A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child

Though perhaps not quite as awful as its immediate predecessor, A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child suffers from a seriously underwhelming atmosphere that grows increasingly difficult to stomach as the film unfolds – with the downright interminable third act ensuring that the production ends on as anticlimactic note as one could possibly envision. The storyline, which picks up shortly after the events of The Dream Master, follows Lisa Wilcox’s Alice Johnson as she’s forced to once again face off against diabolical madman Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund), with the bulk of the proceedings subsequently revolving around Alice and Freddy’s ongoing battle for the soul of her unborn child. The progressively convoluted nature of its storyline ultimately stands as A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child‘s most egregious failing, as scripter Leslie Bohem places an all-too-consistent emphasis on elements designed to flesh out Freddy’s backstory – with Alice’s investigation into the mysterious death of his mother, Amanda (Beatrice Boepple), certainly ranking high on the film’s list of hopelessly dull attributes. Were it not for the inclusion of a few admittedly creative (and appreciatively brutal) dream sequences – ie Alice’s boyfriend, Danny Hassel’s Dan, is violently fused with his motorcycle – there’s little doubt that the film would ultimately fare even worse than the previous installment (which was, in itself, surprisingly unwatchable).

** out of ****