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

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

Director: Jack Sholder
Starring: Mike Patton, Kim Myers, Robert Rusler

Synopsis:
When a family moves into the Thompson house on Elm Street, the son is tormented by nightmares of Freddy Krueger, who seeks to use him to wreak havoc in the waking world.

Impressions:
This entry in the series takes a different tack from the first film, with Freddy changing his MO to take possession of the protagonist as a sort of avatar for his latest rampage. The downside of this is that if you're here for Freddy action (and why else would you be here?), there isn't the same frequency of attacks, but if you can appreciate the slow burn for building suspense, it does have its merits. It's not quite as good as the original, but there's enough going on that makes it worth seeing. It wasn't until I was doing some follow-up research that I saw how much talk around the movie both at the time and since has been about the gay subtext (or just text if we're being honest). Whether its reputation as "the gayest horror film ever" is a plus or minus for you, feel free to add that into your calculations. Anyway, the main draw should be whether or not the main gimmick appeals to you or not.

Rating:
Watch It