नाइटमेयर ऑन एल्म स्ट्रीट ४: ड्रीम सास्टर

This doesn't have the well-known cast of the previous Nightmare 3 movie but the special effects are still good.....each very different and some of them very funny. They make this perhaps the most entertaining entry in the series.

Memorable scenes include a junkyard, a water bed, a classroom, faces in a pizza, a girl bench pressing and faces coming out of Freddy's flesh. The storyline, however, features its usual dumb and ridiculous theology and has its usual share of unlikable obnoxious teens. Their parents weren't pictured as any better, perhaps worse.

In fact, the kids and parents are so bad you wind up rooting for Freddy to do them in. Perhaps that's the idea!

The original 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' is still to me one of the scariest and best horror films there is, as well as a truly great film in its own right and introduced us to one of the genre's most iconic villains in Freddy Krueger. It is always difficult to do a sequel that lives up to a film as good as 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' let alone one to be on the same level.

While the best of the sequels from personal opinion is the third, the fourth one is another one of the series' better sequels. Like the third film it is not on the same level as the original, a very difficult feat, but it does have enough of what is a large appeal of the original and why it works so well. Not perfect, but a lot of very good things.

'The Dream Master' is not without its flaws. With a couple of exceptions, the acting is largely wooden (while not the worst offender as such, Tuesday Knight is no Patricia Arquette) and the beginning rock song is really cheesy and feels out of place. The story at times gets a little silly.

However, Lisa Wilcox is a winning lead and Robert Englund continues to terrify as the iconic character that epitomises "what nightmares are made of". 'The Dream Master' is to me the second best directed sequel, courtesy of Renny Harlin, giving a potentially clichéd premise freshness and imagination.

Special effects are neatly executed. The humour is darkly comic and very funny and there are some wickedly cracking one-liners. The scares are aplenty and they are legitimately creepy with some cool deaths (the water bed one is a strong example) and amazing dream sequences thrown into the mix. Alice being flung into the on-screen action from the cinema balcony is one of the series' most marvellous highlights.

It's a beautifully photographed film, particularly the dream sequences, and is the most unique-looking 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' sequel with its European art-horror visual style. The production design is both dream-like and nightmare while the music is suitably haunting.

Overall, good sequel and one of the series' better ones. 7/10 Bethany Cox

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, the fourth installment in the Nightmare on Elm Street series. I was lucky enough to get the boxed DVD set of Nightmare on Elm Street series and I just finished all the sequels and while the fourth isn't a bad sequel or continuation of the story, it was pretty silly. It was cool to continue on with the dream warriors who were clever enough to defeat Freddy in the third Nightmare on Elm Street. But Freddy's back and he is more ticked off than ever and you know that's not good. But while the story was a good idea, the way it was executed, I wasn't really that into it, just the acting I think is what killed it for me. The way the movie was made was what made it feel like it was more of a cheesy TV show like on the Sci-fi Channel than an actual movie.

We start off where the third installment of the Nightmare on Elm Street series left off, the kids from the hospital are now grown up and are all on their own. But they are quickly killed off by Freddy hoping to get Kirsten back to help them, but they are too late. But when Kirsten finds a girl, Alice, she finds out that Alice has the same powers as she does. She has the ability to pull other people into her dreams and of course Alice is scared to find out how to use her powers, but she may just have to use them since Freddy is now after her and other kids too.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master was a good enough sequel, but it just could have been better. I liked it, but so far it's not my top favorite sequel. Again, we've got some very cool deaths, don't think I could choose one, I think the water bed one was very cool. But once again, I don't wanna spoil it. Of course if you wanna see the Nightmare on Elm Street sequels, this is recommended, but as a horror movie on it's own, it's OK.

6/10

The Best in the industry (at the time) were responsible for the stunning special effects. The special and practical effects together with the incredible make-up never disappoints in this series.

Several characters from 'A Nightmare on Elm Street 3' including Kirsten, Joey and Kincaid return. Joey and Kincaid are once again portrayed by Rodney Eastman and Ken Sagoes, but Kirsten is now played by Tuesday Knight, and unfortunately she wasn't as good as Patricia Arquette.

With Nancy gone and Kirsten not lasting very long, Alice (Lisa Wilcox) becomes the new heroin, having received Kirsten's powers of bringing people into dreams. Alice has a dream-like presence, which works so well for the movie. She has a crush on hunky Dan (Danny Hassel). This film brings an end to the last of the Elm Street children, and having tricked Kirsten, Freddy now has new victims to torment.

The film blends humour and horror amazingly well, without the humour getting in the way of the action or suspense. Ha-ha, and there's a dog named Jason in a Freddy movie!! Classic!

With 'A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master' having nice characters, a good story, fantastic effects, and being atmospheric, this almost felt like it ought to have been the start of a franchise, and not the fourth film in a franchise. The effects are hands down the best since the original and some of the best yet for an 80's horror movie in general. Made almost four decades ago, the effects are still incredible. This was also the best in the series since the original. This was awesome!

The stage curtains open ...

For whatever reason, this 4th installment in the Elm Street series is my personal favorite. Maybe it's because it was directed by Renny Harlin who has a certain flair for action sequences. Maybe it's because I adore Lisa Wilcox and her character Alice, and the fact that she kicked some butt. Maybe it's because the supporting cast of teens really seemed like a tight knit group of friends having fun making this movie. Maybe it's because of the amazing visuals we were treated to. I don't know why exactly, but I absolutely loved "A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 - The Dream Master".

Having survived the events of the 3rd film, Kristen has formed a new circle of friends and is back in school with a boyfriend. Sensing that there is something wrong, she finds herself back in Freddy's nightmareland and he draws upon her power to pull in "fresh meat" so that he can start all over again. Alice, her best friend, is the silent, recluse type who is doing her best to hold things together at home. As the friends around her begin to die, she assumes their individual powers, sheds her fears, and faces Freddy for a winner-takes-all battle.

The transformation of Alice in this movie was the compelling story line, and the final confrontation delivers all the goods. Behind tight direction and good editing, we are given some outstanding visuals and memorable scenes. One of which was the movie theater scene where Alice is sucked into the silver screen. The acting in this one was a bit better than the previous installments, and this bunch of teen friends were people I actually cared about.

I highly recommend this movie at a very strong 8 stars out of 10. It is my personal favorite in the series - maybe because it's the perfect blend of everything I mentioned earlier. And as such, it still holds up pretty well since it was first released in 1988. "The Dream Master" is a winner.