Heather Langenkamp as Dr. Nancy Thompson
Patricia Arquette as Kristen Parker
Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger
Jennifer Rubin as Taryn White
Craig Wasson as Dr. Neil Gordon
Ken Sagoes as Roland Kincaid
Rodney Eastman as Joey Crusel
Bradley Gregg as Phillip Anderson
Ira Heiden as Will Stanton
Laurence Fishburne as Max Daniels
Penelope Sudrow as Jennifer Caulfield
John Saxon as Donald Thompson
Priscilla Pointer as Dr. Elizabeth Simms
Even though the results were mixed for Freddy's Revenge, it still was a pretty big hit for New Line. This time, however, they took their time, got Wes Craven to write at least the first draft of a screenplay (it was later revised into what the film shows by Frank Darabont and director Chuck Russell). While the result ultimately led to the joker that Freddy would become, it is still a sequel that does everything a sequel should do. For better or worse, this is the film where Freddy went Hollywood.
The film certainly has more of a Hollywood look than the previous too films. A lot of the grime is gone not only from Mr. Krueger himself, but from the cinematography. The higher budget shows as we get bigger set-pieces, improved (in some ways) special effects and a more stylized approach from Russell than we're used to from Wes Craven and Jack Sholder. It just looks more like a Hollywood horror film than its predecessors. This is merely a comment on that fact, not a criticism.
The film sees Freddy stalking his latest prey, setting it up to look like a suicide when she awakes. Kristen is one of the last children of the parents who burned him alive, and he's trying to pick them off one by one to finally get his revenge. It's curious as to why Freddy would want all of his victims inside a psychiatric ward instead of just killing them outright, but considering how powerful he becomes, he probably was just confident they couldn't beat him. In fact, if not for outside help, the kids never would have stood a chance.
That outside help comes from Nancy Thompson, making her return to the series. In the first film, Heather Langenkamp played Nancy as a resourceful teen. In this film she's a little older and a little wiser. She works with Dr. Gordon (Wasson) and in spite of Dr. Simms (Pointer) to help the "Dream Warriors" discover their powers and take down the real reason they're all locked up. I like that even as an older version of the same character, she still has many of the traits that made her so popular to begin with.
This film marks another change in the Nightmare series, as the kills become more elaborate. As Freddy became more of a joker, his kills became more about special effects to suit the lighter tone. That doesn't mean they're any less vicious or gory, just more fantastical. Phillips death involves Freddy slicing out his tendons and walking him to his death like a puppet. Jennifer has her head shoved in a TV...that's mounted high up on a wall. Freddy's still as mean-spirited as ever.
If this film has any flaws, it's that the "Dream Warriors" concept is never played up enough. Some of the kids get really silly powers and get picked off easily (the "Wizard Master" remains one of the franchise's lowest moments) and the others never get a chance to prove how good those powers are because Freddy is already too powerful. The concept is used again in The Dream Master to a greater effect.
However, this is probably the best true Nightmare sequel in the franchise. It ties up loose ends, it brings back old characters and more than anything else it's the most fun. Freddy was just the right amount of sick and silly to provide an entertaining popcorn horror film.
Score: 8.0
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