Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985)

[baumer]

Discuss

[baumer]

To understand how bad this film is, one has to only look at the other two famous "killer" movies from the 70's and 80's. First came Halloween in 1978. Then Halloween 2 comes out three years later. Halloween, like Nightmare on Elm Street was one of the best horror films ever made. It was tense, horrific and superbly directed. Halloween 2 was almost as good. The story was actually furthered perfectly as it took place the very same night right after Loomis shoots Michael off the balcony.

Then there was Friday the 13th. I personally thought that part one was a decent start to the series, but it was the weakest of the first four. Nonetheless, it started the series and when Cunningham passed the reigns over to Steve Miner, to me it got better. I am not saying that Friday the 13th is anywhere near as good as Halloween or Nightmare On Elm Street, but it certainly is quite well done, which is proved by it's longevity. Part 2 took a natural progression into the story and introduced Jason Voorhees, ruthless killer, to the film world. He follows in his mothers footsteps and seeks vengeance for her death. Makes sense to me.

Now, part two of the Nightmare series is not even of the same mind. There is not a modicum of similarities between this one and Wes Craven's original. Fred Krueger was a sinister, dark, evil character. When he tried to be funny, he did it so that he could taunt his victims. When he laughed, you felt chills. When he told you that his finger knives were God, you somehow believed him. He was the epitome of evil. Craven and Robert Shaye did it right in the first one. In this abomination of a follow up, Fred Krueger is more like a stand-up comedian. He would rather tell jokes that scare his victims and his audience. He would rather make us laugh than make the hair on our skin stand up. And you know what? That p***es me off. Perhaps it shouldn't, after all it is only a movie. But it does. Why would you mess with success? Why would you take all that is holy and turn it into a circus? I guess you can say that the formula worked because the franchise has been awfully good to New Line and Robert Shaye, but that is of no comfort to me.

You see, I love to be scared. I love it when that special film comes along and actually freaks me out. There are so few films that can do it and Nightmare On Elm Street did to me. Then it suckered me into the theater back in 1985 and it played a joke on me. I saw every Nightmare that was released hoping that it would somehow get better. But they didn't. Every one of them were bad except for Wes Craven's New Nightmare. Craven wanted nothing to do with this garbage because he knew that it was a sellout.

Perhaps I am a bit of a hypocrite for lambasting this film because I am usually one that understands the bottom line in Hollywood is to make money. Films like Armageddon and True Lies and The Perfect Storm are there to turn a profit. And they do so by following a certain formula that will almost guarantee then success. Perhaps Robert Shaye thought that to make a franchise of a character he had to give him more of a personality. So they made Krueger Jerry Lewis. But my anger stems from the fact that there are so few films that truly frighten me. I love horror films but to do it right is a work of art. Halloween, Evil Dead, Blair Witch Project, Jaws and Nightmare On Elm Street are films that get inside of you. They twist you and manipulate you. This one just manipulated my wallet for a few bucks. That's it. And that is sad.

0 out of 10- Everyone behind this film should be ashamed of themselves

[ddddeeee]

It's not good but the homosexual overtones and the sexual confusion theme at least make it somewhat interesting. It was also the last time Freddy was even remotely menacing until New Nightmare. It's still far from the worst the series has to offer. 

[CaptainJackSparrow]

First Nightmare of Elm Street I have seen, 5/5

[The Stingray]

It's not good but the homosexual overtones and the sexual confusion theme at least make it somewhat interesting. It was also the last time Freddy was even remotely menacing until New Nightmare. It's still far from the worst the series has to offer. 

 

Saw this on the telly the other day and gotta admit, it wasn't as bad as I remembered it. I mean, it's not good by any stretch of the imagination, but at the same time it's nowhere near as bad as, say, Freddy's Dead. Also, I'd forgotten how f**ked up Freddy looks in this one.

 

First Nightmare of Elm Street I have seen, 5/5

 

You seriously think this is a five-star movie?