Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy (2010)

Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy is a two part documentary series that does an in depth look into the making of all eight A Nightmare on Elm Street films. Spanning four hours (yes, it's painlessly long), the documentary collects interviews from original cast members, special fx and make up artists, and of course Robert Shaye, the guy who produced all eight films. Narrated with a fitting tone by original Freddy Krueger survivor Heather Langenkamp, between the extensive discussion time allotted and the equally lengthy bonus features which cover the unseen interviews Never Sleep Again leaves no questions unanswered.

The film has a cathartic honesty that's unanticipated, all films alike cast and crew admits to flaws and failures of their film(s), and a rectitude of explanation that's staggering at the least. They're not limited either, from The Kung Fu budget cut in The Dream Master to the complicated creative relationship between Robert Shaye and Wes Craven. Whether being Nightmare one or Nightmare six each film gets a fair share of screen time, which is all really done in respects to the fans of the film who lifted the franchise off the ground and stuck through it, even after the series lost its horror contour to the parody of memorabilia and classic lines. But what really makes this documentary luring, at least to my taste anyways, is the use of special effects and how it progressed through the ages. The documentary in itself is almost a brief side documentary on how Hollywood moved through the decade with the technology. And even an idea at what it takes to make a movie on an independent budget.

The interviews seem illimitable by the breadth of people involved. The previous cast members that directors Daniel Farrands and Andrew Kasch accumulated is incredulous, how they found Mark Patton, Jesse from Freddy's Revenge, is a testament in itself. As fans we don't get the 'big stars' such as Johnny Depp or Particia Arquette, but rather the big stars of the series like our heroines who took to Freddy more than once, Heather Langenkamp and Lisa Wilcox. And basically every victim in between. There's the usually disregarded behind the scenes crew who are as much apart of the series as Wes Craven is. They give you insight into the makeup process that it took to create the iconic look of Freddy and the imaginative deaths and the special effects that went into those. Wes Craven's commentary outside of his own work is not bitter, per say, but rather at a loss for the films that followed, save aside for a nice comment toward Renny Harlin. I basically enjoyed about everyone's opinions and insight into the films with the exception of Jack Sholder, as his came off rather arrogant.

The film makes room for a lot of humorous parts to pair with the light hearted fan base, the fangirl inside of me got really excited when I saw that Freddy Krueger and Jason Mewes actually existed in a world together. They even go into the pop culture gags that materialized after Nightmare three and four, where things like the Freddy doll and pajamas became available (as one interviewee ironically points out that Freddy originally was a child molester, and now you can wear him to bed). Band Dokken even stops in for a discussion on how their contribution to Dream Warriors was one of the first music videos available on VHS. At the end of the documentary as homage to the series and the Elm Street junkies each actor quotes their most memorable line during the credits. I mentioned this in the first Nightmare review but Never Sleep Again isn't just a documentary for the fans, even if you've only seen one out of the eight films in the franchise there's something to be savored here. I loved this documentary, as if you couldn't tell, and one that I'd watch again. I recommend to any fan of the genre, of the series, or just of film making in general. 



It's over. This proved to be rather draining task and I did not anticipate that watching all eight Nightmare films in a row would mentally wear me out, despite spacing them on a weekly basis (with the exception of Freddy vs. Jason). An oddly interesting fact the films that I had seen before I decided to watch them all (one, three, seven and eight) were the only four I liked. If I were to do it again, with another series of films, I'd do it every other week just to give myself a break from the excessive use of words (I'm dreadfully tired of typing the words 'Freddy' and 'Elm Street' and 'Imaginative') but I don't know if I could do it again, to be honest. I clearly have some masochistic qualities in film watching as I decided to watch all of the Hellraiser films; however I won't be writing reviews for that. I'm currently seven films in and most I don't have much of an opinion on. My recommendation for the series, film one through eight, is watch it. The films themselves hold reams of originality being eminent from that slasher outline, and hate or love them they are a prominent chapter in horror/film history.

Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994)

This is Wes Craven's way of saying 'There, I fixed it. Don't touch, just leave it alone.' New Nightmare is a very different departure from the rest of the series, it's set in Hollywood where the tenth anniversary of the original Nightmare on Elm Street movie is approaching. Wes Craven is far from escaping the fame of the first film though as now after six films a demon in the form of Freddy is haunting him, coercing him to write a new script. Craven approaches Heather Langenkamp to revise her role as Nancy, now a wife and mother Heather is apprehensive as she prefers her TV career to her horror legacy, especially in the case of her son. However when Heather's husband dies and she realizes that someone is targeting her son Dylan, Heather has to revert into the dream-scape yet again to stop Freddy.

