| A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) 96 min |
| A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 is a rare case where a sequel stands tall in comparison to the original, and in many ways surpasses it. This is one of the forerunners (along with Evil Dead 2)of the horror comedy trend that would wreak havoc on the genre in the years to come. The formula is worked out perfectly here, the comic relief never distracts the movie from its true focus. We have a movie that simultaniously tells and indepth and involving story and has some effectively chilling moments. Being the third film in the series, the filmmakers here were in a tough spot. They had to satisfy a growing number of fans, without alienating the audience of the previous films. This should really be the text book example of how to expand on an idea that stands alone fine as it is. They treat the legacy with respect, not contradicting the previously formulated rules, but also adding enough new characters and ideas to keep the concept fresh and cutting edge. |
| The story is more of a direct sequel to Wes Craven's first film, but doesn't blatantly disregard the second installment. If you plot everything out logically (Freddy's Revenge supposedly took place 5 years later and this one picks up 6 years after the original) it would probably seem that the Walsh famliy wasn't living at 1428 Elm Street the year before this happened. The house is never shown outside the reality of the dreams though, so one could argue otherwise. This sits better with me much more than this year's tepid Halloween: Resurection where they appear to go to pains to deny that the most developed character in the series (Jamie Lloyd) never even existed. |
| Regardless, this was 1987, and times were better. Like I said, this picks up 6 years after Nancy battled Freddy in the first Nightmare. Nancy is now a college intern who's been doing groundbreaking research on pattern nightmares. She begins her internship at a psych ward where the remaining 'Elm Street children' seem to be commiting suicide at an alarming rate. Of course this is the clever work of Freddy Krueger, but the hospital staff sees the dreams as a mere symptom of the larger issues of normal teenaged angst. One staff member thinks it's all sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Anyway, the kids naturally take to Nancy, who isn't so quick to dismiss their outragous stories. When one of the kids is captured by Freddy, Nancy and the kids try to band together to take on Freddy on his own turf. |
| While all this is going on, an interesting subplot is unfolding. The more sympathetic of the veteran doctors is having a major crisis as he watches these kids that he cares about very deeply. When things look their darkest he is visited by a mysterious nun who seems to know an awful lot about Freddy. The doctor ends up on a quest that makes him question his now wavering faith in science and joins him up with genre vet and Nightmare 1 star John Saxon. |
| The two main stories compliment each other so well, keeping seperate at times, but intermingling enough so that they don't feel episodic. Freddy really became a star with this one, spouting off what is probably the most infamous line in the series 'Welcome to prime time, bitch!' and spending more time out of the shadows than ever before. While that is what would eventually be the major contributing factor to his downfall later in the series (most notably in Freddy's Dead, where he became nothing more than a parody), it seems natural and necessary here to expand the character. The introduction of Nan Martin's mysterious nun character laid down the groundwork that is as important to the series as anything out of the original (Freddy being the bastard son of a hundred maniacs). Not to mention that Kristen's opening nightmare is possibly the most terrifying scene out of the entire series. |
| This movie is one instance where everything really clicked with the 80s atmosphere to create a one of a kind masterpeice. The most obvious success story would be first time director Chuck Russell proving himself capable of holding his own next to genre great Wes Craven's powerhouse original film. The film looks absolutely beautiful. Russell squeezed every last penny of the $4 million budget on the screen. He works with several layers in the film too, some subtle and some not so subtle deviant sexual themes running throughout. One scene involves a giant snake Freddy that literally looks like a monsterous wanker. The horror works, the comedy works, and most imortantly, the kids are perfectly realized. |
| Along with Russell, the ensemble cast does an excellent job here. The most well known of the kids now is Patricia Arquette who puts in a wonderfull performance as Kristen. My personal favorite among the kids is Phillip played by Bradley Gregg (who played River Pheonix's mean spirited older brother Eyeball in the previous year's Stand By Me). Really though, everyone involved deserves recongnition, unfortunately space for adequate attention to each character just isn't realistic in a review this size. With that, I'll just mention a few other notables. For one Laurence Fishburn puts in an early performance (billed here as Larry) as the nice guy Max. John Saxon is as great as he always is, I find him to be one of the most under appreciated actors to evey come out of the genre. Langenkamp is easy on the eyes and always a delight to watch. One of the most chilling parts would have to go to Nan Martin though. Her peircing eyes and boney features give an amazing amount of effectiveness to her small but unforgettable part. She is the icing on the cake to make Craig Wasson's sub plot as outstanding as it is. On a lighter note, Brooke Bundy, who plays Kristen's self centered mother here is in real life Tiffany Helm's (Violet from Friday the 13th Part 5) mother. |
| As you can tell, I was quite impressed with the cast here. I would like to take some time to recognize the efforts of the others involved though. Roy H Wagner (Return to Horror High, Witchboard) handles the cinematorgaphy. The film looks excellent throughout, all the nightmares throughout are given an intense atmophere. The effects are handled by a whole host of people, and the are innovative and scary here. They mix opticals, camera tricks, stop motion, and several mechanical and gore effects perfectly. To this day, the film seems hardly dated at all. Another point of interest for genre fans is the top notch score by frequent David Lynch colaborator Angelo Badalamenti. To me though, the most important element for the film's success was simply a great story. Wes Craven returns to Elm Street to flesh out the concept with Bruce Wagner. Frank Darabont (director of The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile) and Chuck Russell put the final touches on it, which turns out to be a beautifully layered and well paced story. |
| The film is now available on DVD as a standalone and as part of the Nightmare on Elm Street box set (which includes an excluive 8th disc full of features). Before that the film was released on video through media entertainment. The video contained video previews for the first two films and the video for Dokken's 'Dream Warriors' song. The DVD set also contains the video, as well as boasting a virtually flawless transfer and a 5.1 sound mix. A strange difference though, would be that Kristen is no longer listening to Warren Zevon's 'I'll sleep When I'm Dead' in the beginning, instead she cranks up Dokken's earlier hit 'Into the Fire' which is the one that's always been listed in the closing credits. The DVD is a must have for any fan of the film, as the movie looks so much better than the old Media copy that we're all used to playing to death. |
| I give this one a full 5 wizard masters out of 5! |
| review by Joe Canistro 07/16/2002 |
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