Writer: Wes Craven, Bruce Wagner, Frank Darabont, Chuck Russell (Screenplay) Wes Craven, Bruce Wagner (Story)
Starring: Heather Langenkamp, Craig Wasson, Patricia Arquette, Robert Englund, Ken Sagoes, Rodney Eastman, Jennifer Rubin, Bradley Gregg, Laurence Fishburne
Plot: Survivors of undead serial killer Freddy Krueger – who stalks his victims in their dreams – learn to take control of their own dreams in order to fight back.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Building the Legacy
Story: A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors starts with Kristen (Arquette) a creative teenage girl being forced into sleep by her mother, where she ends up entering into a dream world she has never seen before. Kristen meets a little girl that she tries to save while being chased down by Freddy (Englund) before being left in the situation where it looks like she tried to kill herself.
We hear that the teenagers have being committing suicide and with Kristen ending up in a psychiatric hospital where all the kids have sleeping disorders. The hospital staff Doctor Gordon (Wasson) believe to have everything under control but a new member is joining the team none other than Nancy (Langenkamp) (So forget whatever you might have heard in the last film about her) who has been receive high praise for her work with children with sleeping disorders.
As Kristen’s nightmares continue she calls for Nancy giving Nancy a chance to meet back up with her old enemy Freddy Krueger. Nancy learns that Kristen has the ability to call people into her dreams. Nancy has to convince the surviving members of the group to work together to finally take Freddy out for good.
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors brings the story back to where we want it to be, we have returning characters in Nancy and her father, which does end up making most of the previous film almost pointless. This feels like the sequel the first film did deserve to have where Nancy has learnt to deal with the Freddy problem and is teaching other people how to fight him. We do get to look deeper into the Freddy origin story which I do know is too extend the story but what we learn does help with his characteristics. Sure this doesn’t live up to the original but it does bring the scares back to the level we are expecting that the second one lost. This will be considered the best sequel in the franchise too. (7/10)
Actor Review
Heather Langenkamp: Nancy Thompson is our returning heroine who has studied dream theory and has come to the hospital where she wants to help the children struggling with the nightmares that Freddy keeps appearing in. bringing Heather was a huge plus for this film because you finally get to see the effects of the first film had on her life. Heather does a good job as the one teaching people about Freddy. (7/10)
Robert Englund: Freddy Krueger continues to haunt the children of Elm Street and this time he has become stronger making the children commit suicide, but this time he comes up against an old enemy in Nancy. Robert is showing why we all love the Krueger character with another good performance here. (7/10)
Patricia Arquette: Kristen Parker is the target Freddy is after who has the ability to call people into her dreams to help fight the treat Freddy brings to her friends. Patricia showed that she was a star in the making that could easily get out of the horror genre with this performance. (7/10)
Craig Wasson: Neil Gordon is the doctor who likes to do things by the book but manages to get convinced by Nancy to think outside the box when it comes to treating the children. Craig gives a solid performance as the side solver of the problem. (6/10)
Support Cast: A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors has a supporting cast that includes all the other kids in the hospital dealing with the sleeping disorder some become victims while others help in the fight.
Director Review: Chuck Russell – Chuck does a good job bring the franchise back onto the right path with this good sequel to the classic. (7/10)
Horror: A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors doesn’t reach the same horror levels as the original but does bring the franchise back to the horror we would like to see. (7/10)
Settings: A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors brings the horror of not being able to sleep into the world where we only see doctors trying to solve the problem rather than thinking they are just being troublesome kids. (8/10)
Special Effects: A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors has some great effects with the kills and Freddy nightmare scenes. (9/10)
Suggestion: A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors is one to watch and if you only see one sequel to the original this would be the one to see. (Franchise Must Watch)
Best Part: Bringing back Nancy.
Worst Part: Makes the second film pointless.
Kill Of The Film: Phillip, easily the most memorable of the whole franchise.
Believability: No (0/10)
Chances of Tears: No (0/10)
Chances of Sequel: Franchise still going strong with number 3 here
Post Credits Scene: No
Oscar Chances: No
Box Office: $45 Million
Budget: $4.5 Million
Runtime: 1 Hour 38 Minutes
Tagline: If you think you’ll get out alive, You must be dreaming.
Trivia: First writing credit for Oscar-nominated writer/director Frank Darabont.
Overall: The best sequel in the franchise that opens the doors to all the future films.
Rating