A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 5: THE DREAM CHILD
Much like the previous films, this one takes place a little while after the events of the last movie, as Freddy seems to be re-emerging yet again after being temporarily defeated. A bit samey, for sure, but this one takes a few different turns that I won't divulge anywhere on here, so you'll just have to look them up yourself if you want to spoil the movie.
Storywise, there isn't much different to this entry, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit. So before I keep talking about nothing in particular, here is my top 5.
5. "What's wrong with me?" "Nothing...you're just a little pregnant."
I don't usually partake in the abuse of hyperbole, but this is legitimately one of the funniest lines I've ever heard in a non-comedy. The total sincerity and seriousness is what sold it, and I laughed so hard I started to cry a little during this little exchange. When a movie is relatively light like this (in spite of all that gore and death), seeing them attempt a dramatic line that's this totally idiotic just makes me insanely happy. This is definitely a so-bad-it's-good kind of moment, but a great moment nonetheless.
4. Dinner death scene (special mention: comic book killing)
Never the franchise to shy away from absurdity, this scene features a girl eating until her face balloons out like the guy in Big Trouble In Little China, standing up at the dinner table in her sleep and convulsing in front of a whole crowd of people, Freddy in a chef hat, and a refrigerator filled with rapidly-rotting food. You can't take this scene seriously (as well as most of the rest of the movie), but it's still fun to watch and visually creative in its ridiculousness. And the same goes for the comic book scene, even though I prefer the food one. Because I'm fat, and food is awesome.
3. Freddy's rebirth
Though this scene doesn't stand out as the best Freddy reveal (a title I feel belongs to the previous film, The Dream Master), there's still a lot here to love. With a creepy pre-Silent Hill, Jacob's Ladder looking hospital setting, Amanda Krueger gives birth to the deformed Freddy, who runs into a cathedral setting, where his clothes are lying on the floor, and then tuh-dah! There he is. "It's a boy!" he exclaims, and is then warned by the dream spirit of his mother that she will stop him, all of which is observed by our main character. It sets the tone for our movie, and is the first example of the next item on this list.
2. Dreamworld continuity
Most of the Elm Street movies throw in random dream scenes that don't really follow with the plot, or are just kind of there to be fun and creative (see: #4 on this list), but one of the cooler things about this movie is how there are quite a few dream sequences that aren't just used to kill off characters, but actually advance the story and create an interesting backdrop to some actual character development. This wasn't something the previous movies did at all, and I found it quite interesting and effective at keeping the plot rolling during scenes that would usually just be used to let Freddy do something funny or cool.
1. Gothic set design, lighting, and cinematography
I almost put these individually on this list, but then realized that including two or three examples of cool visuals on the list would be a little redundant, and I just had to include that hilarious like of dialogue on this list, so there you have it. I've already mentioned just how much I love the visual design of these movies, and this movie just amps up the quality to offer possibly the coolest looking moments in the entire series. A lot of interesting things are done with the cinematography here, the lighting is dramatic, and the overtly Gothic style is very cool. Yeah, I know I keep saying "cool", but that's really the best word to describe it. This isn't a visual masterpiece, but it's still a really...cool movie to look at.
Again, this isn't the most mind-blowing film in the series, but I enjoyed it. I can't even pretend this is a nostalgic thing for me, because I have mostly been watching through most of these movies for the first time as I'm doing this project, and I didn't even like the first couple the first times I watched them several years back. Maybe I've just gone soft, and I've started to be more forgiving of movies that have flaws...hahahahahaha, yeah right. That's never gonna happen. Hating movies is waaaay too much fun.
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