The A Nightmare on Elm Street series is one of thee most uneven horror franchises out there (not the worst, however) and after the 3rd gets progressively worse (until New Nightmare). ANOES 4: The Dream Master (1988) was a clear drop in quality after the fantastic ANOES 3: Dream Warriors (1987), but it was bearable. ANOES: The Dream Child goes one step further and becomes almost unbearable but to be fair these sequels were stretching the story to unsalvageable lengths. But being the cash cow these horror sequels were in the day they dreamed (excuse the pun) up another way to resurrect Freddy. This time Freddy is literally reborn and begins picking off the Springwood kids through Alice's (Lisa Wilcox, who returns from Part 4) unborn child. To stop Freddy Alice must seek help from Amanda Krueger, Freddy's mother.
Many consider this sequel the worst in the series, including Robert Englund. Even Stephen Hopkins, the director this time around, stated this movie was a miscalculation. One of the most obvious issues this time around is the lack of deaths, three all up which is the lowest in the series. Now, this is the part where the horror purists come out and say "oh, if the story is good you don't need blood and gore" and so on, but let us be honest here, when watching a slasher film a good story is a bonus to the inventive kills, which this series is famous for. Part 3, and Part 4 to a lesser extent, had high body counts with an interesting story. So here we are left with minimal deaths and a pretty average story. Furthermore, by this sequel Freddy had truly become the comedian, no longer scary in the slightest, although Englund still gives it all he's got. The only two positives in this installment are the excellent special effects and Gothic settings.
1½/5
Many consider this sequel the worst in the series, including Robert Englund. Even Stephen Hopkins, the director this time around, stated this movie was a miscalculation. One of the most obvious issues this time around is the lack of deaths, three all up which is the lowest in the series. Now, this is the part where the horror purists come out and say "oh, if the story is good you don't need blood and gore" and so on, but let us be honest here, when watching a slasher film a good story is a bonus to the inventive kills, which this series is famous for. Part 3, and Part 4 to a lesser extent, had high body counts with an interesting story. So here we are left with minimal deaths and a pretty average story. Furthermore, by this sequel Freddy had truly become the comedian, no longer scary in the slightest, although Englund still gives it all he's got. The only two positives in this installment are the excellent special effects and Gothic settings.
1½/5