Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)

Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)

Written by Rachel Talalay & Michael DeLuca
Directed by Rachel Talalay

Freddy's Dead is generally reviled by fans of the series, and it's not difficult to see why. First off all the film really is the silliest the series has ever produced - Freddy is introduced riding on a broomstick, quoting the Wicked Witch Of The Westt, a far cry from the scary mother-fucker of the the original movie. That scene pretty much sets up the tone of the movie. And the tone is: Pretty fucking stupid. Once again Englund is the only good thing about this film, and you can tell by this point that the series would be completely fucked without him.

The film ditches the continuing plot (from Nightmares 3,4 & 5) in favour of a movie which forgoes any real plot and is content just to try and be a total mind-fuck. Really, this flick is fucking weird - it's got Springwood as the worlds freakiest town, in which every single child is dead and the parents have all gone bat-shit insane as a result. Then when they see a teenager they look like they could fight to the death just for a chance to mother the poor kids.

Another reason the film is so rubbish is that, despite claiming to be the Final Chapter, it offers no real resolution to the ongoing story of Freddy Krueger. It reveals the rest of his backstory though.

So we now know everything - how he was concieved, how he was raised, his family life, how he died (originally) and what colour of underpants he prefers. Really, the character is gone by this point, and Freddy is a slightly manic comedian. The fact that he kills people almost feels incidental.

Honestly, if people didn't have a tendancy to die around him he would be a fun guy to hang around with (for a while - he outstays his welcome here and becomes annoying). I'm not putting the blame on Englund - he clearly loves the character and the pay check that comes with playing him, at the end of the day he's an actor hired to do a job and he does it admirably. It's just the job he was hired to do is... shit.

The film reveals that Freddy had a daughter (like most franchises it gives us this brand new piece of info far too late in the game to make any real difference to the story - introduced no doubt to extend the shelf-life just that tiny bit more) and we get treated to a headache inducing 3D sequence in which Freddy is finally dispatched (forever - or so they say) by his daughter.

That said I don't get why this is his 'final' death... it's no different from the other 50 million or so he's had... but New Line say this is the end... so it must be.

There are only two characters of any real importance here, Freddy and his daughter, so I won't even mention the others are they are little more(as before) than Fodder for Freddy and an excuse for increasinly elaborate death sequences. But, for us the ride is over - Freddy has now finished transforming into the parody of the character we feared in the early films and yes, Freddy truly is dead... if being blown up at the end of this flick didn't kill him, surely this film would. I have nothing more to say. This film is garbage... thank god it's all over...

Wes Craven's New what?
Who Vs. Jason?

Shit.