A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge

1985 New Line Cinema
Directed by: Jack Sholder; Written by: David Chaskin
Starring: Mark Patton, Kim Myers, Robert Rusler, Clu Gulager, Hope Lange, and Robert Englund
MPAA Rating: R; Running Time: 87 Minutes
The Nicsperiment Score: 4/10

Freddy's dead! Just kidding. No iconic villain stays dead. A few years after dream-haunting killer, Freddy Kreuger, terrorized the teenagers of Elm Street, Kreuger is back to haunt a new kid on the block, Jesse Walsh. The difference this time is that Kreuger isn't trying to kill Jesse in his dreams like he did the other kids, but take over Jesse's body. Meanwhile, Jesse feels like he is losing his mind and autonomy, and that his quasi-girlfriend, Lisa, and best friend Ron can't understand. Of course, Jesse does have a point. He does have dreams of murdering people with giant metal claws...only to find out the next morning that the person he murdered in his dreams has been murdered in real life.
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge is a strange film. While much has quite understandably been made of the homoerotic subtext with the film's protagonist, Jesse, I agree with the director, Jack Sholder, who intended to make Jesse a relatable character to all teenagers facing classic teenage angst. The first hour or so of the film isn't scary, but it is interesting, and weird, atmospheric, and fairly well made. Jesse is an empathetic character, and the mystery and tension of what exactly is happening to him is engaging. About an hour in, when the film tries to be scary by having a not-so physically imposing Freddy pop out of Jesse's body and start chasing a large group of kids around a pool, it's not so engaging, but generally just ridiculous. I agree with series creator, Wes Craven: A non-dreambound, entirely physical, 5'8" Freddy Kreuger chasing around a large group of teenagers who are taller than him is not scary and is very silly.
Freddy's Revenge could have gone in many directions in its final act, but it picks nearly the worst one. Still, the premise at least tries to be different from other horror movie sequels, even if that first hour isn't perfectly executed either (there's a particularly ridiculous moment where Jesse's family are attacked by parakeets). I don't love it and I barely even like it, but at least Freddy's Revenge is different.