Movie Info
Movie Name: Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare
Studio: New Line Cinema
Genre(s): Horror
Release Date(s): September 13, 1991
MPAA Rating: R
You’re my killer…you’re my daddy…you’re my daddy AND my killer
Maggie Burroughs (Lisa Zane) has been plagued by nightmares of a place she doesn’t remember. When a mysterious teen (Shon Greenblatt) shows up with amnesia at the home where she and a dream psychologist named Doc (Yaphet Kotto) work with problematic kids, Maggie realizes that “John Doe” has a tie to her past. Travelling to Springwood with Doe, Maggie finds she’s accidentally dragged three runaways Tracy (Lezlie Deane), Carlos (Ricky Dean Logan), and Spencer (Breckin Meyer) along…and Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) is waiting for them!
Directed by Rachel Talalay, Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare is the sixth entry in the A Nightmare on Elm Street series. Following A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child in 1989, the film went through many revisions (including a script by Peter Jackson). Part of the film was shot in 3D, and the movie was a blockbuster despite having poor reviews.
Now you’re playing with power!!!
I can remember wanting to see Freddy’s Dead when it was released and some friends seeing it in the theater…they weren’t that impressed. When I finally did see Freddy’s Dead, I saw the problems and a sad end to the series (at least then).
Freddy has lost his mojo by this entry. The horror is non-existence and the “comic genius” of Freddy Krueger is now driving the film completely. While previous entries always had a tongue-in-cheek approach to the horror, this movie is a straight comedy and the jumps in the movie are predictable instead of scary…what was once an innovative series is dead.
The movie isn’t helped by the acting of the cast. Englund is typical Freddy in this movie but even he seems bored with the overacting. Lisa Zane is out of her league as the lead and doesn’t have the pizzazz of some of the other “final girls” of Freddy films. The movie features the big screen premiere of Breckin Meyer and cameos by Johnny Depp (who appeared in the original), Tom Arnold, Roseanne Barr, and Alice Cooper.
Tadpoles…give me your power!!!!
The movie looks cheap and it feels like it probably blew a lot of its budget on the 3D aspect of the movie. I will give the film this, it had a clever way of initiating the 3D sequences by cuing the audience to put on the 3D glasses in the context of the story. The film is printed in non-3D version in most contexts now and the last sequence features a lot of moments of things flying at the camera for 3D’s sake.
Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare isn’t a very good entry in the series and the fact there was so much focus on it was unfortunate. Instead of being a fun send off, it was a dull and lifless film. Despite the rather strong box office returns the movie did end the series for a few years until the much more inventive Wes Craven’s New Nightmare was released in 1994.
Related Links:
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985)
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)
A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989)
