A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)

Freddy Krueger returns once again to terrorize the dreams of the remaining Dream Warriors, as well as those of a young woman who may be able to defeat him for good.

Director:

Renny Harlin

Writers:

Wes Craven (character), William Kotzwinkle (story)

Stars:

Robert Englund, Rodney Eastman, John Beckman

2 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Beckman	...	Coach
Kisha Brackel	...	Friend
Brooke Bundy	...	Elaine
Wanda Bursey	...	Friend in Mourning
Hope Marie Carlton	...	Pin Up Girl
Kristen Clayton	...	Little Girl
Duane Davis	...	Jock
Rodney Eastman	...	Joey
Robert Englund	...	Freddy Krueger
Richard Garrison	...	Doctor
Danny Hassel	...	Dan
Andras Jones	...	Rick
Tuesday Knight	...	Kristen
Jeff Levine	...	Paramedic
Joanna Lipari	...	Nurse

Storyline

Following up the previous Nightmare film, the dream demon Freddy Krueger is resurrected from his apparent demise, and rapidly tracks down and kills all three of the surviving Elm Street kids. However, Kristen Parker (who has the ability to draw others into her dreams) wills her special ability to her new best friend Alice Johnson before her demise. Afterwards, she soon realizes that Freddy is taking advantage of that unknown power she now wields to pull a new group of teenage children into his foul domain. Can Alice embrace her new power to finally defeat Freddy or is it already too late?

---

Plot Keywords:

freddy krueger | freddy krueger character | sadistic murderer | monster | graphic violence | 

---

Taglines:

Greetings From Hell

---

Genres:

Horror

---

Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

It's implied in the film that Rick dislikes Kincaid and Joey, as he refers to them as 'kinda spooky'. It's also implied he dislikes Kincaid more than Joey, as he has provoked him once.

---

Goofs

(at around 27 mins) When Kristen is talking to the real nurse after bumping her head, her hand is on her head in the wide shot but not in the close-up.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Alice: Hello.
Kristen Parker: Do you live here?
Alice: Nobody lives here.
Kristen Parker: Where's Freddy?
Alice: Heh, heh. He's not home.

---

Crazy Credits

A text before the opening credits reads as follows: "When deep sleep falleth on men, fear came apon me. And trembling which made all my bones to shake" -Job IV, 13-14

---

Alternate Versions

The dialogue from the film playing inside the movie theater when Alice first walks in and sits down can be heard in the original theatrical version and on earlier VHS editions, but the dialogue has been dubbed out from later VHS and DVD releases so that you can only hear the background piano music instead. The missing audio can be heard on Blu-ray if you select the "English Original Theatrical" audio track, but is missing from the "English DTS-HD Master Audio" track. Oddly enough, if you play the film with the closed captions or subtitles features, the dialogue will still appear on screen, even though nobody can be heard talking. The missing dialogue is as follows:

• Man: See ya, Alvin.
• Boy: Hey, he ain't no paper man.
• Girl: Why, don't you know him? That's "Hot Fingers" Curly.
• Boy: Boy, he really swings out hoppin' with a jive. You want to dance?
• Girl: Do I?

---

Connections

Featured in Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)

---

Soundtracks

Rebuilding the Big House
Written by Nick Gilder and Rick Boston
Performed by Nick Gilder

User Reviews

Gone down in my opinion

Freddy is resurrected from the dead when a dog takes a pee on the ground in the scarp yard in which he was buried! That kind of sets the tone for the fourth instalment. When this first came out on VHS I was blown away by the special effects & it quickly became my second favourite in the franchise, after the first film. This was mainly due to the special effects (impressive at the time) and gimmicky way in which people die. However, 30 years on and in my opinion the film has lost some of that initial positivity, I know think that part 3 is a far better movie. There were splashes of humour in part 3 but it still managed to also be a dark, scary horror film. But in Dream Warriors Freddy is now more of a comic, spouting corny one-liners, which is something that I personally wasn't so fond of. The special effects are the real star here. It's still a fun movie to watch but I think it was the point where the series started to go down hill. Linnea Quigley has a nice little topless part as one of the souls coming out of Freddy's body, worthy of a freeze-frame!

Details

Official Sites:

Nightmare On Elm Street

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 August 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master

Filming Locations:

Café Laurent - 4243 Overland Avenue, Culver City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$13,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$12,833,403, 21 August 1988

Gross USA:

$49,369,899

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$49,369,899

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Line Cinema, Heron Communications, Smart Egg Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min 99 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1