A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) New Line/Horror RT: 96 minutes Rated R (language, graphic violence, frightening images, brief nudity, drug content) Director: Chuck Russell Screenplay: Wes Craven, Bruce Wagner, Frank Darabont and Chuck Russell Music: Angelo Badalamenti Cinematography: Roy H. Wagner Release date: February 27, 1987 (US) Cast: Heather Langenkamp, Patricia Arquette, Larry Fishburne, Priscilla Pointer, Craig Wasson, Brooke Bundy, Bradley Gregg, Rodney Eastman, Ira Heiden, Nan Martin, Jennifer Rubin, Ken Sagoes, Penelope Sudrow, John Saxon, Dick Cavett, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Clayton Landey, Kristen Clayton. Box Office: $44.7 million (US)
Rating: ****
For me, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors is the best of the sequels. It’s awesome on many levels, but its biggest selling point is that Wes Craven co-wrote the screenplay. He’s the main reason that the 1984 original was so great. He doesn’t direct this time out; that duty falls to first-timer Chuck Russell (The Blob). He definitely does the material justice.
This is the one that established Freddy Krueger as a fun kind of mad slasher. A few of his one-liners are priceless. I went to see Dream Warriors on a cold Saturday night at the City Line Theater after I got off from work at a nearby supermarket. I took it as a good sign that the place was packed. There’s nothing quite like watching a new horror movie with an audience full of enthusiastic fans. Happily, I was not disappointed. This latest entry in the NOES series rocks!
Russell starts things off right with Dokken’s “Into the Fire” playing over the opening credits. The group also performs the main theme “Dream Warriors” which is still one of my favorite heavy metal tunes. I’m guessing that the makers took their inspiration from the previous summer’s Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives which featured songs by Alice Cooper. Of course, these are just incidentals. The main thing is that Dream Warriors tells a great story. Also, it follows the original premise of Freddy getting to his victims through their nightmares. That’s what made the first film such a stand-out. I’ll never understand the logic behind the second film dropping it in favor of bodily possession.
One of the best things about Dream Warriors is the return of Heather Langenkamp as Nancy Thompson. Six years have passed since her encounter and she’s the new dream therapist at Westin Hills Psychiatric Hospital. She has something in common with her teenage patients; can you guess what that might be? Freddy has resumed his murderous activities by invading the dreams of a new group of teens that happen to be the last of the “Elm Street Kids”, the children of the parents that burned Freddy to death.
Upon arriving at the hospital, Heather manages to calm hysterical new arrival Kristin (Arquette, True Romance), admitted by her mother after a perceived suicide attempt. She and the other teens- tough guy Kincaid (Sagoes), recovering drug addict Taryn (Rubin, The Crush), wheelchair bound Will (Heiden, Elvira, Mistress of the Dark), puppet maker Philip (Gregg, Class of 1999), aspiring actress Jennifer (Sudrow) and too-traumatized-to-speak Joey (Eastman, Deadly Weapon)- are plagued by nightmares starring the Gloved One himself. She, along with sympathetic doctor Neill (Wasson, Body Double), wants to help the kids by way of radical methods including an experimental drug (Hypnocil) and group dreaming through hypnosis. After Kristin pulls her into one of her nightmares, Nancy realizes that they have a strong advantage in defeating Freddy. Furthermore, each kid has his or her own special dream power. Together, they’re a force to be reckoned with.
It’s in this third chapter of the Freddy saga that we learn he’s “the bastard son of 100 maniacs”. A mysterious nun (Martin, Doctor Detroit) reveals this to Neill during one of their encounters. She further informs him that the only way to kill Freddy once and for all is to lay his remains to rest. Dream Warriors also marks the return of John Saxon as Nancy’s now-estranged policeman father.
In short, I love everything about this flick. The teens actually emerge as memorable characters rather than random victims-to-be. They’re all pretty cool, each in their own way. Taryn is a bad ass, Will is into the whole Dungeons and Dragons thing, Kincaid is street smart and Kristin has this inner strength that can’t be beat. The acting is exceptionally good for the genre. Langenkamp’s acting abilities have improved exponentially in the three years since the first movie. Englund is great as usual; he perfectly balances funny and frightening into a well-rounded boogeyman.
The special effects in Dream Warriors are also very good. There’s a scene where Freddy’s skeleton gets up and fights those attempting to give his remains a proper burial replete with holy water and a crucifix. It made me think of Ray Harryhausen’s work on Jason and the Argonauts. The killings are creative, each one punctuated by a classic Freddy one-liner. Sample, before smashing a victim’s through a TV screen, he says, “Welcome to prime time, bitch!”
Russell and the writing team, including Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption), inject a fair amount of humor into the gruesome proceedings. And what other horror flick can boast cameos by TV talk show host Dick Cavett and actress Zsa Zsa Gabor? The bottom line is this; Dream Warriors is great! It’s a worthy follow-up to Craven’s iconic fright flick. If only all horror sequels were this well-crafted. Ah, perchance to dream!
