Before anything else, let's give this pesky, demonic dream serial killer a tormenting applause! Although he's not much scary in his later incarnations (except of course the postmodernist 'New Nightmare' which I think is the second best film of the series), his witty, uber dark one-liners before he performs his imaginative dream killings alone makes him very worthy of a seat in a pantheon of horror legends. Somewhere in the center and with a skull-bound crown, maybe?
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984, Wes Craven)
Steven Spielberg made people stay away from the waters in "Jaws", but Wes Craven created a world where even sleep is deprived from the main characters, all because of the spectral killer then, now horror legend, Freddy Krueger. Unlike the other sequels, Krueger here was portrayed purely as a savage entity, not a maliciously humorous villain. These kinds of films, in the helm of a less-talented, more by-the-numbers director, could have easily been categorized in the horror genre as simply "one of those". But Wes Craven created a deeply disturbing exploration of the human subconscious that even some critics considered the film to be a metaphor of American adolescents on psychological crossroads. Some horror films, like "Halloween", does not provoke much scares anymore nowadays, but there were many sequences in this film that can still genuinely shock viewers, and a unique idea of a new evil ever hiding in our dreams that can still make us spend sleepless nights, pondering the burnt image of Freddy Krueger, after all these years, is still very chilling.
FINAL RATING
A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985, Jack Sholder)
Promising opening scene, lousy middle with unintentionally funny scenes (like that of the coach in need of a royal spanking), and a forgettable end. Certainly not the sequel I expected to such a great predecessor. And also not the subliminal theme that I have really anticipated (implied homoeroticism, anyone?).
FINAL RATING
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987, Chuck Russell)
After the disastrous "Freddy's Revenge", the series recaptured the horror of the first and turned it into something more entertaining and ambitious, evidently the dream sequences that are on a much grander scale compared to the first and are enhanced by outstanding special effects. Even Freddy Krueger's having fun in this one! Although on a negative note, Heather Langenkamp's performance decreased in quality compared to the first film.
FINAL RATING
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988, Renny Harlin)
A standard "Nightmare" film, injected with black humor all around, and the cheesiness of the 80's in all of its glory. These could have been an equal to "Dream Warriors", but the forgettable climactic fight between Freddy and Alice prevented it from being so. If there's a 'Nightmare' film that can easily be forgotten, I think this is it, but that does not necessarily mean that it's a bad entry.
FINAL RATING
A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child (1989, Stephen Hopkins)
I slightly preferred this to "Dream Master" mainly because it contains two of my favorite death scenes in the franchise: Greta's death and Mark's comic-book style demise courtesy of 'Super Freddy'. And just like the previous installment, the film grasps what remains of the magic of the 80's, add Krueger into it, and what you've got is a cheesy feast filled with guts, bodily fluids, and the comic torments of nightmares only Freddy can supply.
FINAL RATING
Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991, Rachel Talalay)
"Nightmare" film at one of its lows, featuring a badly-executed script, wooden characters, and unnecessary flashbacks. Even Freddy's make-up was bad, and I also thought his death was all too literal, but the humorous moments slightly redeemed the film, and made it a half-star better than "Freddy's Revenge".
FINAL RATING
New Nightmare (1994, Wes Craven)
Although some think that the film is nothing but a complete self-indulgence on Wes Craven's part, I found the film to be very thought-provoking at the same time as it is scary. Even Freddy's edited attire is often criticized, but I thought it is perfect for a post-modernistic cinematic treatment to a seemingly exhausted franchise as this one. The brief homages to the first 'Nightmare' film made me smile occasionally, and the climax (that started in the hospital) is one of the most relentlessly heart-pounding sequences in the entire series. It's also surprising to see the sinister kid in "Pet Sematary" playing almost the same character in this one. All the franchise's sequels were all purely for entertainment and even some humorous vibes. But "New Nightmare" brought the Krueger character back to where he truly belongs: in the dark and eternally waiting, just like in the first film. Wes Craven never lets us down.
FINAL RATING
Krueger's franchise isn't a perfect one; actually it is very far from it. It's a flawed, inconsistent, unsure, and deliberately infested with mediocre entries. But all of the films, from bad, unintentionally funny, laughable, to the genuinely good ones, Freddy never changed. He maintained his flamboyant self all throughout the franchise, and his obviously apathetic, 'not a care in the world' stance about his appearances in these qualitatively changing series of films solidifies the fact that aside from his mundane existence as a subconscious violator bent on slicing and dicing in different realms of the dream landscape, he is a horror villain unconcerned with vanity. He just do not give a damn how he looks, but he surely had a time of his life and indeed had a great run.
Freddy, a charismatic horror icon that has suffered from cinematic inconsistency time and time again. But he still came out as a 'winner'; a truly 'empowered' legend. Wait, wouldn't those words sound better on a woman-oriented fashion makeover show? Oh Freddy, the feminine side. Indulge.
OVERALL RATING OF THE FRANCHISE (ROUNDED OFF):
