# Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, A (1988)

### reviewed by
Jerry Saravia

The Freddy Krueger craze in the late 80's grew and grew, and "Nightmare on Elm Street 4" proved to be no exception in proving the popularity. It was, and still is, the biggest hit of the series. There were more spectacular deaths, more Freddy one-liners, and there was the hit song "Put Your Mouth on Me".

The film starts with the three surviving Elm Street kids brought together into a nightmare thanks to Kristen (played this time, with less conviction than Patricia Arquette, by singer Tuesday Knight). Ken Sagoes (reprising his role from Part 3) inadvertently resurrects Freddy in a car lot with the help of his dog Jason and some flaming urine (!). Now Freddy kills the remaining Elm Street kids and is after some fresh blood, or else the movie would be over. Enter the Carrie-like Alice (Lisa Wilcox) who has premonitions and walks around in a trance. She's the only one who can destroy Freddy, and since he kills most of her friends, she acquires their strengths and becomes a formidable opponent for the big showdown in an abandoned church.

It is obvious that the series began to have less and less of the dark atmosphere of the Wes Craven original, and more of Freddy's demented criminal acting as a jokester. Still, this one is creatively designed and imaginatively directed by Renny Harlin ("Die Hard 2"). Check out the best scene in the film: Alice walks into a theatre showing "Reefer Madness" and dreams that she floats into the movie-within-the-movie, "Purple Rose of Cairo"-style. There she finds a nearly-abandoned diner where Freddy serves "Soul Pizza".

The movie is strictly by-the-numbers and, although not as good as Part 3, it is still the most visually enthralling of the entire series. After the silliness of "Wes Craven's New Nightmare," I hear that "Freddy vs. Jason" may possibly bring back Alice. We can only hope.

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E-mail me with any questions, comments or complaints at jerry@movieluver.com or at Faust667@aol.com

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