Wes Craven's New Nightmare

Over the last couple of weeks I've been revisiting the Nightmare On Elm Street series. And like with most franchises, the series kind of got stale near the end. But in 1994, Elm Street creator Wes Craven returned to the series and made a fresh spin on it with Wes Craven's New Nightmare.

This time around the film focuses on Heather Langenkamp, playing herself, who played the hero Nancy in the first and third Elm Street films. She is happily married to a special effects creator and has a son, Miko Hughes. She begins to have nightmares and harassing phone calls, plus some odd behavior from her kid, around the same time that she is approached to reprise her most famous role. She is reluctant to return especially after talking with her former costars, Robert Englund and John Saxon, and director, Craven , and discovers that they too have been experiencing some strange occurrences as well.

This is one smart, meta movie. Craven successfully reinvented the franchise in a very original take. And he does so by not alienating the fans that made the series the success it was. He even throws in a few subtle references to the original films. The cast seems to be having fun playing themselves. Langenkamp is especially good.

With that being said, New Nightmare failed to find an audience upon its release. I think most audiences might have had Freddy fatigue by this time and passed. Which is a shame since it's one of the most clever from the franchise.

It's available on dvd and blu ray.