Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)

After killing all the offspring in Springwood, Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) is seeking more victims. It’s up to a group of people led by Freddy’s offspring to stop him.

Director: Rachel Talalay

Cast: Robert Englund, Lisa Zane, Shon Greenblatt, Lezlie Deane, Breckin Meyer, Yaphet Kotto

MPAA Rating: R horror violence, and for language and drug content

Fun Fact: Peter Jackson had written a script for his version of the film. New Line Cinema opted to use the story for the final film.

The 90’s were just beginning, and New Line Cinema opted for a sixth film in the franchise. The Dream Child did not meet financial expectations as the previous installments. With Lisa Wilcox declining to return for a third straight film, the studio opted to move forward in a different direction. Different scripts came in, one including from Peter Jackson, who thought of an idea where Freddy was weak, and teenagers would go into the dream world just to beat him up. New Line Cinema decided to go with Rachel Talalay and Michael De Luca’s story.

The tagline is “They Saved The Best For Last” which is the wrong slogan for this film. Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare is one of the worst horror and worst film’s I’ve ever seen. This film is a disgrace to what vision Wes Craven had when he brought his idea onto the screen. Freddy is bottom of the barrel bad and the opposite of who he once was. In the beginning of the film he imitates the Wicked Witch of the west. I asked myself how is that supposed to be scary let alone funny? Freddy has no killer edge and he has no once of scariness left in him. The makeup on Robert Englund doesn’t even look that great, as he just kind of looks like a normal guy. There is no dark or menacing moments and Freddy is just one big goofball whenever he’s on screen.

While the whole franchise had some creative deaths, this film the death scenes are just plain bad. They go on forever and the payoff feels null. The scene with the deaf kid is probably the best but, it goes on and feels like forever before the result happens. This film also has the infamous Powerglove scene. Funny how Nintendo didn’t want to license their horrible product for this horrible film. To me that would’ve seemed like a match made in heaven. Also in what was supposed to be his final outing, Freddy barely kills anyone. If you are promoting that you saved the best for last wouldn’t the gloves come off and nothing is going to hold you back? In what is supposed to be the final outing is tame so to speak.

Like stated before there were numerous scripts that were rejected. Along with Peter Jackson’s idea of Freddy weaker until a lucky break for him makes everyone fear him again. I also heard of a rumor that a reboot of the franchise is in the works. To whoever is working on that reboot, let’s see Peter Jackson’s idea. That would’ve been great to see on the screen. Anyways the reason why that this film doesn’t work is that the story is a mess and some of the performances are terrible. Lisa Zane delivers the worst performance in the whole franchise. Her character is uninteresting, and her performance is monotone to the point where it comes off boring. Shon Greenblatt is just as bad with a goofy performance. His character is supposed to have amnesia but, he remembers everything. Then again there isn’t anything to work with when your opening scene rips of The Wizard Of Oz and a Twilight Zone episode.

I thought that it was awesome that Rachel Talalay was selected to direct. She was a producer on various films of the franchise and other than Wes Craven, who else could be able to close the franchise. I just want to say that it’s a shame of what Talalay presented to us. For someone that knows the material well, this is what she came up with. She sacrificed quality just to shove in some 3D effects for the end finale that comes off slow and boring. This film is an embarrassment to the franchise and it is not what it should’ve been.

Overall, Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare is one of the worst films I’ve ever seen. It’s not scary and has some horrible acting and terrible script. Freddy is at his worst and has no killer edge where you won’t be able to take him seriously. The quality of the film is sacrificed for the 3D ending which comes off as lame and while it should have been a cool concept, it doesn’t work. It wasn’t just Rachel Talalay that failed at bringing something entertaining, it was everyone involved in the production.

Verdict: Miss