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 character | sadistic murderer | monster | boogeyman | slasher flick | 

---

Taglines:

Are You Ready For Freddy?

---

Genres:

Horror

---

Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

The budget is $13 million, making it the most expensive A Nightmare on Elm Street film at the time until it got surpassed by Freddy vs Jason with the budget of $25 million.

---

Goofs

(at around 28 mins) When Dan and his friend enter the Crave Inn (where Alice works) we notice that his friend is not the same as the one in the Crave Inn; they used two different actors.

---

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 UK cinema version was cut by 56 secs to delete footage of nunchakus from two scenes, and the cuts were expanded to 1 min 7 secs for the video release. The cuts were fully restored in the 15 rated 2001 DVD.

---

Connections

Referenced in Rewind This! (2013)

---

Soundtracks

I Want Your (Hands On Me)
Performed by Sinéad O'Connor
Written by Sinéad O'Connor (as O'Connor), Mike Clowes (as Cloves), John Reynolds (as Reynolds), Rob Dean (as Deia), Spike Holifield (as Hollfield)
Produced by Sinéad O'Connor
Alternative mix available on "The Lion and The Cobra"
(played during End Credits)

User Reviews

The plot was like a cheesy TV series

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, the fourth installment in the Nightmare on Elm Street series. I was lucky enough to get the boxed DVD set of Nightmare on Elm Street series and I just finished all the sequels and while the fourth isn't a bad sequel or continuation of the story, it was pretty silly. It was cool to continue on with the dream warriors who were clever enough to defeat Freddy in the third Nightmare on Elm Street. But Freddy's back and he is more ticked off than ever and you know that's not good. But while the story was a good idea, the way it was executed, I wasn't really that into it, just the acting I think is what killed it for me. The way the movie was made was what made it feel like it was more of a cheesy TV show like on the Sci-fi Channel than an actual movie.

We start off where the third installment of the Nightmare on Elm Street series left off, the kids from the hospital are now grown up and are all on their own. But they are quickly killed off by Freddy hoping to get Kirsten back to help them, but they are too late. But when Kirsten finds a girl, Alice, she finds out that Alice has the same powers as she does. She has the ability to pull other people into her dreams and of course Alice is scared to find out how to use her powers, but she may just have to use them since Freddy is now after her and other kids too.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master was a good enough sequel, but it just could have been better. I liked it, but so far it's not my top favorite sequel. Again, we've got some very cool deaths, don't think I could choose one, I think the water bed one was very cool. But once again, I don't wanna spoil it. Of course if you wanna see the Nightmare on Elm Street sequels, this is recommended, but as a horror movie on it's own, it's OK.

6/10

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