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DREAMS, NIGHTMARES &
A MAN NAMED FREDDY:
THE HIDDEN TRILOGIES OF
"A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET"
So we all here love “A Nightmare on Elm Street”, right?
Well maybe not all of us, and those of us who do, surly do not call ourselves fans of ALL of the films within the series.
Like the “Friday the 13th” series or to a lesser degree, let’s say the “Child’s Play” series, The Nightmare on Elm Street franchise can inspire great rants of love in equal measure with even greater rants of pure hatred.
I believe that this is due to the fact that there are 3, yes 3, HIDDEN trilogies within this sacred series. And maybe you can be a fan of two of them, but no one is able to be a fan of all three.
I shall explain…
Well maybe not all of us, and those of us who do, surly do not call ourselves fans of ALL of the films within the series.
Like the “Friday the 13th” series or to a lesser degree, let’s say the “Child’s Play” series, The Nightmare on Elm Street franchise can inspire great rants of love in equal measure with even greater rants of pure hatred.
I believe that this is due to the fact that there are 3, yes 3, HIDDEN trilogies within this sacred series. And maybe you can be a fan of two of them, but no one is able to be a fan of all three.
I shall explain…
the nightmare trilogy
This would be the collection of what I would call the “Scarier, more psychologically terrifying” of the three. This trilogy encompasses:
1. The Original “Nightmare on Elm Street”
2. Wes Craven’s “New Nightmare”
3. The Remake of the Original Classic (2010)
Now I did not say that I think the remake BELONGS next to the amazing quality of the other films in this sub-series, I’m just illustrating a point.
Next we move on to the (by leaps and bounds) lesser of the three:
1. The Original “Nightmare on Elm Street”
2. Wes Craven’s “New Nightmare”
3. The Remake of the Original Classic (2010)
Now I did not say that I think the remake BELONGS next to the amazing quality of the other films in this sub-series, I’m just illustrating a point.
Next we move on to the (by leaps and bounds) lesser of the three:
the FREDDY TRILOGY
This is the collection of terrible, short-sighted often unwatchable trash that litters the gutter of our precious Elm Street. They include:
1. Freddy’s Revenge
2. Freddy’s Dead
3. Freddy vs. Jason
Now I’m pretty sure that I am not alone in thinking that Freddy vs Jason is the only film in the collection that can even be watched beginning to end. It’s actually a whole lot of fun…
Now, I believe the problem with this trilogy is simple, the writers of these films had no respect for the character of Fred Kruger. This is evident in the fact that the very first thing that is okayed by everyone involved is the use of a mocking, almost cute, name for our favorite child-raping/murdering maniac.
It was all downhill from there…
On a brighter note though this all leads to the final trilogy in the bunch, and MY personal favorite:
1. Freddy’s Revenge
2. Freddy’s Dead
3. Freddy vs. Jason
Now I’m pretty sure that I am not alone in thinking that Freddy vs Jason is the only film in the collection that can even be watched beginning to end. It’s actually a whole lot of fun…
Now, I believe the problem with this trilogy is simple, the writers of these films had no respect for the character of Fred Kruger. This is evident in the fact that the very first thing that is okayed by everyone involved is the use of a mocking, almost cute, name for our favorite child-raping/murdering maniac.
It was all downhill from there…
On a brighter note though this all leads to the final trilogy in the bunch, and MY personal favorite:
the dream trilogy
YES! This is what dreams are made of!
Pardon the silliness of that last sentence I just find myself getting carried away with enthusiasum when I hear even Dokken or Dramarama mentioned in conversation (this is very rare mind you).
This is the trilogy that took what was a creepy, dirty slasher (of the HIGHIEST CALIBER mind you) and turned it into a epic film franchise that will last throughout the ages.
And go figure, the first of the trilogy “Dream Warriors” was written by none other than Frank “the Walking Dead/the Mist/The Green Mile/the Motherfucking Shawshank Redemption” Darabount.
NOTE: We genre fans all know him as the better half of the Russell/Darabont horror screenwritting team. The other being class act Chuck Russell, the team behind “The Blob” remake.
I could go on forever about my love for The Dream Trilogy but I might save all that for later.
Point of this whole thing is:
"Don’t remake ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ again, Hollywood!
Give us another ‘DREAM’ movie!!!
…or trilogy…
Pardon the silliness of that last sentence I just find myself getting carried away with enthusiasum when I hear even Dokken or Dramarama mentioned in conversation (this is very rare mind you).
This is the trilogy that took what was a creepy, dirty slasher (of the HIGHIEST CALIBER mind you) and turned it into a epic film franchise that will last throughout the ages.
And go figure, the first of the trilogy “Dream Warriors” was written by none other than Frank “the Walking Dead/the Mist/The Green Mile/the Motherfucking Shawshank Redemption” Darabount.
NOTE: We genre fans all know him as the better half of the Russell/Darabont horror screenwritting team. The other being class act Chuck Russell, the team behind “The Blob” remake.
I could go on forever about my love for The Dream Trilogy but I might save all that for later.
Point of this whole thing is:
"Don’t remake ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ again, Hollywood!
Give us another ‘DREAM’ movie!!!
…or trilogy…
Here's your poster right here.
Wait. I'll even do you one better; here is the ENTIRE plot for a new DREAM flick.
"A collection of protagonists from the first five films, including Nancy Thompson, Neil Gordon, Alice Johnson and Jacob Johnson, unite to fight Freddy Krueger in his own nightmare world. The first act features Nancy's return as a spirit in the Beautiful Dream, the place Kristen dreamed her into after she died, and revolves around Freddy killing Nancy's college roommates. The events of the next two acts take place in the time period between the A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child and Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare with.
BOOM. PLOTTED.
This is not a new plot by the way. This is the synopsis for a one-shot comic series called "Nightmares of Elm Street" (that in itself is a great title - BUT REMEBER - this is a "Dream" flick). The series was written by Andy Mangels and runs 6-issues. You can visit the address below to research the series further
http://www.comicvine.com/nightmares-on-elm-street/4050-25454/
LET'S GET THIS THING FILMING ALREADY.
by Michael Sprague
Wait. I'll even do you one better; here is the ENTIRE plot for a new DREAM flick.
"A collection of protagonists from the first five films, including Nancy Thompson, Neil Gordon, Alice Johnson and Jacob Johnson, unite to fight Freddy Krueger in his own nightmare world. The first act features Nancy's return as a spirit in the Beautiful Dream, the place Kristen dreamed her into after she died, and revolves around Freddy killing Nancy's college roommates. The events of the next two acts take place in the time period between the A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child and Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare with.
BOOM. PLOTTED.
This is not a new plot by the way. This is the synopsis for a one-shot comic series called "Nightmares of Elm Street" (that in itself is a great title - BUT REMEBER - this is a "Dream" flick). The series was written by Andy Mangels and runs 6-issues. You can visit the address below to research the series further
http://www.comicvine.com/nightmares-on-elm-street/4050-25454/
LET'S GET THIS THING FILMING ALREADY.
by Michael Sprague