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Writer/director Wes Craven returns to the franchise he started, providing a unique coda to the original series of seven Nightmare on Elm Street movies. New Nightmare gives us a glimpse of the meta-awareness that would be foundational to Craven’s later Scream franchise. Craven, actors Heather Langenkamp, Robert Englund, and John Saxon all play themselves in the film. Even New Line Cinema chief Robert Shaye makes an appearance. The story centers around Langenkamp and her young son (Pet Sematary‘s Miko Hughes), both of whom are having nightmares about the fictional Freddy Krueger (also played by Robert Englund). Langenkamp discovers that even though Freddy was killed off in the previous film, his spirit somehow endures. She meets with Craven, who tells her unless they make another movie to contain their mutual boogeyman, he’ll eventually break through the ether and into the real world.
New Nightmare is certainly novel, and it’s fun to see the filmmakers playing a version of themselves in the film. But once the novelty wears off, the film unfortunately pales in comparison to most of the previous films. There are far fewer death scenes and very little in the way of spooky atmosphere or ambience. Despite its central plot gimmick, the film somehow turns out to be one of the least imaginative entries in the franchise. Freddy also has a very different look. For a film trying to be more realistic, his makeup design is strangely more cartoonish than ever.
On the plus side, the film certainly offers a better resolution than the dreadful Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare. Langenkamp gives her best performance in the series, and Miko Hughes is excellent as her disturbed son. Between moments of demonic possession and world-weary resignation, it’s a child performance almost on the caliber of Linda Blair in The Exorcist.
With David Newsom as Langenkamp’s husband and Tracy Middendorf as the family’s babysitter.