This is the first in a (potential) series of posts I will do in which I'll give a little review of every film in a particular horror franchise that I like. I'll start off with one of my favorite series, the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise.
1. The original Nightmare on Elm Street-7.9 The first film in the series, but I'll admit it's not my favorite. I did like the developed characters of Nancy, Glen, and Nancy's parents. The death scenes of Tina and Glen are two extremely freaky moments in horror history IMO. The special effects are noticeably dated but acceptable. My other problem is I felt that some parts dragged on a bit too long.
2. A nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge-5.1 This entry is considered one of the worst by fans, and even though I gave it a low score, I don't hate it. I liked how Freddy was still serious in this one, but he had an extremely low amount of screentime. My main problems with this are the less-developed main characters and the lack of creativity with the kills, which the other sequels I felt did a better job with.
3. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors-9.6 My favorite film in the series. Heather Lagenkamp and Patricia Arquette did great as the leads. The more detailed backstory of Freddy was intriguing and the characters were likeable to the point there's no character you wanted to see get killed. Freddy's one-liners in this installment were clever. No real complaints, except that the most despicable character (Dr. Simms) lived.
4. A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master-8.7 This is the point the series became more dark comedy than horror, but I still thoroughly enjoy this installment. The characters, like Part 3, were well-developed and likeable. The "Going in circles" scene (You'll know what is when you watch it) was ingenious IMO. My main problem is that this film is the most "Friday the 13th-ish", by that, I mean the only real plot in this is that Freddy's back, he kills teens, but then the main character kills him the end. But the characters helped this installment.
5. A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child-9.0 This installment also gets a lot of flack from fans, but I LOVE this one. It's my 2nd favorite in the franchise. The Gothic and dark nature of the film as well as Freddy's humor was an interesting mix. Dan and Greta's deaths are some of the most disturbing moments in the entire franchise IMO. Despite the body count being low (Only 3 kills), the death scenes' quality made up for the quantity.
(Personally, I found 5 to be the last great film in the series, but I'll review the remaining 3 movies.)
6. Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare-6.1 This is when the series went downhill, but I still think it's an ok movie. I hated how they didn't really mention the events of the previous movies at all. Freddy's humor went a bit overboard in this one, but there were still a few good laughs (The video game death was classic.). The Dream Demons idea was kind of dumb IMO, and that ruined the Freddy backstory for me. One strength was that, like 5, even though the body count was low, the creativity of the deaths helped it out (With one kill essentially being straight out of Looney Tunes.)
7. New Nightmare-6.5 This is usually considered one of the best by fans, but I never really got into it. Heather Lagenkamp playing herself was an ingenious idea, and I did appreciate the return of serious Freddy, but he just wasn't scary. This movie drags on for far too long, and the kills lacked creativity (One of them being a homage to one of the kills from the original), something the previous sequels did good at. In the end, this was a film with great potential but didn't go all the way with that potential. (However, I'll admit the highway scene was amazing.)
8. Freddy Vs. Jason-7.2 This film was an improvement on the previous two. Freddy was more of the "Evil mastermind" in the film then Jason was, even though Freddy only did like 2 or 3 of the film's kills. It was a great idea combining the two franchises, though I felt the final battle could've been better. I like how there was no real winner in the end.
There, those are my reviews. Feel free to post what you think of the Freddy movies.
