Since U Didn't Axe Me: "A Nightmare On Elm Street 5: The Dream Child" (1989) Review

With the success of "The Dream Master," New Line Cinema immediately got to work on the next installment. For better or worse, "A Nightmare On Elm Street 5: The Dream Child" is where the series took a dive into the wacky and ridiculous.

"The Dream Child" was written by John Skipp, Craig Spector, and Leslie Bohem. Stephen Hopkins, later of "Predator 2" and "Lost In Space" fame would cut his teeth directing this cartoony chapter in the "Nightmare" franchise.

Following the events of "The Dream Master," Alice and Dan get together and conceive a child. Quite abruptly, Alice discovers that Freddy Krueger is attempting to return, but she's not sure how. She doesn't have to be asleep for Freddy to reach her, and once she finds out that she's pregnant, Alice learns that Krueger get to her and her friends through her baby's dreams.

Admittedly, the plot is quite farfetched, and "The Dream Child" really plays out like a comic book on crack. The surrealism and fantastical elements that punctuated "The Dream Master" are ratcheted up to 11 this time, and I think it adds a lot of fun to this film. I'm sure other fans of "Nightmare" are opposed to the comical and off-the-wall take on Freddy Krueger, but I've never found it to be a deterrent in my ability to enjoy this one.

Lisa Wilcox returns as Alice, and does a good job playing the lead role and final girl character. Supporting characters such as Dan Haskel (Dan), Kelly Jo Minter (Yvonne), Erika Anderson (Greta), and Joe Seely (Mark) join Alice in her battle against Freddy. What's surprising to me is how minor characters from "The Dream Master" actually have arcs to follow in this entry. For instance, Alice's dad, Dennis (Nicholas Mele) is now sober after being an alcoholic in the previous film.

While the general consensus among Freddy fans is rather negative towards "The Dream Child," let's look at some of the positive aspects of the film. Similar to its predecessor, "Nightmare 5" excels at its visuals effects and dreamscape sequences. Since Freddy is able to torment Alice while she's awake, this really incites a lot of split-second nightmares that move the film along at a breakneck pace.

Secondly, I think the idea of Alice and her dealing with pregnancy is an interesting idea for a story, and not one you would normally associate with a horror film. Those story elements keep things fresh and gives "The Dream Child" a unique angle.

Robert Englund once again hams it up as Freddy Krueger. His one-liners are silly, but this is an 80s horror film, and it all fits. Englund seems a bit tired in some scenes--the death scenes in particular--but overall, his portrayal of Freddy has always been the foundation of the "Nightmare" films.

There are actually some callbacks to the other "Nightmare" movies too, which I think get overlooked. Freddy has one elongated arm when he makes his first appearance in the film--that's an homage to his introduction in the original "A Nightmare On Elm Street." The never-ending pit from "Dream Warriors" and "The Dream Master" shows up several times as well, and Freddy scratches his claws against things as he did in the original "Nightmare," too.

So what's bad in "The Dream Child," and why did I give this one such a low rating? My reasoning is that by this time, "A Nightmare On Elm Street" was running on fumes, and New Line was losing its Freddy fanbase. The script was literally pieced together page by page--that's how bad it was. The director has said that he would have to come up with ideas for the nightmare scenes on the spot, and somehow stitch together the story.

I have a lot to say about this one, strangely, and the fourth and fifth in the "Nightmare" series would probably be my own personal favorites in the series. They're so weird that it's intriguing to me how they were even filmed. There's plenty to dig into with "Nightmare 5," and I really think Freddy fans are unfair when they say it's a poor installment.

"A Nightmare On Elm Street 5: The Dream Child" is by no means an essential Freddy film. It's sort of like the extended universe for "Nightmare," but that's not entirely a bad thing. If you give it a chance, and just have fun watching the craziness play out, I'm sure you'll have a good time with this one.

The Good-