Nerds That Geek Movie Review – ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

‘It's a boy!’
- Freddy Krueger

While our children are indeed our future, their path is often uncertain. For despite the fact that we do our best to raise them as good people who will make the world a better place, there comes a point where they will become their own person and make their own decisions and choices in life.

Which means, they will either make us proud with their life choices or break our hearts by doing something terrible and it is the unknown aspect of how they are going to turn out, that straight up terrifies parents. Because we do want the best for our kids, but we simply don’t know if one bad day will turn them into a monster, and it is this intriguing idea of parents and kids and how they turn out that is central to one of the darkest films in the Elm Street franchise, A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child. 

Alice and her friends have moved on from their nightmares. In fact, after defeating Freddy Krueger and freeing all the souls he collected, Alice is taking the next steps in life toward adulthood... and motherhood. Because she and her boyfriend Danny will soon be parents and as she prepares herself for the impending bundle of joy, something from beyond has found a way to use her child to its advantage. For Krueger has returned and he will begin his killing again, by using the dreams of her unborn child to his advantage. And now, in order to defeat this ancient monster, Alice must search for the one thing in this world that may finally contain him... the remains of his mother.

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So, I made mention that this was one of the darkest films in the franchise and man it is. For this movie is the polar opposite of the last two. It’s gritty, angry and at times, extremely terrifying. But while the kills are satisfying, and quite unsettling, the true magic of this movie once again comes from Robert Englund. Sure, he has his patented one liners in the movie, but wow, he delivers them with such a sadistic darkness that it is clear that Freddy is out for revenge and that adds an ugly side to the character we have never seen before or again. 

Of course, the family related themes that I made mention of before, are on full display here as well, in unique fashion no less. Since they take the time to explore how some parents work to do damage control for how their children turned out, while others work to keep their kids on the straight and narrow. Since Amanda Krueger is working from beyond to stop her son from killing so many while Alice is working hard to keep her son from ending up like the monster that haunts her dreams. A pair of paths that come full circle near the end in an equally fascinating way, and it is quite nice to find such cerebral and relevant themes in a film from a franchise, that people considered to be nothing but splatter-y schlock at the time.
 
But sadly, this motion picture was not well received and understandably so. Because taking the time to go back to the franchise’s supremely twisted horror roots, surprised audiences everywhere. Because at this point, they were expecting more of the lighthearted fun and extravagant kills that were present in the prior two films. Instead they were treated to the bloodthirsty and nightmarish monster that we met in the original movie and that definitely turned some folks off. But the fact of the matter is, this is a solid horror film for certain and if you get the chance, revisit this one if you haven't in a while, or watch it if it is new to you. For it's truly a gem and absolutely worth your while.

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