So Freddy Krueger has spent two movies terrorizing teens in their dreams. One was good, one was not so good. Now for the third film, originally written by the writer/director of the first film, Wes Craven, changes it up by bringing back characters, changing the setting, and adding humor more to the central storyline and characterizations of Freddy. So let's get started.
Plot:
We meet Kristen Parker, a struggling teen from a bad family having nightmares with Freddy in them. Her mother puts her in a mental hospital of sorts where she can be psychologically examined and get help with sleep, peacefulness, and so on. We are introduced one by one to the patients, most of which have repeated suicide attempts. We even hear of an ex-patient that took scissors and cut his eyelids off.
After Kristen refuses sedation we are re-introduced to Nancy Thompson, the protagonist from the first film. She is now a doctor out to help kids with the same problems she had. It is later revealed that her mother did die and that her father pretty much lost his mind and his job. Her methods of helping Kristen by finishing the Freddy song stuns Dr. Niel Gordon, the lead doctor trying to help these kids.
That first night Kristen has a nightmare. She pulls Nancy into the dream psysically. Freddy recognizes Nancy and Kristen and Nancy escape. Kristen says she used to do the same thing with her father until he divorced her mother. Freddy, a little later, manages to get a few kids, whether they imitate puppets or get smashed into a TV, one of the best death scenes ever, by the way, and this worries Gordon.
At one point Gordon notices a medicine that Nancy takes that keeps her from dreaming when she sleeps. She repeatedly suggests to Dr. Gordon and the other main doctor, Dr. Elizabeth Simms. Nancy and Niel eventually realize that the best method to trying to defeat Freddy and save the kids is to try the drug behind the back of Dr. Simms.
After one therapy session this method begins to work a bit, until Joey, a patient who refuses to speak, has a dream where a nurse seduces him, then spits tounges out at him which tie him to a bed, then the nurse turns into Freddy and puts him over a pit of the underworld. Joey, in the real world, has in fact gone into a coma and is in threat of death unless he recovers.
Gordon and Nancy are told that they must leave the facility after Simms finds out about the experimental drug. On his way out, Gordon meets a nun who tells him the backstory of Freddy. She says that a nurse, Amanda Krueger, was locked up in the ward during the Christmas holidays and was raped repeatedly by the 100 inmates. Her son, Freddy, was born soon after she was let out. And ever since, he is known as something I can't type here. She also says that Kruger's body is hiding somewhere and was never properly buried. She also instructs him how to truly bury him.
Kristen once again refuses sedation and is put in the quiet room where she is sedated. Neil tells Nancy about the nun and she says one person who knows where Kruger's body is is her father, Lieutenant Thompson, who is now a security guard. After a rough meeting, he and Niel head off to bury Kruger and Nancy goes to help the kids.
Nancy has them fall asleep to find Joey and Kristen. Freddy separates the kids and kills two of them. Kristen, Nancy, and Kinkaid, a black teen with super duper aggressive issues, are left. They find Joey and Freddy and save Joey before Freddy can kill him. Then he disappears to posess the body of his corpse, which is being dug up and properly buried.
At the junkyard where Freddy is, the skelton of Freddy attacks and impales Thompson and knocks out Neil. The kids manage to get Freddy to disappear again for a little while when Joey screams at him, the first sound he makes in the movie. Then Thomspon's spirit appears in front of Nancy. He reveals himself as Freddy and stabbs her. Nancy survives long enough to stop him from killing Kristen. Then Neil becomes consious again and properly buries Freddy. Nancy dies right after.
At her funeral, Neil follows the nun until she vanishes. He sees a gravestone marked with her name, with Amanda Krueger marked above it.
So now for the grading scale:
Acting: 7 out of 10. If the actors aren't annoying, they are super committed to the script and do a tremendous job.
Entertainment: 8 out of 10. Truly a great entertaining film.
Screenplay: 8 out of 10. Very smart.
Directing: 7 out of 10. Suprisingly well done by newcomer Chuck Russell.
Technical Credits: 10 out of 10. Truly brilliant.
Genre Fit: 7 out of 10. Quite comedic at times, but mostly horror.
MPAA Rating: 7 out of 10. Sometimes a hard R rated film, but it's fine.
Stupid Scenes: 6 out of 10. A few really, really cheezy lines.
Deeper Message: 4 out of 10. Nancy's lines sometimes suggest many good things.
Beginning: 22 out of 30. Pretty good.
Middle: 23 out of 30. The same.
Ending: 26 out of 30. Much better.
Final Rating: 145/180 or 81%. An A-, surprisingly. Good film, big time.
Replies
I haven't seen the old movies but i saw the most recent new one. It was scary the first time i saw it but it really isn't one of my favorite movies.