A Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge

A Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge Nov 27, 2017 23:53:01 GMT

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Post by Toasted Cheese on Nov 27, 2017 23:53:01 GMT

Nov 27, 2017 18:55:03 GMT Reynard said:

I appreciate this film's "less is more" approach to Freddy's character. Sequels usually show more of the monster while Freddy's Revenge shows even less of him than Craven's original. There's like 30-40 minutes between "kill for me" scene and Freddy's next appearance, with plot developments about Jesse's personal problems and weird poltergeist phenomena taking all time between them.

However there are all kinds of problems that are hard to fully forgive. Acting ranges from good to wooden and laughable, Freddy's burnt face make-up looks a bit "off" and nowhere near as good as in the original, and the steel mill finale is weak as hell. Sexual subtext is interesting but also so obvious that it often feels more like a parody. Nightmare 1 was much more subtle about all the sexual stuff in it. Soundtrack is interesting at least. Not much melody, more like a soundscape. Very unusual for its time.

I like it that dreams and reality are still blurred in this. Jesse's nightly trip into a club and the sport teacher's death turning out to be a real thing and not a nightmare was quite a disturbing surprise when I first watched this. Nightmare 3 was the first one where it was very easy to tell dreams and reality apart, and I think the series lost much of its serious horror appeal with that approach, becoming more like a dark fantasy. So, Freddy's Revenge is a mixed bag but I prefer it to parts 4-6 at least.

If Craven had been involved, it may have fixed up more of it's problems. In spite of some of it's erratic presentation and like I already mentioned, Kim Myers was awful, most of it still works and that would be due to the blurring the lines between dreams and reality.

Yes, the finale is a bit unexciting and more thought could have been put into this. I feel though, that the opening sequence on the school bus which drives off into the desert and turns into hell is excellent. This was a nifty and clever thought out sequence, the rest of the film has fits and starts after that and if viewed as a coming out allegory, it really needed more dramatic strength and presence. The first did have stronger performances all round.