La Fin de Freddy : L'Ultime Cauchemar

freddy's dead, jason goes to hell, mikey gets a razor in his candy?

this is the ultimate WTF? film. the beginning alone, with the map, and the computer stuff across the country, WTF?!? no returning characters, WTF? freddy riding a broomstick from wizard of oz, WTF?

some redeeming qualities: i don't like to know too much in horror stories, it's part of what makes them spooky, we learn too much of freddy here, though the flashbacks are well done, like the razor/pain thing

freddy has a daughter and that's why he went nuts, but we haven't heard of it until now, WTF? tom and rosey, WTF? that town is supposed to be where the last 5 films took place? WTF? demon ghost skulls? WTF? 3D (and i still have my 3D glasses from the theater), WTF? cheap excuses to amaze us in 3D??? WTF???

but... alas, it is fun to watch, and ultimately degrades the original and cheapens the franchise, but it is entertaining, a true guilty pleasure flick... though, why does it kill him here and not when nancy does it???

series rating: 2/10 guilty pleasure rating: 7/10

I have to give Rachel Talalay credit for this was a decent vehicle for her to make her directorial debut since she'd been affiliated with this series for years before making this movie, but the story couldn't have been weaker. Except for using the character of Freddy, Nightmare 6 bears no major consistency with it's predecessors. We never find out what happened to Alice and her baby. Freddy is starting with a new group of teenagers who aren't relevant to the previous five movies in any way which make them as victims and characters (and, in some cases, as actors) even more forgettable than this movie. Perhaps the only thing that makes this movie watchable is that eeriness that makes Freddy fearsome. The only good thing that can be said about the sequels to this movie is that the eerie element is present in all of them, but is negligible due to overly high body counts, weak stories, and comedy. They shouldn't have used the tagline: "They save the best for last," since I didn't think Freddy's death scene in this movie was a far cry from his previous five.

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+

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.

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