A Nightmare on Elm Street parts 2 (1985) & 3 (1987)

As part of my Shocktober Marrowthon I am watching all the (pre-reboot) A Nightmare on Elm Street movies. I saw Freddy's Dead and then New Nightmare when I was a kid during the tail end of Freddy's popularity 25+ years ago, and I watched the original film a year or two back. Other than that, these are all new movies to me outside of any cultural osmosis.

Watching A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge for the first time in 2024, I have prior knowledge of its reputation and debates over intentional/unintentional gay themes. So, I cannot claim a completely fresh or objective view... but this shit is not even subtext it is text! This is like 80% gay teenager scared of his true self, 20% "Freddy" (quotations because they ignore most of his pre-established and future rules/traits: he possesses/grows out of the lead's body, does most[all?] of his killing in the real world, never makes any quips or puns).

Our protagonist Jesse has a pants-down fight in the first 5 minutes with another dude who becomes his new best friend, the coach and the gay bar scene followed by coach's bondage death in the showers, Jesse's literal body horror when he tries to make out with his girlfriend (followed by him running straight to his bro to watch over him)... Even the casting of his "love interest," who looks like a 20-something Meryl Streep with a dash of Joan Cusack... I dig that, but it doesn't scream teen sex appeal.

This is never scary and isn't a good Freddy movie, but I enjoyed it quite a bit as a queer coming of age horror comedy with some cool and nasty effects. There is a lot less nightmare business than usual, but the "real" world scenes often have a fever dream feel to them that still makes the whole thing discomforting. Like the whole sequence where Jesse wanders sweatily into the night, finds a random leather bar in this seemingly tiny, squaresville town, runs into his coach, and it immediately cuts to them in the school gym with the coach making Jesse run laps (presumably for buying alcohol). And the coach isn't trying to hit on him or spy on him in the showers, it's just an incredibly odd scenario played straight (not trying to pun, sorry). That weird, illogical progression of events actually reminds me more of my real dreams than the usual Freddy stuff. Mark Patton as Jesse has a dorky charm that I found endearing. Honestly the movie is at its weakest when "Freddy" shows up for the last 20 minutes (although it's funny seeing him just bite a bitch's leg). Otherwise, I had fun!

P.S. this is the second movie directed by Jack Sholder I have enjoyed (see previous review for The Hidden), but I think I may have enjoyed them despite his direction and not because of? Or at least both had multiple scenes where I was thinking how much more exciting or effective they could have been with better staging or more energetic direction. It's never bad or incompetent, it just feels like he misses the maximum impact on some fun ideas/moments/effects.

I am trying to figure out how to date someone from 1987 through science or magic...

On to A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors! I see why this entry gets so much love; I enjoyed it even more than the first one. I liked the setting and characters way more this time around, I will always enjoy weirdos and fuck-ups more than bland everyteens. It's perfect for the Freddy premise because the already marginalized teens are even more vulnerable to him. Heather Langenkamp's Nancy is more interesting as a survivor and it's nice having an adult ally character. She has also grown into a lovely lady of the 80s, I love the white trauma streak in her hair and the green blouse and pearls look in particular.

It's not as tight as part one, the script and mythology get a little bloated with the ghost nun and what not. It's a bummer that in the end the titular Dream Warriors and their powers can only die or slightly delay Freddy until he is ultimately defeated by a "proper" Christian burial, LOL. But that messiness also results in a stop motion skeleton, so I can't be too mad. It just would have been more satisfying for the kids to strengthen their powers and take Freddy down themselves. Instead, the powers mostly delay or irritate him for a few seconds and just add a little more (welcome) creativity to the nightmare scenes.

The other effects sequences are fantastic. Finally, the nightmares/kills are becoming themed/ironic. More imaginative and elaborate sequences are enabled by a higher budget and production quality. And while it delivers weirder, crazier stuff, it also brings the 80s horror meat and potatoes. More kills, more gore, gratuitous boobs for the first time. I believe this is also when Freddy starts saying "bitch," at least twice out loud and once carved in someone's chest. Apart from my revisionist attempts to tighten the script, this was pretty damn awesome, and I imagine will be the high point in the series for me.