“Every town has an Elm Street.”
Back in 1991, New Line Cinema released what was supposed to be their last film featuring their flagship character, Freddy Krueger. Directed by Rachel Talalay and written by Michael DeLuca, Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare is the sixth installment in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. As the title suggests, the idea was to finally kill Freddy once and for all, giving the Springwood Slasher a proper sendoff to close out the series.
In the years since its release, however, the film has been widely criticized by horror fans, with many considering it the worst of the sequels. This is a shame, as it’s actually an awesome movie, even if very different in tone compared to the original. By this point in the franchise, Freddy had evolved into more of a funny, wisecracking murderer from the horrifying presence he once was. But even if the film is more fun than it is scary, what’s wrong with that? It’s still entertaining as hell.
Despite the comical nature of Freddy’s Dead, the sequel is not without its creepy moments. The beginning of the story starts rather ominously, revealing that Freddy has now wiped out every child and teenager in Springwood. There’s something rather dark and sad about that, is there not? This means that, despite the best efforts of Freddy’s greatest adversaries like Nancy and Alice, there was never any hope for them truly stopping Freddy Krueger.
The glimpses of Freddy’s past, showing us the monster Krueger was even before he died and came back as a dream demon in a fedora, were also unsettling to see. That flashback scene with Freddy’s daughter witnessing him murdering her mom was one of those freaky moments that would stick with me for years. For some reason, Robert Englund in character as a pre-dead Freddy is oddly very scary, perhaps even more so than when he’s wearing the familiar glove and sweater.
Make no mistake, The Final Nightmare does fully embrace Freddy’s dark humor. While none of the death scenes are particularly horrifying, they are highly entertaining and very creative. Easily, the most memorable of them all is when Spencer (Breckin Meyer, in his first theatrical role) is killed in an 8-bit video game. His friends try to save him by taking Freddy’s controller, but as Freddy is quick to point out, they “forgot the Power Glove!”
Freddy’s Dead is full of entertaining celebrity cameos as well. Alice Cooper famously plays a younger Freddy’s abusive foster father. In a humorous scene, Roseanne and Tom Arnold appear as a pair of traumatized Springwood parents. But my favorite cameo is from Johnny Depp, who gets whacked in the head with a frying pan during a mock anti-drug commercial playing on TV. Of course, Depp began his film career with Wes Craven’s original movie, so seeing him here for the “final” film is a cool nod for longtime fans.
Want to know some fun facts about the film? Check these out…
- Originally, the movie was supposed to follow an older, teenage version of Jacob, Alice’s son from The Dream Child
- Peter Jackson also wrote an unused script for the film, focusing on a police officer who winds up permanently trapped in Freddy’s dream world
- Not counting Freddy vs. Jason, the film had the highest-performing opening weekend at the box office in the series
- It was declared “Freddy Krueger Day” in Los Angeles one day before this film’s premiere
- The only character to be killed with Freddy’s glove is Freddy himself
As it turns out, this wasn’t the final film appearance of Freddy Krueger. Englund would play a pseudo-Freddy in New Nightmare and then be given one last hurrah in the role with 2003’s Freddy vs. Jason, before Jackie Earle Haley would provide a new take on the dream demon in the 2010 reboot. But Freddy’s Dead still feels like the true ending of the original film series, and even if it leans more on the lighter side than the first few entries, it’s tons of fun to watch. Considering the flak the film gets, it can be considered criminally underrated, because if you ask me, this is Robert Englund at his most entertaining.
For many fans, this is a black mark for the franchise. But for some of us, it’s one of the better entries. Perhaps it’s just a matter of watching it with the right mindset. In any case, Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare will always have its place in horror history.
Related Article: Top 10 Robert Englund Roles (Besides Freddy Krueger)
Okay.. If you take Freddy’s Dead for what it is, a comedy with traits of horror, it’s really not that bad. It’s actually a pretty funny flick in it’s own right.
But as a “final” Nightmare movie it fails in every single aspect.
John Doe should have been Jacob, that’s obvious. painfully so.
John’s death looks seriously fake. It’s like they didn’t even bother to make his chest wounds look real. Basically, it looks flat out amateurish, and thusly becomes even more inexcusable in a series like this. And again Freddy’s breaking the 4th wall in true Wile E. Coyote style.
Tracy’s nightmare was a bit disturbing, but it was ruined by the lame make-up on her father’s face after she smashed his head in. They should really have went all out on that one and made it utterly disturbing.
Spencer’s nightmare, while also funny in it’s own right, is completely retarded if you compare it to any other death in the series.
Carlo’s nightmare? Uhm.. It could have been dark, but it’s played for laughs. And Freddy breaks the 4th wall..
Also, we need to adress the backstory and family ties this movie brings to the table, in totalDeus Ex Machina style.
Part 1 tells us he was a loner, working (and living, probably squatting) in the boiler room. It’s more prevalent in the script, but it shines through.
All subsequent officially licensed material prior to part 3 tells the story of how he was born to a mental patient who died in childbirth and then was raised by an abusive stepfather.
Some elements are kept, but here he is a married family man, with a kid! Living in 1428 elm street?! Talk abbout retconning stuff..
However, I like the flashback scenes to Freddy’s life. They’re pretty well done and fits, like a glove (lol), into the more disturbing parts.
Even if “family man Freddy” will forever be a complete retcon of the Freddy character Wes created..
And the way Freddy is dragged out of the dream? Lame. And in the real world? At first he has his powers, crawling on the ceiling. And suddenly he’s utterly human? Sorry, I don’t buy that. And a pipe-bomb. Really?
The less said about the dream demons, the better..
And a sidenote; no matter how hard you try, you’ll never be able to fit this movie into the series’ timeline. Ever. Becuse it’s so utterly far removed from the source material, it seriously feels a lot like a drwan out episode of Freddy’s Nightmares.
If that would have been the case with this movie, I would have tolerated it more. Sure, there are some episodes that seem like miniature Nightmare movies, but their cononity is dubious at best.
Adding to that; Rachel Talalay going on record admitting it was a mistake to make the movie so comical speaks volumes..
But sure, if you take the movie for what it is you can certainly have fun with it 😉