A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge
Someone is coming back to Elm Street!
Overview
A new family moves into the house on Elm Street, and before long, the kids are again having nightmares about deceased child murderer Freddy Krueger. This time, Freddy attempts to possess a teenage boy to cause havoc in the real world, and can only be overcome if the boy's sweetheart can master her fear.
One of the best 80’s horror flicks by far, Freddy’s Revenge is unlike any other horror movie you have ever seen.
Out of the 7 original Freddy movies (we can later add the remake and Freddy vs. Jason to be purists), Freddy’s Revenge is often overlooked, hated, or neglected by Freddy fans. But why when there is so much awesome going on in this movie?
I was one of many who would literally skip this movie during Freddy marathons (for over 20 years) until earlier this year when I watched Freddy’s Revenge with new eyes.
Freddy’s Revenge is about a boy, Jesse, who’s family moves in to Nancy’s big white house on good ole’ Elm St. Die hard fans often criticize this movie because it does not follow suit. We learn in the first movie that the parents of the children on Elm St. killed Freddy and he now returns in their dreams to kill them, however, this only (and specifically) applies to the kids on Elm St.
In Freddy’s Revenge, Jesse is not a child of Elm St., we can consider him someone passing through being thrown in to something he never wanted to be a part of.
The movie starts with Jesse having a nightmare about being trapped on a “school bus to hell”. He wakes releasing a blood-curdling scream.
Mommy, why can’t Jesse wake up like everyone else?
Says his sister Sara at the kitchen table as she eats her “Fu Man Chew” boxed cereal.
By moving in to Nancy’s house, sleeping in her room, and finding/reading her diary in the closet, Jesse has opened himself up to a Freddy none of us have known before. A Freddy that wants to not kill Jesse but take over his body.
You’ve got the body, I’ve got the brain.
Jesse, just like any teen with internal demons, has a hard time talking about this. He stuffs it down. Freddy continues to seduce him and before you know it, Jesse is in a gay leather bar where he runs in to his coach (Schneider). Yes, this movie has a ton of homoerotic undertones. It is often discussed so you are probably familiar, but this is just one more reason the movie is awesome.
Heat is an issue. First the house is hot and the birds aren’t happy. Over 90 degree’s = psycho birds. This may be paying homage to Hitchcock (I would suspect) as the parakeet fly’s around the room inflicting cuts and pain with its tiny sharp birdie feet.
The heat let’s us viewers know that a “crossover” is happening between Jesse’s character and Freddy attempting to enter the world as we know it.
The heat also surges when Jesse and the coach return to the school. We see red glowing doors and a mist in the gym followed by the super hot gym shower.
Finally, the pool party scene, swimmers complain that the water is heating up and hot dogs begin to explode in to flames.
Freddy tries to cross over to the “real world” from the dream world by taking over Jesse’s body. The story is a bit confusing, do the victims see Jesse or Freddy? We are led to believe they see Jesse until the end which is a bit confusing.
If I were to give our awards for movies, this one would get Best Scream Queen. Jesse (even though a male) is the best scream queen ever.
If you haven’t seen this movie, it is worth a watch. If you skip it like I used to, try watching with an open mind and understand that Freddy is manipulating a ‘new kid’ (the same as he would Elm St. kids when alive) and it still follows suit with a new creepy crossover twist.
So much camp in this movie, it is great to watch with friends and really get a few good laughs in. Great to pause and see what you see.
If you are offended by teen boys walking around in tighty whitey underwear this one isn’t for you because Jesse is shown a lot in his underwear for whatever reason. Reverse exploitation? Gay camp? Reverse TNA? Who will really ever know.