Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare was the beginning of the end for the Slasher film genre. At this point Freddy was all but burnt out and no recovery in sight, at least for now.
In the 6th installment of the franchise, 10 years have passed since Part5. Freddy has killed every child in the town. Springwood has tried to forget Freddy exists at all if they do this then kids wont dream of him. A child half way house is set up in the next town over, and Freddy goes there to hunt kids in their dreams. He makes the point that every town has an Elm St. We learn the woman running the shelter Dr. Maggie Burroughs, is actually Freddy’s long-lost daughter taken from him after he killed her mother and before his murder trial. Through flash back we learn of Freddy’s up bringing and abuse and the deal he made with the Dream Demons to harvest souls for them in return for immortality.
The biggest disapoitment with the film is the body count hits 3 people and stops, way too many jokes, a bad use of the power glove and the 3-D ending is not very well done, as least compared to Avatar. In the original script of the film, 15-year-old Jacob Johnson (son of the previous installment’s main character, Alice Johnson) was the major character while many of the “Dream Warriors” would return to aid Jacob in defeating Freddy after he kills Alice. This idea was later trashed and rewritten into the final script. This ending would have tied it more to the first 5 films than the fianl product did. Some notable Cameos include Johnny Depp,Tom Arnold and Rossane Barr, and Alice Cooper as Freddy’s abusive Step Father. Robert Englund also appears in and out of makeup as Freddy. Freddy’s Dead is not the Final Nightmare because in 4 years we get…
Wes Craven’s New Nightmare, Directed by Craven himself. Wes Craven finally gets his chance to do the story he originally intended for part 3. We also get Heather Lankankam and John Saxson and Robert Englund playing themselves along with other Nightmare Alumni. In Craven;s New Nightmare (which takes place outside the film series), Wes wants to create a whole new film. Heather who recently lost her husband suspect Freddy is somehow alive in the real world, but it make her seem crazy. Robert Englund believes that if a lot of people belive in Freddy then he can be made real.
It’s a rather weird movie, and its a plotline that has been done before and failed, just look at Last Action Hero with Arnold, or The dreadful Rocky and Bullwinkle movie. What makes it work here is Wes Craven back in the directors chair. He would have asked Johnny Depp to come on board but thought he was too big a star. Depp heard of this and in an interview stated he would have dropped everything to come work for Wes again. When Wes heard this years later he was touched by Depp’s kind words. Freddy’s look in the movie was changed and apeared as tho his flesh was ripped away more than burnt. His glove was no longer a glove, the nives were part of his fingers. Another thing Craven always intended for the first film, due to the budget had to delay the idea.
This film would be the last time we see Freddy for several years. His only other appearance would be in Jason goes to Hell the Final Friday, His hand reaches up and garbs Jason’s mask at the end of the movie.
