{"id":3713,"date":"2011-10-25T14:15:30","date_gmt":"2011-10-25T18:15:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=3713"},"modified":"2011-10-25T14:15:30","modified_gmt":"2011-10-25T18:15:30","slug":"br-nightmare-on-elm-street-3-dream-warriors-a-1987","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=3713","title":{"rendered":"BR: Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, A (1987)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Return to: <\/strong>Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Blu-ray, DVD, Film Reviews<\/a> \/ <\/em>N to O<\/a><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Film: Good\/ DVD Transfer: Very Good\/ DVD Extras: Good<\/p>\n

Label: New Line \/ Warner Home Video\/ Region: All \/\u00a0Released: September 27, 2011<\/p>\n

Genre: Horror \/ Slasher<\/p>\n

Synopsis: \u00a0Freddy Krueger is challenged by the teens whose lives he seeks to destroy within their dream states.<\/p>\n

Special Features:<\/p>\n

Films: A Nightmare on Elm Street Parts II: Freddy\u2019s Revenge (1985) \/ Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)<\/div>\n
Extras:<\/div>\n
– Part II \u2013 4 Making-of featurettes: \u201cHeroes and Villains\u201d (6:22) +\u201dPsycho Sexual Circus\u201d (3:27) + \u201cThe Male Witch\u201d (2:46) + \u201cFreddy of 8th Street\u201d (5:29) \/ Theatrical Trailer<\/div>\n
– Part III \u2013 7 making-of featurettes: \u201cFan Mail\u201d(:45) + \u201cOnward Christian Soldiers\u201d (9:00_ + \u201cSnakes and Ladders\u201d (6:04) + \u201cTrading 8’s\u201d (4:10) + \u201cThat’s Show Biz\u201d +(2:00) + \u201cBurn Out\u201d (1:13) + \u201cThe House That Freddy Built\u201d (3:03) \/ Dokken: Dream Warriors Music Video (4:52) \/ Theatrical Trailer<\/div>\n

.<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Review:<\/p>\n

After blundering in Nightmare on Elm Street Part II<\/strong>, New Line went back to Wes Craven \u2013 literally \u2013 and extracted a script both he and Bruce Wagner (Wild Palms<\/strong>) wrote, pretty much ignoring Part II<\/strong>\u2019s characters and plot, where Freddy was able to possess and manifest himself into the real world through a surrogate host before being sent \u2018back to Hell.\u2019<\/p>\n

The script proved too dark, however, so brought in were Frank Darabont (The Walking Dead<\/a><\/strong> [M<\/a>]) and Chuck Russell, with Russell also signed up to direct his first feature film (after Craven passed on the project). As a debut, and as a more formal sequel, Nightmare on Elm Street Part III: Dream Warriors<\/strong> is much more satisfying, but the inclusion of a funnier Freddy with wry, mordant quips established the tone of subsequent entries, not to mention surreal dream sequences and more elaborate special effects.<\/p>\n

Whereas the writers of Part II<\/strong> used the old \u2018new family moving into the haunted house\u2019 plot, Part III<\/strong> caught up with the characters in post-traumatic stress mode: Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp) is a new shrink at a local sanitarium \/ dream clinic for troubled youths; and dad Thompson (John Saxon) is a security guard who uses booze to deal with his estranged parental relationship. Through a magical coincidence, Nancy discovers the youths all share the same tormentor in their dreams, and realizes like her, they\u2019re the children of the neighbours who expunged Freddy from Elm Street.<\/p>\n

Each kid has a certain power \u2013 they become their fantasy avatar with powers during dream states \u2013 and collectively they attempt to send Freddy back to Hell again, while Nancy\u2019s colleague Dr. Neil Gordon (Craig Wasson) and her father try and do right by purifying Freddy\u2019s remains to ensure spiritual peace under the spiritual influence of a mysterious white nun (character actress Nan Martin).<\/p>\n

At least Part III<\/strong> makes more sense than it\u2019s predecessor, and the writers \u2013 all four of them \u2013 wanted to build up some backstory regarding Freddy\u2019s \u2018conception by a thousand rapists.\u2019 It\u2019s the film that solidified Freddy as a new urban myth, and as Langenkamp recalls in the Blu-ray\u2019s interview, she realized the character had become a major pop culture figure when teens started to dress up as Freddy during Halloween celebrations.<\/p>\n

