A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989)

Plot Outline: After being defeated by the dream master, Freddy decides to try something different to get to her. He uses the dreams of her unborn child to kill off her friends and attempts to return to life through him.

The Review: The downward spiral that began with the previous film continues here with this repetitive and silly sequel which just goes to show how easy it is to screw up a franchise. It's all routine by now. The deaths and the wise-cracks by Freddy are getting repetitive. What happened to the cruel, sadistic Freddy from the original? He's more like a sadistic game show host now. The plot is just an excuse for more carnage and how many friends can one person have? Lisa Wilcox has a seemingly endless supply of friends in Part 4 and 5. You would have thought after all of her friends died in the previous film, no one would dare to be her friend! The special effects try and take centre stage here, as was the case with many of the later Freddy films. Elaborate set pieces include the melding of a motorcycle with it's rider and a teenager being drawn into a comic book world where the colour is drained out of him. But the special effects, as well as Englund (with another classic performance), can't cover over the terrible acting, sub-par plot and cheesy death scenes. The film, like it's predecessor, would have benefited greatly by being a lot more serious instead of bordering on campy. There is some darkness as we've given a glimpse of how Freddy came to be but unfortunately any back story and attempts to develop the character are washed away when he starts spewing one-liners which would make the comedians on Saturday Night Live proud.

Final Verdict: Unfortunately for fans of the series, it got a whole lot worse after this. That is hard to believe but it did. A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child is like a bad dream itself.

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