La Fin de Freddy : L'Ultime Cauchemar

RELEASED IN 1991 and directed by Rachel Talalay, "Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare" (aka "A Nightmare on Elm Street 6: The Dream Lover") focuses on the last survivor of Freddy's vengeful assaults on the teens of the parents that vengefully killed him in Springwood, OH. The amnesiac (Shon Greenblatt) finds sanctuary at a home for troubled youths where three of the kids plan to escape (Lezlie Deane, Breckin Meyer & Ricky Dean Logan). Dr. Maggie Burroughs (Lisa Zane) takes John and (inadvertently) the three escapees to Springwood to find answers where they discover that Freddy had a child whom he wants to use to continue his murders. Who is his child?

The element concerning the halfway house for messed-up kids is borrowed from "Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning" (1985), but "Freddy's Dead" isn't as effective because (1.) the characters aren't as interesting, (2.) the plot is convoluted, and (3.) the female cast is inferior. Don't get me wrong on that last one, because Lisa Zane is stalwart and Lezlie Deane (as Tracy) is formidable. Deane, incidentally, was a former Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader (fired after six weeks for punching a choreographer) and went on to perform with the lipstick-lesbian band Fem2Fem in the mid-90s (big surprise) and, later, Scary Cherry and the Bang Bangs.

In light of the complicated story, this sixth installment might play better with repeat viewings. It's likable and worthy in some ways, but it's (currently) my least favorite of the first six films in the "Nightmare" series.

THE MOVIE RUNS 89 minutes and was shot in Sierra Madre & Los Angeles, California. WRITERS: Michael De Luca (screenplay) and Talalay (story). ADDITIONAL CAST: Yaphet Kotto plays a counselor at the shelter.

GRADE: C+

My least favorite of the entire series. While not a total loss, you do come away feeling cheated. The redeeming qualities of this flick are: the continued exploration into Freddy's past. (HELLO NEW LINE - DO THE NIGHTMARE PREQUEL - IF YOU MAKE IT WE WILL COME!) This was one whacked joker. The 3D sequences were good, but the ending totally blew.

Pros: Opening Sequence -- Cons: Ending -- Bottom Line: Still better than alot of other horror crud 5/10!

Well, I hate to spoil the movie for you but Freddy dies in this one. For what should've have been a grand finale to the series ends up only okay at best. The body count is low and there is just general goofiness all around. Freddy is a joker, and is not threatening at all. I suppose this makes some sense, because with all the power Freddy had it would only take a matter of time before he got so cynical in his killings. Just getting the job done, and having a good laugh while at it.

Since the series has been such a success, there actually is a budget on this and there's good Special Effects. But even with all the effects, it'll be the clever camera tricks that will have you thinking "how'd they do that?" There are only 3 deaths but they are pretty good and creative ones at least. In part 5 a kid is sucked into a comic book, in this one a kid is sucked into a video game. The results of this are way better than in part 5.

Then there's the plot- which is stupid. But at this point in the Nightmare On Elm Street series, you can't expect anything good. It's reached the point of campiness and for some reason I just went with it in Freddy's Dead. It's a goofy, somewhat enjoyable flick that I'm sort of on the fence about. It's not scary at all but it will keep you entertained, unlike Parts 2 and 5.

My Rating: 5/10

Often people will have low expectations going into a film like FREDDY'S DEAD: THE FINAL NIGHTMARE. How good can the sixth installment of any series be, let alone a string of low-budget frightfests? Yet I am not of the belief that horror series are doomed to run out of steam. Heck, I think Friday THE 13TH got better with age. But although I had an open mind while watching what was supposedly the last NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET film, I found it a bitter disappointment in every way.

Once again, our favorite grotesquely-disfigured dream stalker is after a group of teens, dispatching them one by one as they sleep. Yet none of the creativity or style of the previous films is present. Whatever happened to sequences such as the waterbed from Part 4 or the marionette from Part 3? It's as though producers cobbled this together just for the sake of making another Freddy film.

Other shortcomings abound. While other NIGHTMARE entries have been nothing short of brilliant at making the most of a limited budget, FREDDY'S DEAD looks the cheapest of them all. This is especially true when we see a younger Freddy meet the computer-generated dream spirits. It was reminiscent of a third-rate Saturday morning children's show. Humor was attempted here, with cameos by Johnny Depp and Roseann Arnold and a video game sequence with Freddy at the joystick, but it all falls flat. The acting is stale and Rachal Talalay directorial debut uninspired.

The finale is a particular disappointment. Of all the memorable ways Freddy has been killed in previous films, is having his daughter turn his own glove against him the best they could come up with? Granted, the idea of bringing the killer into the real world was a good one, but its potential was not fully explored.

Overall FREDDY'S DEAD is arguably one of the worst -- if not the worst -- films in this popular saga. And yes, that includes Part 2 and the overly artsy DREAM CHILD. One has to believe that if they had it to do all over again, the people behind this film could come up with something a lot better than this.

This film is terrible. I really can't understand why they changed Krueger from a mass murdering scary figure to a Jerry Lewis clone. They should have given the role of Krueger to Robin Williams. At least he is good at comedy. That would be something I would pay to see. I have seen the first Nightmare about 50 times, I have seen Craven's last one maybe 5 times, the others are just a waste of time and they are not even worth one viewing. I can't tell you how much I despise the way that horror films have evolved. From all of the Fridays after the fourth, all the Nightmares after the first and before the last and all the Scream clones, they are mostly terrible. There have really only been perhaps 3 films in the 90's that scared me. One was Wes' New Nightmare and the two others are this summer's biggest surprises, that being The Blair Witch Project and The Sixth Sense. They are movies that scare, chill and make you jump in ways that this and every other Nightmare could only dream of. If you have a morbid curiosity of what else I think of this film, review A Nightmare On Elm Street, Halloween and Texas Chainsaw Massacre along with the other two films that I mentioned. Then you will see that those films are the exact opposite of what this one if. And that is a scary thought. I just hope that horror films are on the rise again seeing as we now have names like Myrick, Sanchez and Shyalaman that have emerged onto the scene. Perhaps they can bring us back to what horror films used to stand for. We used to have scares and chills, now we have comedy in place of all that is a horror movie. If that is your thing then watch this one along with movies like Idle Hands. But if you are a purist, stay away from this one and go rent some classics. Thank the movie Gods for video.

To sum it up, in case you didn't get it, this is a disgrace to what Freddy originally stood for. This is a terrible horror movie.