Freddy’s Revenge Was Almost The Most Disturbing Nightmare On Elm Street

Freddy’s Revenge Was Almost The Most Disturbing Nightmare On Elm Street

Although Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge featured more Freddy Krueger screen time than the original movie, the sequel still saw Robert Englund’s legendary slasher villain appear onscreen less than he did in any subsequent sequel. This was largely due to Nightmare On Elm Street 2 dropping the idea of Freddy hunting victims in their dreams one by one. Instead, in this sequel Freddy now possessed Jesse, using his body to commit murders and pinning the crimes on the innocent teenager. The premise of having the hero’s body being commandeered by a sadistic child killer who forced them to watch helplessly as they were framed for killing their loved ones is twisted, sadistic, and authentically scary. Unfortunately, the sequel’s execution left Freddy’s Revenge laughable.
How Freddy’s Revenge Could Have Been Great

The story of Nightmare On Elm Street 2—that Freddy uses dreams to control a teenage victim, drive them insane, and use them to commit murders—is a strong one. Not only that, but the sequel does set up some sequences that take advantage of this conceit. In one scene, the sleepwalking Jesse picks up his sadistic, predatory gym coach at a sex club, brings him back to their school, and then allows Freddy to dismember him. In another, he silently watches his sister sleep as Freddy considers killing the girl. The sequel’s scenes are ingenious in concept and only fall flat because of the comically awkward tone and goofy over-acting that leaves Freddy’s Revenge feeling outright comedic at times.
Where Freddy’s Revenge (Almost) Worked

The horrific sight of Freddy ripping himself out of Jesse’s body is some of the strongest body horror in the entire Nightmare On Elm Street franchise, alongside Dan’s motorcycle death in Nightmare On Elm Street 5. Similarly, the scene of Jesse entering his sister’s bedroom at night as she sleeps is authentically terrifying, but Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (understandably) doesn’t commit to killing off the character. As a result, despite this being arguably the most twisted thing Freddy does onscreen in the entire franchise (puppeteering a helpless teen into almost killing their child sibling), the sequence ends up being nothing more than a misdirect that goes nowhere. While few mainstream horror movies could kill off a child character without angering the audience, the Nightmare On Elm Street franchise centers around a child murderer. If the likes of the Stephen King adaptation Pet Sematary were able to make this deeply depressing subject matter fodder for a successful, scary horror movie, then the creators of Freddy Krueger should undeniably have been able to make the sequence more effective.
What Went Wrong With Freddy’s Revenge

The premise of a teenager killing their abusive gym coach after meeting him at a sex club is a shocking, taboo concept that could have been memorable if the sequence avoided Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge’s comically inept execution. However, this is the exact issue that sank the sequel completely. Despite all its creepy ideas, Freddy’s Revenge has an unintentionally hilarious script and wildly over-the-top acting that makes it a laugh riot. Much like competing slasher franchise Friday the 13th, the Nightmare On Elm Street movies always struggled to work out how much comedy their plots needed to avoid becoming relentlessly bleak. However, too much campy comic relief sapped the slashers of any serious scares at all.
What Freddy’s Revenge Taught The Nightmare On Elm Street Movies

The failure of Nightmare On Elm Street: Freddy’s Revenge ironically led the franchise creators to take Freddy less seriously. The oppressively self-serious tone of the sequel made it unintentionally funny since so many elements, from the outlandish body horror to the idea of a dream-hopping serial killer, were already slightly ridiculous. Craven managed to ignore these issues but, from the next movie onward, the Nightmare On Elm Street franchise made Freddy a more comedic, arch figure with a dark sense of humor. This made his fantastical powers a little easier to swallow and allowed fans to laugh at the sequels without making his brutal killings any less effective. Where Nightmare On Elm Street: Freddy’s Revenge made the mistake of expecting audiences to take its hero, its villain, and the rest of the movie dead seriously, later additions to the franchise realized that Freddy Krueger needed an edge of black comedy to avoid looking too silly.

