TheLittleSongbird The original 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' is still to me one of the scariest and best horror films there is, as well as a truly great film in its own right and introduced us to one of the genre's most iconic villains in Freddy Krueger. It is always difficult to do a sequel that lives up to a film as good as 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' let alone one to be on the same level.After the 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' series showed signs of severe fatigue, that it was suggestive of the series being completely dead, original director Wes Craven makes a welcome return and brings new, fresh life to the series. 'New Nightmare' may not be as good as the original, none of the follow-ups are (though two of the previous sequels, the third and fourth, were good), but it is the best of the follow-ups since the third and is one of the best in the series. 'New Nightmare' has its faults. Its biggest one is the ending, it is just ridiculous and jars tonally with the rest of the film, which took a darker and more serious direction (perhaps more so than the original). Count me in as another person who didn't care for Freddy's look here, it looks rather goofy and doesn't do Robert Englund's creepy performance and the way Freddy's written justice. Heather Langenkamp also seemed a bit bland and seemed rather anaemic for a character written more dramatically than previously. On the other hand, 'New Nightmare' looks very atmosphere and made with a good deal of style and slickness. The production design has a suitably nightmarish look and the special effects are great and perhaps superior to the original's. The music score is haunting.The writing may lack the one-liners seen before, but the more serious direction the dialogue took was appreciated after the fifth and sixth films did such a poor job with the one-liners and comedy. The dialogue isn't mind-blowing but it flows decently and intrigues at least. The semi-documentary-style adopted for some of the film is very interesting, making for one of the most original ideas of the follow-ups and the series overall too, while still delivering on the shocks, suspense and creepiness. Despite the goofy look for Freddy, Englund is very creepy and even with not much screen time he burns long in the memory. In summary, one of the series' better entries and worth staying awake for. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Eric Stevenson This film is notable for being the longest slasher movie ever made. Well, I believe there's a cut of a "Halloween" movie that's longer, but this is the longest I've seen. This ended up being one of the best in the series. I admit it wasn't anything like I thought it would be. The other actors besides Heather Langenkamp don't really have much of a role. It's still a good movie as it manages to be creative. I especially like when they're talking about how Freddy died in the last movie, yet they want to make another one. They did. It's the movie we just saw!This movie doesn't exactly featured Freddy escaping into the real world as it's technically a demon that takes on his persona that appears. Its true form is unknown. Honestly, it probably would have worked just as well if it was the real Freddy that escaped into the real world. The pacing in the film is quite impressive and I really was rooting for a happy ending. It's a nice little meta film and it's actually done pretty realistically. Nice film for the series' ten anniversary celebration. ***

Rainey Dawn Heather Langenkamp is back playing this time herself. She finds that Freddy is real - quite real and was not just a movie she made a few years back. Now can she play the role of Nancy Thompson again to save her son and herself? Well, it does have a few vibes of the original film only because Heather Langenkamp is back in it. But the story is not all that grand to me. This film undermines the original film because Heather Langenkamp is back but play herself, Heather Langenkamp and not as Nancy Thompson. Basically this film says that the original film never did happen, in fact it says that NONE of the sequels happened either. This film just blows the entire franchise or "Elm Street Universe" out of the water. If Heather was back playing the actual role of Nancy again and not herself then I would have liked this film better.It's just OK.4/10

Realrockerhalloween Wes Craven is still the master of horror who created a masterpiece after watching all the movies in the series and couldn't follow the continuation set up.His genius mind went further by having the dream stalker haunt the real life actors and caste that created the original film.Taking the real life stalking incident involving Heather Lengkemp and the L.A earthquakes to invoke haunting imagery that makes you question if Freddy is real or is she being driven crazy by a maniacal madman who will stop at nothing to have Heather to himself.You can tell that Wes cared about the source he originally created by making it scary again. The scene were Heather falls into her husband's casket only for him to come alive have me the heevie jeebies. Freddy is the real life boogeyman that pops out from closets and underneath beds to eat or kill you. That way he was meant to be.Adding Heather's family was a tad bit recycled yet I loved how each one was involved or used in different ways. Chase who is the boulder and holds the household together. Heather our heroine in this center piece and her son Dylan who may or may not be a shell for Freddy to possess.Coming out during The scream era it does have a few nods t I other films or acknowledges they exist.The lighting is perfect, features the best acting in any of the films and delivered a suspenseful roller coaster ride that doesn't disappoint.If your tired of bad sequels and remakes check out new Nightmare.It will thrill you, chill You and may even kill you.