Despite being a mundane movie, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master was not only the highest grossing film of the series (and would remain that way until Freddy vs. Jason) but it was also the biggest earner for the slasher genre in the 80s. With the bucks continuing to roll in and Freddy’s popularity growing stronger by the day, New Line Cinemas once again rushed The Bastard Son of 100 Maniacs into production which would see Freddy reborn – literally.
And it feels weird to complain about a slasher movie being nothing but inventive death scenes with a lame plot, but A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child barely makes an effort to create sense out of its own story. With that said, the movie does contain two of the more memorable death scenes from the franchise – Greta’s food stuffing and Mark being killed by Super Freddy. Greta’s death in particular is full of amazing practical and make-up effects that really make your stomach turn as Freddy (in busboy tux) force feeds her while her creepy mother encourages her to eat more, staring wide-eyed into the camera (“only the best for Greta!”). The uncut version of the scene, seen in documentary Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy, goes the extra step by having Freddy cut open her stomach and then feed her the digested food she just had stuffed down her throat (“you are what you eat!”), which is gloriously disgusting and utterly brilliant. Which is a stark contrast to Mark’s wacky death (which took some huge inspiration from Aha’s Take on Me) which is a visual delight with some great imagery and clever effects work. It’s pretty stupid, but Super Freddy is kind of a funny touch.
Flickering Myth will be presenting a one-night only screening of zombie-comedy Stalled at the Prince Charles Cinema in Leicester Square, London on Novemeber 14th 2013. For more information on where to buy tickets, click here.