Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994)

Director: Wes Craven
Starring: Heather Lagenkamp, Robert Englund, Miko Hughes

Synopsis:
Actress Heather Lagenkamp is asked to reprise her role as Nancy Thompson in a new production in the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, but nightmares, harassment and a series of unusual mishaps causes her to fear a real-life Freddy Krueger.

Impressions:
Scream did a lot to revitalize the horror genre and the way it leaned into the meta was a big part of that. Well, before Wes Craven made that film, he took a similar approach to breathe new life in one of his most famous works. The script is rather clever, blending reality and fiction to good effect. For a good chunk of the film, it plays with your head just enough that a mundane explanation is plausible. I honestly wouldn't have minded if this was pushed further, but the sort of spectacle we get when the story fully embraces the supernatural is worth it. The redesign of Freddy Krueger is pretty good, but if you like the character for his camp value, that gets significantly toned down to better match the darker, more serious take of this film. Miko Hughes is arguably creepier than Robert Englund, but he always was good at playing a creepy kid. As a straight-up horror film, I would say this is the most effective of the bunch, but a lot is gained by having followed the franchise all the way to this point. This may surprise you, but I'm actually going to rate this higher than the original, but that's with the proviso that you absolutely must at least see the first film for this one to be fully effective. Add this one to the collection.

Rating:
Own It