Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994)

Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare was an underwhelming end to a classic movie series.  To his credit Wes Craven had only directed A Nightmare on Elm Street, while Heather Langenkamp only played Nancy in the first movie and A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: The Dream Warriors.  Robert Englund, of course, played the role to the end, even in the short-lived television series.  However, despite the fact that the series, like many, slowly fizzled, there were still fans clamoring for more.  This was Wes Craven's personal peon to them. 

Heather Langenkamp is living in California with her husband Chase (David Newsom), a special effects expert, and their young child Dylan (Miko Hughes).  Although the Nightmare on Elm Street movies ended a few years before Langenkamp is still being asked if she will ever return to the role of Nancy.  She gamely goes along with an interview despite the fact she is being stalked by an unknown person that taunts her with the "One, two, Freddy's coming for you..." chant, as well as frequent nightmares about Freddy Krueger.  It turns out that Dylan is having similar dreams as well.

As a series of earthquakes rock the Los Angeles area it seems that Langenkamp is not the only one experiencing these nightmares.  Wes Craven himself is writing a new Nightmare script, while Robert Englund has become uneasy and eventually leaves town.  When Chase suddenly dies things become worse for Dylan as it becomes obvious that Freddy (Englund) has somehow made his way to the real world. 

Craven decided to include a number of real-world elements in New Nightmare, including Langenkamp's issue with a stalker and a fictionalized version of her actual husband.  The earthquake footage, which looks like someone took advantage of the Northridge earthquake and went out to get b-roll, was filmed prior.  

At the time there was pressure from New Line as well as audiences to bring back the famous dream-haunting child murderer.  Craven initially was not interested as he had little to do with how the story played out after the first entry and, though it had made quite a bit of money, times had changed and the character had played out.  Thus, Freddy was redesigned for this movie, and the entire origin story was abandoned for a new explanation.

The result is an interesting one-off reboot that both brought the character back as an actual monster but also played off how absurd the idea was of keeping Krueger alive for another sequel.  The explanation for him is kind of rushed, but the majority of the movie is a fun take on whether these types of movies have any effect on the real world and what would happen if they did.  It was also made because Craven himself knew that New Line was eager to make a Freddy vs. Jason film, something he hoped in vain would not happen.  

Craven also made New Nightmare in a way that one doesn't need to watch any of the Nightmare films except for the first.  Since Langenkamp is the star this references only A Nightmare on Elm Street, bringing John Saxon back as a friend that helps stand by Langenkamp after Chase dies and Dylan's behavior becomes more erratic.  It should also come as no surprise that the Freddy design reverted to something closer to the original when Freddy vs. Jason finally did come out almost a decade later.  This may have been a refreshing new take on a series that had run its course but that was not going to keep the studio from making some quick cash down the line. 

Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994)

Time: 112 minutes 

Starring: Heather Langenkamp, Robert Englund, Miko Hughes, David Newsom, John Saxon

Director: Wes Craven