The seventh installment has, as do they all, the goods and the bad. Goods are this one has some actual thought behind it, as Wes Craven has tried to do with several of his films, but not just make it horror but connect it to real life. This is the predecessor to Scream, the characters within the movie recognize the Elm Street movies as films and Robert England as Freddy. There's parallels to Hansel and Gredel as well as a study of the connection between children and the horror industry today, or rather to how it was in the 90's. In this Craven produces a new look for Freddy that does not quite go with his original story, but it makes sense seeing how Freddy is more of an entity in this than an actual character. It does make for a more horrifying face though, which in addition to a number of other things revamps Freddy as scary. Particularly there's a horror reminescent of the fear caused in the first film, not being killed in your dreams but rather being pulled in to your own bed. Is that...yes...Freddy is actually using his claws! Oh my God what a concept. As my past reviews have hopefully let on that I have found a particular annoyance with that, but this time no he signs his signature on everything.

Craven does the duo role of writing and directing, he plays around with the fact to fiction in the screenplay, especially with the characters. Heather Langenkamp, who suffered a terrifying stalker incident in real life is reliving the fear as Freddy calls her house phone, harassing her and her son. Langenkamp is really quite good at playing herself, which along with other types of acting, such as playing dumb, gets underestimated and overlooked as easy. Robert England's spin is that he's a bit of a whore for the attention of the pop culture fandom, and he paints! England has fun with the depiction of the character and of course teases the viewer by having creepy moments, where you question if he's behind the murders. John Saxon comes back in a larger role (yay!) and Fran Bennett has a very memorable moment in her small scene. Other Nightmare characters like Lyn Shaye come in for cameos as well as Craven himself and Boy Shaye, the man behind all the films.

The downside is it's not a film for the hardcore fans. The ones who love Freddy as the pop culture icon he is and not so much of his terror or Craven's ability to write might not like the film as its not like the first six. The film isn't great, and it has had no where near the impact Scream had, but its not bad and unique. Don't go out of your way to watch it but if it happens to be on TV, click on it and check it out.

A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

Before the Never Sleep Again mission the third film in the series, and coined as the fan favorite, is one I've previously seen before and as I recall, I very much enjoyed it. A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 3 is set in a hospital for anxious teenagers, who unknowingly have something in common, they are the last of the Elm Street kids. The main character is Kristen, a newly admitted patient to the facility, her arrival brings on Freddy's killing spree within the ward and soon following her is an expert in the field, Nancy. Nancy, now a psychologist, struggles to help the teens while still remaining logical to her peers. But soon Nancy and Kristen learn that the days of helpless dreaming are over, as they are introduced to the dream powers they each posses inside of them.

Re-watching this I did have a mutual experience as of last time, I really liked the film for bring back Nancy, setting up the series's reputation of creativity, and giving Freddy witty dialog. The deaths in this one are really unique and amp the dream concept up in that they tend to the characters personally. My favorite was the marionette, it looked painful and puppet Freddy was adorable yet creepy. And of course I must mention the notorious TV death with spawned the pop icon Freddy, with his line; "Welcome to prime time, bitch". This also, in my opinion, has the best lines and the worst lines. The best going to Freddy and the worst to Taryan for "In my dreams I'm beautiful *cue swtichblades* and bad". And of course others in between. 

The teens are all likable and were convincing as friends. This is Patricia Arquette's first film and she's actually good in it. John Saxon comes back for a brief cameo, nuff said. In the first Nightmare film I enjoyed the fiestiness to Nancy's character, this time around Heather Langenkemp plays a much more relaxed Nancy, having settled into being adult, but of course when it comes to Freddy that raw fight she displays in the first film comes out. And....Robert England. The script was written by a collection of writers, the more noted ones being Frank Darabont and Wes Craven, both who I think largely contributed to the success of the film. Not that the other two are bad by any means, it's just to their name they have less horror film credit. Directing wise Chuck Russel has an interesting take on how the dreams appear, unlike that typical misty facade he uses open sets and the synthetic pizza face Freddy look to contrast in lighting and set design.

The third film in the Nightmare franchise is not as scary as the first but does a lot better as a sequel than the actually sequel did. The dream gifts bring out an inalienable competency in the films which opt for a more action based dream sequence than the typical running-from-the-boogeyman-slasher-build-up. This one may be the deciding factor in your interest in this franchise, if you like this one you'll probably want to keep watching. If you didn't, however, than I'd stop now because this is the high point in the series. Still if you're going to see any of them, this is the one to view.  

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

After seeing the Never Sleep Again documentary around Halloween, which is a great documentary, for fans especially but really for anyone curious of film making and the early techniques with special effects, I became possessed with the thought of watching all seven Nightmare films (I decided to skip Freddy Vs Jason because I've seen it, and I'm just not in the mood to watch it again). I've seen a few before, but never the entire series. So I set out with the, surprisingly tedious, task of watching all seven films in chronological order.

To start at the beginning A Nightmare on Elm Street typically falls under the slasher film genre, though I'd argue that it doesn't truly earn that title until later in the franchise, the reason being that the film is a lot more imaginative in concept than say the Friday the 13th series, which is more of a full bodied slasher. The story starts out with Tina, a teenage girl who's having strange nightmares about a man, burnt from the head down, wearing a dirty green and red stripped sweater, a ragged hat, and a glove with knives for fingers. Tina becomes rattled by the dream when she feels there is something more to it than a typical night terror, which proves to be true one night when she dies in her dream and then dies in real life. From there it goes to her best friend, Nancy, as she tries to figure out who the man with the knives for fingernails is and what he wants, while ultimately trying to stay awake.

