A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master backdrop
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master poster

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 4: THE DREAM MASTER

1988 GB HMDB
August 19, 1988

Freddy Krueger returns once again to terrorize the dreams of the remaining Dream Warriors, as well as those of a young woman who may be able to defeat him for good.

Cast

Robert Englund, Rodney Eastman, Danny Hassel, Andras Jones, Tuesday Knight, Ken Sagoes, Lisa Wilcox, Brooke Bundy, Nicholas Mele, Toy Newkirk
Horror Thriller

REVIEWS (1)

MF

Massimo Filograna

Although the previous chapter seemed to have put an end to Freddy's "sufferings," the box office decides to resurrect him for the joy of fans in a rather improbable way: the dog of the robust survivor of color from the third film, makes "pee" on the psychopath's tomb, re-sanctifying the ground and giving it new "life." To celebrate the happy event, Uncle Freddy immediately eliminates the last three dream warriors. Kristel, before dying in a horrible way, gives her "Dreammaster" powers (which is the true title of the film) to Alice, an insignificant and insecure waitress of a sleazy bar. A girl who loves to daydream... Kristel's gift will transform her into a very particular dream warrior: she will indeed have the power to absorb all the oniric superpowers of the victims who fell under Freddy's cold and sharp glove. The psychopath kills her friends one by one, making her stronger each time, but when he decides to attack the only boy who had ever paid attention and love to Alice, he seals his inevitable end. The film adds nothing new compared to the previous ones, except for a new protagonist that we will find in the fifth chapter of the series. We are in the 90s, the public's tastes are changing, and Freddy's character increasingly resembles that of a mischievous kid, far from the cynical perversion of the first chapter. Likely a production choice to increase the audience share and boost box office earnings, at the expense of a film that could have been better. Prototype of the "use and throw" teen horror genre typical of the 90s. Even the original soundtrack of the end credits is replaced by a Hip Hop track, a testament that the trend in the horror market is now moving towards sleazy commercial operations aimed not at horror enthusiasts, but at American teenagers lacking taste from the new generation. A dissacrator trend that will influence the productions of most of the cult horror films of the 90s (first and foremost "Friday the 13th Chapter VI").

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