Not only is this a terrific entry into the “Nightmare” series but it’s one of the
few films I hold very near to my heart. The year was 1991, I was just a young
lad of nine years old but I already had year’s worth of horror films under my
belt (Thanks Grandma! Love you!) and the ability to reference them at any given
time. What can I say? I was an unusual kid. While most were interested in
playing sports and frolicking outside, I was interested in how the hell “Brundle-Fly”
(“The Fly” 1986) looked so realistic on
screen and how a doll was able to walk around with no wires (“Child’s Play” 1988). By 1991 I’d seen
all the great horror icons of MY generation (I eventually developed a deeper
catalog of horror icons from ALL generations) either theatrically, on VHS or
cable.
Come to think of it, a majority of my family was involved in supporting
my cinematic interest from a very early age… probably more than they should've been. Looking back, I have to wonder why the hell my Uncle would take me to horror
matinees, why my Grandmother reminded me that “USA’s Up All Night” had a Friday
the 13th marathon and why my
mother allowed it. I guess family just has a way of knowing what path a kid was
going down and fully embraced it. Man, I LOVE movies!
Here in St. Paul, MN (for readers outside the state) we
used to have a theater called “CINA 5” (Awe! Just reminded myself of the
“Signal Hill’s Theater”! Does anybody else remember that?) over on the
Westside, it was just a block of a building, seriously, one big square. If
memory serves, the concession stand was smack-dab in the middle of the theater
while six screens surrounded it. I remember this film so vividly because my
Pop’s had gathered up a crew of myself and a few other cousins on opening
night, which meant not only was I going to be the youngest but there was going
to be A LOT of teenagers. I still
remember walking in with my two older cousins and them making comments like
“Damn, look at all these fines honeys!” (It was the 90’s…) and me actually looking
for “honey”.
Looking around the theater, they always had the HUGE displays and
banners for future films but this time one struck me as extraordinary, it was
advertising “Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare” in 3D!!! I ran up to the box
office attendant to inquire about this godsend but before I could utter my
question, she handed me my 3D glasses and pointed me to my theater. “Holy
shit!” I thought as I opened the package to extend the ear flaps, it was there
I seen an advertisement printed on one of the flaps for “House Party II”. “House Party II” AND “Freddy’s Dead”?! Did Christmas come early?!
The lights dimmed, the reel rolled, my bladder twinkled-
“Shit!” I had to pee… I ran to the restroom and went as fast as possible, no
time for hand washing this time, Freddy was starting. I sat down in my seat but
could hardly sit still and that’s when "Do you know the terror of he who
falls asleep? To the very toes he is terrified, because the ground gives way
under him, And the dream begins... “Appeared on the screen. This was is it, the
movie started, no turning back now.
The movie opens in Springwood; damn near everybody is
dead and all the teenagers have shat the proverbial bed. Freddy has no one
else’s dream to haunt… except one lone survivor. We learn that Freddy is unable
leave Springwood but that doesn't mean he can’t send a puppy of sorts to “go
fetch.” John Doe, as he will come to be named, is pushed through a dream portal
into another town to seek out fresh teenagers, but before John’s able to do
that, he bangs his head on a rock and ends up with a case of amnesia.
Eventually, he ends up in a center for juvenile offenders where he meets
Spencer, Carlos and Tracy. Let me brief you on these misfits: Carlos’s mother
beat the shit out of him so many times that the poor bastard went deaf, Tracy’s
father was a lil’ too touchy feely and Spencer’s just a fuckin’ pothead.
Maggie (the main counselor) finds an old newspaper
clipping in John Doe’s belongs and decides to take a road trip back to the town
where the clipping originated from. Little did she know Spencer, Carlos and
Tracy were hiding in the back of the van planning an escape from their would be
prison. Freddy infiltrates Carlos’ daydream and all hell breaks loose from
there. We find the gang in an abandoned, childless and aged town where we're treated to a cameo from Roseanne & Tom Arnold. John begins
putting pieces together and comes to the conclusion the HE’S Freddy’s son. He couldn't be more wrong. Turns out before Freddy’s trial where he got off scot
free of murder charges, child protection came through and took his… dun dun
dunnnnnn… Daughter!
Now Freddy’s in full on “everybody dies” mode and
partakes in some of the most creative kills in the entire series. My favorite
kill involves Spencer getting high as giraffe nut’s, falling asleep and getting
sucked into his own nightmarish video game. This is already cool but what
really puts the icing on the cake is that Freddy is literally using Spencer as
a character in a video game, power glove and all!
We're also given a pretty in-depth backstory of Mr.
Krueger involving child murder, him murdering his wife and his harsh upbringing
in foster homes. It’s not until the last ten minutes that we are finally
treated to 3D portion of the film, which in my opinion, is the bee’s knees.
Here we find out that just minutes before his grisly burning death, the “dream
demons” offer him immortality which he happily accepts giving the “dream
demons” the ability to continuously reincarnate him. With a little help from
Doc, Maggie discovers that Freddy CAN be killed by simply pulling him out of
the “dream world” and into the “real world”. After a horrific fight between
Maggie, utilizing any and every confiscated weapon, (Freddy’s daughter) and
Freddy, she eventually get’s him pinned to a steel gate and stabs him with his
own knife welding glove! It’s shortly after, she stab’s Fred with a pipe bomb,
lights it, kisses him on the cheek, says “Happy Father’s Day” and runs. Freddy
looks down and then up to the camera, breaking the fourth wall and says “Kids”.
BOOM!
I’d never seen anything like that as a kids, it still
amazes me to this day that I was fortunate enough to see that theatrically. Of
course, it lost a lot of its luster when it made its way to VHS and TV, obviously
losing the 3D effect until 1999 when a box-set was released that not only
included the original 3D segment but two pairs of 3D glasses to boot!
