The first time I saw Wes Craven’s New Nightmare I did not like it at all. It honestly took me about five viewings to like it and now as a much older dude, I can see and appreciate what Wes Craven was going for here. Wes Craven’s New Nightmare is a very clever movie and very different from what came before it.
How to Download Wes Craven’s New Nightmare
Wes Craven’s New Nightmare was released on October 14, 1994. You can download or stream the film from a digital platform. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice.
The Movie Review
Unconventional Narrative
This is not a sequel to Freddy’s Dead or really tied to the previous movies at all. This is its own thing that stands on its own and the fact that Wes Craven was able to come up with an idea like this is incredible. It does show what a very clever and creative guy he is and after this he would change the horror world again with Scream.
Intriguing Plot
Trying to describe to someone what Wes Craven’s New Nightmare is, is kind of tough. It is basically “Freddy in the real world” but it is far deeper than just that. We have the actress Heather Langenkamp who played Nancy in the original movie and part 3 playing herself. That is right, she is playing Heather, not Nancy.
Complex Characters
She has a husband and a son and has a good acting career. There is talk that Wes Craven is making a new Nightmare on Elm Street movie and he wants Heather to come back as Nancy. Things start to get weird as she has a strange dream about Freddy’s glove and her son actually ends up getting cut and two stagehands end up missing.
Psychological Depth
Heather thinks it is just a coincidence but her son, Dylan starts acting really weird. Heather starts to have strange experiences and she goes to Robert Englund…. The real Freddy and he seems to know more about this than you would think. It is just a strange story that sounds like it would be hard to follow and make no sense, but they manage to pull it off.
Atmospheric Ambiance
We have an evil entity that has somehow come to life and wants to enter the real world and it is using the image of Freddy to do this! This is a much more serious kind of movie than Freddy’s Dead that is for sure. The wise-cracking Freddy that we had grown to know is not here, although, the bit on the talk show does kind of fill that void.
Cinematic Elements
This is a much more scaled-back kind of horror movie and while I would not say I was ever scared watching it, there is undoubtedly something creepy about it. The young actor who plays Dylan does a great job, although I would have loved to have actually seen his dinosaur fighting Freddy!
Artistic Direction
While there is still a bit of gore and I do greatly applaud Wes Craven for coming up with the original idea for the script. I must be honest and say that Wes Craven’s New Nightmare is lacking in the wow factor when it comes to the kills. There is some good stuff here, but the series had gotten so wild and crazy, I guess that Wes Craven really wanted to reign it in here to make it more serious.
Fan Reception and Legacy
I can see why some people consider this their favorite movie in the franchise. For me, Wes Craven’s New Nightmare is a good movie, a movie that I appreciate and like much more now than I did when I first saw it as a teenager. Still, if I am ranking the Nightmare on Elm Street movies, this even though I still like it, is coming in closer to the bottom of my list.
