“Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare” is all over the place. Perhaps the reason it’s more enjoyable than its predecessor—by a slim margin—is it finally embraced its ridiculousness. It erases all the characters from the previous film who survived, and instead creates its own make-up-as-you-go narrative that borrows elements from “Friday the 13th Part V” and the franchise’s own “Dream Warriors.” It follows a ‘last surviving teenager’ (Shon Greenblatt) as Freddy uses him to lure in more kids outside of Springwood—as he had gone through that town’s supply and rendered all the adults insane. There’s also mention of a missing ‘Krueger’ child—presumably Freddy’s—that he’s searching for. It’s all insane plotting, but you’ve got to give Story Writer and Director Rachel Talalay credit for trying to fly the ship solo.
The basic plot here—or what answers for one—is that Greenblatt’s John Doe (he can’t remember who he is, just that he’s being hunted and he’s the last one) ends up at a halfway house for runaway kids. It’s overseen by a seldom seen practitioner, really run by Maggie (Lisa Zane), a therapist, and Doc (the venerable Yaphet Kotto). Aside John Doe, there’s three kids at the shelter, which looks in every shape and form like an inner-city teen center: Tracy (Lezlie Deane), Carlos (Ricky Dean Logan), and Spencer (2000’s star Breckin Meyer). Spencer is a stoner; it’s doubtless that “Freddy vs. Jason” lifted its character of ‘Freeburg’ directly from Meyer’s performance here and watching old “Jay and Silent Bob” movies.
Krueger: Comedy and Sometimes Horror
Krueger is in rare form, played once again (and once again top-billed) by Robert Englund. His lines are comedy (the worst offender an impression of the Wicked Witch of the West from “The Wizard of Oz” he plays in the opening), and he laps in and out of dreams according to his whim. The movie follows suit, and it’s incredibly hard to tell—at all—when someone is dreaming, when they are not, or when the movie is just hoping audiences don’t notice there’s no segue between reality and dream. Buses and people crash through metaphysical walls, characters crash in and out of dreams, and a connection between Maggie and John (they’re both having the same dream in a callback to the first film) is flimsily drawn.
The characters are likable and fine, even if the film doesn’t develop them as it should. Deane plays the typical tough-girl whose façade hides a history of abuse, and it was fun to see her scenes. Dean Logan looks like a poster boy for the ‘80s—even though this takes place in 1991—and though he’s giving Johnny Depp from “21 Jump Street” a run for his money. And Meyer’s Spencer is just fun; he has a lighthearted approach to his situation (which usually involves just smoking pot) that’s endearing despite its cliché. And speaking of Johnny Depp, the actor does a fun cameo here during one of Spencer’s dream sequences performing the ‘this is your brain on drugs’ commercial that was so prevalent during the ‘90s. It made me laugh.
A Desolate Springwood; Few Remain
Unfortunately, the story is virtually nonexistent as Talalay and screenwriter Michael De Luca try to come up with a reason for Freddy’s continued existence, and by extension the necessity for this movie. We see Springwood full of adults who wander around like they just escaped the insane asylum, and even get one cringy cameo from Tom Arnold and Rosanne Barr (billed, oddly, as ‘Mr. and Mrs. Tom Arnold’). The town’s denizens fill in necessary Freddy plotting, while the house at 1428 Elm comes into play once again as Freddy’s ‘home,’ despite the fact he was burned in a boiler room and just stalked a few victims here.
The best parts of the film—despite their haste—are when Talalay attempts to show Freddy’s past. One scene of his wife discovering his murder den is especially harrowing, as is a shot of the lair itself. We see his famed knived glove, but also cruder gloves (one with nails sticking out of the knuckles) as well as additional weapons. The shots take place way too fast though, as Cinematographer Declan Quinn didn’t realize the awesomeness of what he’d stumbled upon.
There’s also a completely unnecessary plot involving the history of ‘dream demons’ which made a deal with Freddy at his death to have him live forever and haunt children’s dreams. I found it ridiculous; it explains away all the horror, and makes even more absurd the criticisms from fans of the “Nightmare” reboot in expressing distaste over the fact that Krueger was a pedophile. There’s clearly nothing else to the guy besides getting his jollies off on terrorizing children.
A Slight Improvement on ‘Dream Child’
There’s also a bizarre attempt—via Maggie’s dreams—to dredge up empathy for Krueger as it shows him viciously bullied and beat by a stepfather. On the plus side, it shows that people like Krueger aren’t born, but made, but on the negative side, by this time in the series the burned monster had killed roughly 36 people—not counting what he did as a human before his murder—so empathy is a tough sell. He then uses it as a tool to try and get out of being terminated towards the film’s conclusion. Additionally, Krueger—along the way—will prey on people’s weaknesses and as usual mock physical disabilities. “Freddy’s Dead” is a composite of Parts 3 and 5. I excuse Part 4 because it tried harder, but he did pick on an asthmatic girl, so I probably shouldn’t give it grace.
“Freddy’s Dead” is goofy, yet passable. It’s not as insulting as Part 5—and actually tries to be clever—be is ultimately evidence of a series that ambled on for too long. If it ended here it may have landed higher. But as Freddy would come back in “Wes Craven’s New Nightmare” three years later, it suffers as other slashers that never know when to quit. For some reason, though, Krueger’s inclusion as the triumvirate of horror baddies (along Jason and Michael) never made sense to me. It’s the weakest franchise of all three, and I think the chief reason for that is the sheer incredibleness of the first film compared to what it would become.
An Almost Final Installment
“Freddy’s Dead” isn’t as bad as it could have been. Its sin is it sidesteps Freddy’s creepier aspects in favor of comedy once again, and seems to again think audiences wants jokes in lieu of scares. But—for just a moment—Freddy is scary again. That it takes place while Freddy is a human, and not a dream demon shows that Talalay missed the film’s greatest opportunities. But, as final installments go, “The Final Nightmare” is suitable, even if not what many moviegoers may have been hoping for.
