Las pesadillas de Freddy

I remember the Freddy's Nightmares series very well (and recently looked into some videos that were released years ago). True, they did sell out after the third movie and turned Freddy into a cartoonish character, but the cartoonish character was perfect for the small screen. The first episode, "No More Mr. Nice Guy," mistells the story in every way (you'd think Tobe Hooper would've watched the first movie before he shot the episode), but after the show took off, the stories became more entertaining. The sequel to "Mr. Nice Guy," "Sister's Keeper," was one of my favorite episodes (though I haven't seen it in years). Some shows had little-known guest stars (such as Brad Pitt) and some featured old favorites (such as Tony Dow). Most Elm Street fans say this show was a huge disappointment (and in a way it was), but it gave Freddy another medium to wreak havok in, so I applaud their efforts.

This will likely be as unpopular as my review of NOES 2 but this show was just fun. While corny and much lower budget than the movies it became a cheeky sort of Twilight Zone with more horror tones to it. Other than the first episode and its series sequel Freddy is merely a narrator, ala the Crypt Keeper but this allows the show to be something different and show a hell of Freddy's creation without being just another Freddy act. The show had great, creepy atmosphere (something helped by the cheesiness of it, much in the style of the 80's Pet Sematary) and it had a dreamy feel which every movie sequel after the second one slowly lost. Judge against the mostly junk coming out these days and this one was a charming epitome of its time and though it tried to be mostly silly actually had a creepiness about it despite itself. This is more the equivalent of what it would be like if Freddy mostly just toyed with you and trapped you in your own head without showing up himself in most cases. It's a must watch for fans of horror with a lot of faces to spot and recognize from future roles. Maybe I'm overly nostalgic and remembering recording with my big, clunky VCR and editing out the commercials via my little corded VCR remote control but if you trust the opinion of a long time horror fan then treat yourself to this series at least once!

Definitely nostalgic, and I liked the bridge between the first segment and the second one through a minor character in the first segment having more prominence in the second one. Sure, some episodes lacked the Freddy element, but still worth reflecting upon.

This series was started after the awful Nightmare on Elm Street 4. Freddy's original character was by now completely obscured by feeble wisecracks and, of course, the money-minded dross industry who realized they had a cash cow on their hands. Actually, some of the episodes in this series are better than some of the later Freddy films. 'End of the World' is an interesting and thought-provoking tale about the nuclear threat. There are also other strong episodes involving crystals which can turn daydreams into nightmarish reality, machines capable of watching dreams and the like. The pilot episode re-writes the Freddy myth but is still entertaining and well-made.

However, there are also a lot of episodes which are no more than an excuse for a series of rather unimaginative surreal images and occasional unfunny 'jokes' from Freddy. These come across as very tedious. 'Saturday Night Special', for example, is just complete trash.

But if you can get hold of the better episodes then do so, as they make good viewing.

I'm not surprised that there was a television series of Freddy Kruegar. After all, out of him, Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees, Kruegar was the only one with any personality. Hence, why he had his own series. There was some potential but the low budget, the lack of talented actors (except for Robert Englund) and poor storytelling all ensured that the results would be disappointing. The sets in the episodes look so bland and non- descript, they don't resemble anything from real life. Robert Englund is billed first and that was the correct decision as he is the one who sells the series. Each episode begins with Freddy introducing the story from his boiler room and makes an occasional appearance during the episode. For obvious reasons, Freddy's evil behaviour is toned down for television audiences. I don't really like the episodes that I have seen. The only one I can think of that was remotely watchable, was the opening one when Freddy tells his own story about how he ended up the way he did. The show does have a dark and macabre sense of humour which is made bearable by Robert Englund. He is great to watch but the rest is poor.