#Freddys #Revenge #Disturbing #Nightmare #Elm #Street

Freddy’s Revenge Was Almost The Most Disturbing Nightmare On Elm Street

Although Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge featured more Freddy Krueger screen time than the original movie, the sequel still saw Robert Englund’s legendary slasher villain appear onscreen less than he did in any subsequent sequel. This was largely due to Nightmare On Elm Street 2 dropping the idea of Freddy hunting victims in their dreams one by one. Instead, in this sequel Freddy now possessed Jesse, using his body to commit murders and pinning the crimes on the innocent teenager. The premise of having the hero’s body being commandeered by a sadistic child killer who forced them to watch helplessly as they were framed for killing their loved ones is twisted, sadistic, and authentically scary. Unfortunately, the sequel’s execution left Freddy’s Revenge laughable.
How Freddy’s Revenge Could Have Been Great

The story of Nightmare On Elm Street 2—that Freddy uses dreams to control a teenage victim, drive them insane, and use them to commit murders—is a strong one. Not only that, but the sequel does set up some sequences that take advantage of this conceit. In one scene, the sleepwalking Jesse picks up his sadistic, predatory gym coach at a sex club, brings him back to their school, and then allows Freddy to dismember him. In another, he silently watches his sister sleep as Freddy considers killing the girl. The sequel’s scenes are ingenious in concept and only fall flat because of the comically awkward tone and goofy over-acting that leaves Freddy’s Revenge feeling outright comedic at times.
Where Freddy’s Revenge (Almost) Worked

The horrific sight of Freddy ripping himself out of Jesse’s body is some of the strongest body horror in the entire Nightmare On Elm Street franchise, alongside Dan’s motorcycle death in Nightmare On Elm Street 5. Similarly, the scene of Jesse entering his sister’s bedroom at night as she sleeps is authentically terrifying, but Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (understandably) doesn’t commit to killing off the character. As a result, despite this being arguably the most twisted thing Freddy does onscreen in the entire franchise (puppeteering a helpless teen into almost killing their child sibling), the sequence ends up being nothing more than a misdirect that goes nowhere. While few mainstream horror movies could kill off a child character without angering the audience, the Nightmare On Elm Street franchise centers around a child murderer. If the likes of the Stephen King adaptation Pet Sematary were able to make this deeply depressing subject matter fodder for a successful, scary horror movie, then the creators of Freddy Krueger should undeniably have been able to make the sequence more effective.
What Went Wrong With Freddy’s Revenge

The premise of a teenager killing their abusive gym coach after meeting him at a sex club is a shocking, taboo concept that could have been memorable if the sequence avoided Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge’s comically inept execution. However, this is the exact issue that sank the sequel completely. Despite all its creepy ideas, Freddy’s Revenge has an unintentionally hilarious script and wildly over-the-top acting that makes it a laugh riot. Much like competing slasher franchise Friday the 13th, the Nightmare On Elm Street movies always struggled to work out how much comedy their plots needed to avoid becoming relentlessly bleak. However, too much campy comic relief sapped the slashers of any serious scares at all.
What Freddy’s Revenge Taught The Nightmare On Elm Street Movies

The failure of Nightmare On Elm Street: Freddy’s Revenge ironically led the franchise creators to take Freddy less seriously. The oppressively self-serious tone of the sequel made it unintentionally funny since so many elements, from the outlandish body horror to the idea of a dream-hopping serial killer, were already slightly ridiculous. Craven managed to ignore these issues but, from the next movie onward, the Nightmare On Elm Street franchise made Freddy a more comedic, arch figure with a dark sense of humor. This made his fantastical powers a little easier to swallow and allowed fans to laugh at the sequels without making his brutal killings any less effective. Where Nightmare On Elm Street: Freddy’s Revenge made the mistake of expecting audiences to take its hero, its villain, and the rest of the movie dead seriously, later additions to the franchise realized that Freddy Krueger needed an edge of black comedy to avoid looking too silly.

#Freddys #Revenge #Disturbing #Nightmare #Elm #Street