The popularity of the character probably helped sway her to return to the franchise (not to mention Craven\u2019s phone call, prior to writing the script around her character), and while Russell\u2019s direction makes superb use of the effects and production resources at hand, crafting several memorable death sequences for the teens, the film\u2019s also memorable for the cast of newcomers, many of whom branched out and achieved great success.<\/p>\n

Patricia Arquette\u2019s film debut showed her ability to convey a surprising level of sensitivity for an otherwise generic character; Laurence Fishburne\u2019s presence adds a bit more gravity to his generic attendant role; and Jennifer Rubin, also in her film debut, makes the most of an otherwise clich\u00e9d teen whose dream avatar is a black-clad rebel girl with a giant eighties Mohawk.<\/p>\n

Among the veteran cast is Priscilla Pointer (Dallas<\/strong>, Carrie<\/strong>), and both Dick Cavett and Zsa Zsa Gabor have a funny cameo, but balancing out the talent are the wobbly performances by Langenkamp (who not only looks absurdly young for her \u2018aged\u2019 character, but can\u2019t act) and Wasson (Body Double<\/strong>) \u2013 neither of whom are convincing, but add a special fromage factor to the tongue-in-cheek film.<\/p>\n

New Line\u2019s reworking of the franchise paid off, and while Craven stayed away for several years, once Freddy\u2019s antics and elaborate torments ran their course in the films and TV series, the auteur\u2019s return to his creation brought some needed sincerity back to the series in 1994.<\/p>\n

Warner Home Video\u2019s Blu-ray (which double-bills Part II<\/strong> and III<\/strong> together) features a nice HD transfer, and like the prior film, the surround mix isn\u2019t particularly aggressive, but it\u2019s a function blend of effects and minimalist synth score (this time handled by Twin Peaks<\/strong>\u2019 Angelo Badalamenti).<\/p>\n

Extras are again primarily culled from the \u201cWelcome to Primetime: documentary from the Bonus Disc that came with New Line\u2019s 8-disc, 1999 Nightmare Encyclopedia set, but the segments are more brief and rather choppy; the information is still functional and relevant, but it all feels like strategically extracted Q&A bits that really should be seen in their proper order within the original doc.<\/p>\n

Also added is the Dokken \u201cDream Warriors\u201d music video, which runs a shockingly 5+ minutes, and features a few extra shots of Freddy and Arquette that were filmed for the video to integrate the glamour band into existing sets. The theatrical teaser trailer builds on the simple brilliance that Larry Cohen applied to his It\u2019s Alive<\/strong>, with a single, fluid camera move around minimal props to drum up excitement for the latest franchise installment. MIA from the Blu is the DVD-Rom content from the 2000 DVD which contained a Trivia Game and the original script.<\/p>\n

As of this writing, Freddy Krueger has appeared in the following films: A Nightmare on Elm Street<\/strong> (1984),\u00a0Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy\u2019s Revenge<\/a> <\/strong>[M<\/a>] <\/strong>(1985), A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors <\/strong>(1987), A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master <\/strong>(1988), A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child <\/strong>(1989), Freddy\u2019s Dead: The Final Nightmare <\/strong>(1991), New Nightmare \/ <\/strong>aka Wes Craven\u2019s New Nightmare <\/strong>(1994), Freddy vs. Jason <\/strong>(2003), and the franchise reboot & remake, A Nightmare on Elm Street <\/strong>(2010). The character\u2019s other major appearance was the short-lived Freddy\u2019s Nightmares, <\/strong>which ran on Fox for two seasons between 1988-1990.<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 2011 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

External References<\/em>:<\/p>\n

IMDB <\/a>— Soundtrack Album<\/a> — Composer Filmography<\/a><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Blu-ray, DVD, Film Reviews<\/a> <\/em>\/\u00a0N to O<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Return to: Home \/\u00a0Blu-ray, DVD, Film Reviews \/ N to O . Film: Good\/ DVD Transfer: Very Good\/ DVD Extras: Good Label: New Line \/ Warner Home Video\/ Region: All \/\u00a0Released: September 27, 2011 Genre: Horror \/ Slasher Synopsis: \u00a0Freddy Krueger is challenged by the teens whose lives he seeks to destroy within their dream […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[18],"tags":[829,831,830,833,828,789,832,791,790,787],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-XT","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3713"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3713"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3713\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3717,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3713\/revisions\/3717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}