A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy’s Revenge

Made with a teenaged audience in mind by semi-novice Jack Sholder, an effective, if mediocre director whose only prior work was the bizarre “Alone in the Dark” (1982), “Nightmare 2” isn’t a horror film to be sneezed at.

Although Sholder directs competently and shows he knows the rules of the game (good sense of pacing, no boring stretches, definite penchant for gore), this sequel to Craven’s benchmark movie commits the grievous “crime” of being a sort of foreign body within the “Nightmare” universe.

From a conceptual viewpoint, the most glaring decision is the huge change in Krueger’s character. From an endogenous up-close-and-personal slasher made concrete by the oneiric dimension, he’s sunk to the level of random demon attempting to possess his designated victim (“Something is trying to get inside my body“). That new framework inevitably marginalizes the dream element to the point that it no long represents a necessary precondition for the villain’s appearance. Similarly, the allegorical/interpretative plane is downplayed, stripping any depth from the film and banishing it to the realm of pure entertainment (We’ll mercifully overlook the incongruous scene before the finale in which the salvific power of love is celebrated with tearful lines such as: “Come back to me, Jesse. I love you. Come back to me“).

Only movie in the franchise not to use Charles Bernstein’s main theme. However, it features a salsa rock soundtrack, effective practical makeup, and a pair of scenes that pack a decent visual punch (especially the pool-party massacre).

Certified box office success: $30 million dollars gross receipts against a budget of 3 million.