Manic Expression

Hey there, fellow Expressionists! Phew. I was finally let out of the Duke's gut...and all it took was me bribing him with information on where to find and eat some annoying brats in ym town.

Grand Duke: Don't get so comfortable...I WILL be back for you. NO ONE gets away from the Duke!

Brek: Yeah yeah, still a big fan. Anyways, today is the fourth installment of my "Guilty Pleasure" series, and today I will be talking about A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child.

Released in August 1989, NOES 5 was another victim of the "Curse of 1989" that affected the 3 main slasher franchises, which resulted in each series having an entry that underperformed at the box office and got mostly negative fan reaction. (Though, to be fair, The Dream Child make almost 3 times it's budget, so it could still be seen as a success in that regard)

The plot goes as follows: After surviving the events of Part 4, Alice Johnson and her boyfriend Dan Jordan are about to graduate high school. They have sex the night before Graduation, and the next day, Freddy Krueger is haunting dreams again. Alice must struggle to save her new friends, when she learns that Freddy is trying to take control of her child she's pregnant with, which allows him to enter other's dreams even when Alice is awake.

Now, as per usual, start with the common complaints that I agree with: The new characters weren't as likeable as the new characters of Part 4 were. I do kinda agree with thism I would argue that this is part of the film's tone: The Dream Master was the point where the writers began to embrace comedic Freddy, which is why Part 4 is arguably the most light-hearted film in the series. The Dream Child was more darker in tone, and as a part of that, the characters weren't being as nice to each other.

This next point is not so much something I dislike about the movie, but rather find odd: For a slasher film, especially a sequel, the body count in this movie is low. There are literally only three kills in the movie, and two of them happen before the halfway point. Well, Elm Street's writers also seemed to go with "Creativity over quantity" with their kills.

Now, on to why I like this movie. The first time I saw this movie, I was genuninely surprised that...and I hesitate to say this, but for a slasher sequel....the plot to this is downright original. Freddy had a new MO in this movie, as opposed to Part 4, which I always considered to be the most "Friday the 13thish" film in the series (By which I mean in that one the plot seemed to be just "Freddy's back and they have to stop him"). It also gave a reason for Alice to stay around and not be killed off, and be the only final girl in the series to emerge victorious over Freddy twice.

Another point I have to give the movie is the effects. Of the entire original 7 films, I honestly think Part 5 has the best effects in the entire series. The motorcycle sequence, the MC Esther finale, the dining table death, and the diving board nightmare are great to look at. Even the fans who hate this installment don't really have complaints about the effects from what I've seen.

On a side note, this may be the only slasher film ever to have a Pro-Life message. Well I will stay out of saying my view on this debate, I have to wonder if director Stephen Hopkins realized that he made a paradox of a message. Although, this is only addressed in one scene, really.

Going back to what I mentioned earlier, I can appreciate NOES 5's attempt to keep Freddy at least somewhat serious. Whereas Chucky's transformation into a killer comedian made more sense, because admittedly, the concept of a killer doll is harder to take seriously, Freddy's concept was still one that could be viewed as scary. And though TBH I actually do like The Dream Master a little more than this movie, and I'm fine with the direction TDM took Freddy's character, I think Freddy's Dead proved that having him go full on comedy ruined his impact.

And as for the characters, I really enjoyed Mark the most out of Alice's new friends.The mixture of him hating real-life blood yet loading his comics with it is something I can partially relate to as a writer. I'm (minor spoilers) actually surprised he was the last one to die while Yvonne lived.

As part of the "Curse of 1989" I mentioned earlier, IMO, Jason Takes Manhattan, The Dream Child, and Halloween 5 were the last films of their respective series to have the old school feel (Though that's not to say the installments that came in the 90s and later were bad, I do like Halooween 6 and H20, as well as New Nightmare). NOES 5 was the last film in the unoffical "Dream trilogy" that consisted of parts 3, 4, and 5. It was certainly the last film in the series where continuity was kept-with both Amanda Krueger's backstory, and the latter films going entirely in their own direcitons without really mentioning the past installments.

In conclusion, I feel Elm Street 5 is a fine entry in the series, and IMO the last classic film in the franchise (I like both New Nightmare and Freddy Vs. Jason, but I consider them outside of the old school first 6).

So, there are my thoughts. I hope you have enjoyed this blog, share your thoughts below. Now let me go back to planning my next...

Grand Duke of Owls: I'm back, simple blogger. And I'm still hungry....

Brek: Seriously? There had to be at least a dozen bratty kids to eat at the places I told you.

GD: Indeed, but my hunger is never quite satisfied....GULP.

(A few minutes later)

Brek: Ok, back where I began this blog, in an owl's stomach. This is probably going to happen a lot more times, isn't it? I might as well offer him a co-host position, he isn't going away for a while....

(See ya next time!)