spree is finally behind her… or is it?

Soon she begins having disturbing dreams of Freddy's mother (Amanda Krueger who is played by Beatrice Boepple), his conception and his horrible birth. These nightmares grow progressively worse and serve to confuse her because Alice is certain Freddy Krueger is dead… are these dreams a product of her imagination or an indication that somehow Freddy is returning?

Not too long thereafter she discovers Freddy is indeed back and out for the blood of her and her friends, but along the way the rules have all changed. Somehow she is being drawn into Freddy's world even while she is awake, which should be impossible since in the past Krueger could only reach people through their dreams.

Since Freddy can seemingly reach beyond the dream world and slaughter his victims even while they are awake, Alice must quickly discover how Krueger is escaping into the physical world. More importantly, she must discover a way to permanently put his soul at rest, a task that will require the assistance of Amanda Krueger.

I have purposely left out the method in which Krueger is attacking his victims even while they are awake because I don't wish to ruin the juicy surprise before you watch the film. Suffice it to say the idea was brilliant.

Unfortunately for everything A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: Dream Child does right, it does something equally wrong. The twist that allows Krueger to access people while they are awake also brings along with it serious moral questions and emotional battles, making for an intense and dark horror film. Yea!

But Freddy is at his most obnoxious yet, constantly spitting out one-liners that would make an amateur comedian embarrassed, so it's impossible to take him or the movie too seriously. Boo!

The detailed background of Freddy's twisted creation helps us understand how the dream stalker came to be such an evil bastard, adding some much needed depth and darkness to the series. Yea!

But it seems the special effects crew were more concerned with showing off their abilities than actually making a scary film. As a result, some of the kills are extremely lame, such as a case where a victim is sat in front of a dinner table and force-fed until her cheeks explode. Boo!

It's a shame, because if the background story and strokes of genius inserted into this film were properly handled this could have been a dark and horrifying entry nearly as powerful as the first and second in the series. But instead we're left with one of the weakest entries in the Nightmare on Elm Street saga due to the writers' and director's insistence on pushing a wannabe comic Freddy instead of the feared monster that made the series a success to begin with.

In the end I'm lukewarm about this film. Because of the innovative ideas introduced into a Nightmare on Elm Street 5: Dream Child, it's probably worth a viewing, if for no other reason than to curse the lost opportunities.

Movie rating: 6 stars

If you enjoyed Dream Child you may also find the following films to be of interest:

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