NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET - PART 4: THE DREAM MASTER

US, 1988, 99 minutes, Colour.
Robert Englund.
Directed by Renny Harlin.

Nightmare on Elm Street - Part 4: The Dream Master is the fourth in a very popular series. Wes Craven, a master of horror films (The Hills Have Eyes, Deadly Friend) conceived the characters and the situations. The series continued in the vein of the original - though were derivative of popular horror films oil the period. However, the character of Freddie Kruger, played by Robert Englund, had become a byword in the U.S. and overseas by the end of the '80s. Many films referred to this character by way of movie buff joke.

Once again the film focuses on youngsters, Freddie Kruger and his malice in the town, his entering into their nightmares and killing people. The series is directed towards a teenage audience - dramatising nightmares.

1. The popularity of the series? Characters, dreams, Freddie Kruger?

2. The audience love of horror, sharing, in visual nightmares? The effect of experiencing such horror films? Enjoyment, catharsis?

3. The link of this film with the others? Similarities in plot? Characters? The tradition of Freddie Kruger?

4. The re-creation of the ordinary American town? The contrast with the nightmares and the special effects? Especially the dream sequences, the children incorporated even into the body of Kruger? A re-creation of fear and ugliness? The musical score?

5. The audience sharing in their dreams: the succession of dreams, being drawn in, the relationship of the characters to Freddie? Audiences identifying with the characters, their helping one another in their dreams? Deaths: Kristin, Kincaid, Joey?

6. The gradual focus on Alice and her friendship, the dreamer? The contributions of Rick, Sheila, Debbie, Dan? The development of their characters?

7. The background of the family, the parents? The routines of classes and exams?

8. The build-up to the confrontation: the Dream Master and the rhyme? The evil mirror?

9. The children, their relationship with Freddie Kruger? The final escape?

10. The conception of the character of Kruger, his cruelty, killed by the parents? His vengeance?

11. Pop themes of good and evil in the teenage nightmare genre?