The film has a horror aspect that Wes Craven has always done well with, he connects it to real life. True the film has a more fantasy base than a reality but it lies in the inevitable fear that we must all sleep at some point. A vulnerability issues plays in this as in most people's cases when you sleep you are helpless. To add more depth Craven gives a disturbing background to the killer, Freddy Krueger, a child murder who escaped trial later to be burned by the incensed parents of Elm Street. I actually found out from the documentary, something which has always been a debate, is that Freddy is a child molester, but they don't come out and say it in the film for news related issues at the time. This discreetly presents itself in the sexual prowl Freddy has in scenes with Tina and Nancy. The famous one being where Nancy falls asleep in the bathtub and his glove comes up from the water in between her legs. It's hard for some to imagine Freddy as anything scary since he became a pop culture icon but in truth he was built to be a perturbing character, and the first film reminds us of that.


As far as quality goes I'll argue that this one is the best out of the seven (though Dream Master gives Craven a run for his money in directing, as well as for the the look for the film). The directing and writing for this is fairly obvious, so I wont linger too long but it's apparent what he intended out of the film, a sleepless night fueled by more than just jumps and scares, but with creative thought. Acting is fairly good here too, it's one of those horror movies that has a now a absurdly huge film star in it, Johnny Depp. Of course Glen doesn't compare to his more eccentric characters in which he's famous for but for a first time actor whose never, and I mean never, acted before he's pretty good in it. Heather Langenkemp is alright, having done a few movies in her career at that point and not succumbing to dumb gazes into the camera lens. Then there's John Saxon and Robert Englund, neither which I'll go into because Saxon is been in everything and he's just great, and I've believe I've made my love of Englund's acting clear in previous reviews. The special effects for the film are pretty good, in truth I prefer old school techniques like these as opposed to CGI which I can always tell they've used.

I'm sure this, basically, two paged love letter isn't obvious us enough that I have to say it flat out but I love A Nightmare on Elm Street. It's not only my favorite out of the franchise but one of my favorite horror films. But at the same time I pose caution to new viewers who've never seen the movie. Though it's not as bad as some it does show it's age a bit, so some scenes or concepts will appear as cheesy, and there are some that might not be as generous about the acting. Plus the ending, (not the very ending with the little girls) still fails to make sense. Either way it's sort of an essential see, Freddy Krueger is a household name and at the end of the day it's better than most slasher films and remakes today.

Nightmare Cafe (1992)

Nightmare Cafe was a curiosity that developed into confusion and finally...an admiration for the show. I found this dated TV show on Chiller early one morning while getting ready. I begun watching half way into the pilot episode and in honesty the show at first looked like a vast mess but like I said it peeked my curiosity and six episodes later here I am.

The Nightmare Cafe is a 1992 TV show developed by horror legend, Wes Craven and Thomas Baum. The show is about two recently dead persons, Fay and Frank, who've been drafted to an all night cafe. The cafe is more than it seems, it's actually a supernatural...being (I suppose) that gives people second chances and its decided to give Fay and Frank a second chance at life, but only if they work in the cafe. As sort of a mentor there is Blackie, the manager to the cafe. People tend to wander in and out of the cafe, all mysteriously drawn to it for a second chance, and it's Fay, Frank, and occasionally Blackie's job to help them out, in what ever capacity that may be.

The show was canceled after six short episodes due to low ratings. This sad fact attributed to my initial confusion of the show. At first I wasn't even sure if I liked it, the cafe itself confusing me the most. I wanted to know more on how it worked, who it picked, why it picked them, and just generally why it was special. I'm presuming that if later episodes, possibly seasons, have been aired we'd of gotten to know more about the prominent character of the show.

The acting was also a little...baffling at first. Fay played by Lindsay Frost acting resembled that of a soap opera actress and that got on my nerves. But after the first episode it was toned down a bit and appeared more as Fay initial response to her new found fate. Frank (Jack Coleman) was the same, his acting was odd but that's the entire nature of the show and in fact he and Lindsay Frost were pretty much in tuned with the overall tone. Then there is Robert Englund as Blackie, he was the one who kept drawing back to the episodes, he's just great, as always. He has this perfect comedic timing and a certain sinister quirk to his character. Maybe my favorite thing about the show were the small innuendos that Blackie would throw out, hinting at his age.


The show has been related to a Twilight Zone episode, having that supernatural/horror anthology label to it. Which is a fair comparison, people show up at the "Cafe" and weird shit happens, only difference here is we have three solid characters. There's also a Sci-Fi like element to the show as Fay and Frank basically get beamed in and out of the cafe, and the final episode, "Aliens Ate My Lunch", amps that up a bit. The Nightmare Cafe does have a short episode list and that may turn off some viewers but it grew on me and I'm a bit sad that there isn't a few more episodes, at least enough for a full season, to watch late at night when there isn't much on.