Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (DVD)

Released by:

New Line Home Video, Distributed by Warner Home Video

Features:

1985; 87 Min; Rated R; Dolby Digital: 5.1 English; English Mono; Anamorphic Widescreen  (1.85).

Extras:

Cast & Crew Biographies; Other materials on Nightmare Encyclopedia.

Review:

In A Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge, Freddy returns to torment a new kid from Elm Street. His name is Jesse (Mark Patton), and he has just moved into a home, previously inhabited by Nancy from the original Nightmare. While he's going nuts, waking up from horrifying nightmares, his parents, played by Clu Gulager and Hope Lange, insist that they will pass. How wrong they are...

Jesse's new girlfriend Lisa (Kim Meyers), along with his buddy Ron (Robert Rusler), also feel his dreams are no big deal, but they're loyal friends, so they stick it out, listening to his hysterical rants. As if being tormented by Freddy wasn't enough, Jesse's sadistic p.e. coach, Coach Schneider (Marshall Bell) has it in for him as well.

Jesse's convinced that Freddy is trying to possess him, and once Jesse "dreams" that he has killed his coach in the boy's shower (more on this element later), he  becomes fully convinced his possession has taken place. Once again, it is up to the woman to set everything straight. Lisa does all of the research in order to help her helpless boyfriend Jesse. They learn of the previous resident of the house, Nancy. How all of her friends had died. more of Freddy's history etc. Lisa knows how to battle Freddy, unfortunately, she is not Jesse...

Ok, I'll cut through the BS. First, I have never seen all of the Nightmare films. I have only seen the original and New Nightmare completely, this outstanding box set will allow me to fill in the blanks. Second, when I bought the set, I tore through the Nightmare Encyclopedia, so I will actually know the film makers impressions before watching parts two through six. Having done this...

The filmmakers joke about, how should I say this? The rather homosexual nature of the primary character? Not having seen the film previously, I had no idea what they were talking about. Now I do. Jesse is rather feminine, and there's no debating this. The relationships he has with his buddy Ron and Coach Schneider are also odd. To top all of this, Jesse is rather detached from his girlfriend, and when he get the opportunity to further his relationship, well...

Freddy's Revenge is very bizarre. While it's a sequel to a slasher film, there is an incredible lack of blood letting, not that it's bad. The ambiguity created in the first film, about whether what was going on was real or a dream is lost. The only thing that is established for sure is that everyone from the first film (save Nancy) died, but that hurt the general creepiness of the situation. Nightmare 2 is a sequel with a complete lack of direction, especially when compared to Dream Warriors and New Nightmare.

Jack Sholder (ed. - Bring on The Hidden!) did what he could. On a technical level, the film looked good, but the script was terrible. The same does not go for the actual presentation of the film on this new DVD. The picture is outstanding, and even a new anamorphic transfer. While the film still had an "old sound," I was surprised by the quality of the 5.1 re-mix provided on this film. While it was mostly music, this mono to 5.1 mix was clean. The center channel showed no signs of bleeding through to the left and right fronts, and some effects did creep into the rear. If only other studios took all of their films as seriously as New Line...

The  major supplements of Nightmare 2 are included in the Nightmare Encyclopedia, which I will reveiw after all seven films have been watched. The only extras on the disc were the cast and crew biographies, which were re-printed from the original press New Line press kits from 1985. I get a kick out of these, because you can see how the studios tried to pump up the stars of the film. Then you can ask yourself, where are they now?

Definitely one of the weaker sequels produced in this series. It only earns a 3

The general presentation of the film get a 6, New Line has once again done a tremendous restoration of a film.

Dan Linzmeier, FIT Productions
Fitprod@aol.com
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