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 |
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? Written by David Thiel <d-thiel@uiuc.edu>
The Dream Master is a sequel of sorts to 1987's Dream Warriors - as well as being the 3rd sequel in the series. Directed by Renny Harlin (who I'm not a huge fan off to be honest), this action packed horror is full of comedy, style and great fx.
It's obvious from his early days (between this and Arctic Heat) and the fact that he is now working from China - that Harlin is a long time fan of Hong Kong cinema. His imagery and style of shooting mimics that of the finest 80's Hong Kong films and if every cast member was Chinese, Dream Master could easily be mistaken for a classic from the HK golden years!
It's a shame that experimental and exciting technique is now gone and he has resorted to typical Hollywood style filmmaking (such as the God awful Skiptrace)...
The cinematography and colours are pretty cool and remind me of classics such as A Chinese Ghost Story etc, not to mention the mad mix of genres, (kung fu) fight action, and some pretty decent stunt work!
Patricia Arquette has been replaced with Tuesday Knight, but the cute Joey returns as does motormouth Kinkaid - but not for long.
To most people, this is pretty much more of the same Freddy versus the kids, but it's actually pretty smart extending (what was their best film so far with) Dream Warriors and in turn, produce the highest grossing film of the series as a result.
A Nightmare On Elm Street 4 is a lot of fun! Far from perfect, but definitely one of the better ones..!