With his last film, The People Under The Stairs, Craven pulled off a rare feat. He created a movie that wasn't good, wasn't bad, was entertaining yet didn't work at parts and was a movie that I don't recommend but had some great moments. Plus it was a hell of a lot better than the film before that, Shocker. Of the five films so far in his second phase of his career only two have been any good.
Go back to his first phase, which ended with The Hills Have Eyes Part II, and he only made 3 out of 7 films with any merit. I'm more than half way through his films and I've come to the point where I can somewhat assess if Craven is any good or not. Unless he rebounds with a set of amazing films in the rest of phase two and all of phase three then I feel comfortably saying: no he is not a very good filmmaker. He got lucky a few times, showed some talent sometimes but in the end he has made more crap than not. Some of that crap is so bad it almost negates everything else he has done (except A Nightmare on Elm Street--nothing can negate that film).
Which brings me to his thirteenth film, Wes Craven's New Nightmare. After five sequels were made to the original classic, Craven returned to the director's chair for the tenth anniversary of the legend that was Freddy Kruger. And of the 22 films in the Craven catalogue, New Nightmare is the film that I have been looking forward to most (except perhaps for the first Scream). I have seen it numerous times, although not for a while, and I loved it every time. I might even think it is better than the original.
It is also the first Wes Craven film that I ever saw in the theatre. It was amazing!!! It is amazing!!! I am sure as hell that it will still be amazing!!! I remember it being clever and scary and smart and fun and just fucking awesome. It is by far the best of all the sequels and also from what I remember, a sort of precursor to Scream.
There is no doubt in my mind that this film will be Craven's second classic and masterful film. I can't wait to watch it and even though I have much more to say here I can't really remember what it is that I want to say because all I can think of is pushing play and watching it. So that's that then. I'm done for now. Time to embark on close to two hours of pure unadulterated pleasure. Peace...
FilmThoughts:
This is the way you make a sequel. Wes Craven's New Nightmare if not as good as the original, sure does come close. It is by far the best sequel of the six and one of the better slasher films to come out since the first Nightmare was realesed. It's unique and it's got one hell of a clever premise behind it.
Taking place in the real world, at the tenth anniversary of the release of the first film, Heather Langenkamp lives with here husband and child and is eeking out a living working in television. The Nightmare series has come to an end with part six and this is where the film begins. The premise of the film is as follows: evil never wants to die and Freddy doesn't want to be forgotten. As the world moves on from the Elm Street series, Freddy starts to wither away, but in the recesses of hell the evil of Freddy starts to haunt Langenkamp in the real world, along with her son, husband and the other members of the original film.
Wes Craven has assembled a great cast for his film. Without the cast, without everyone's blessing, the film would not work. We have Langenkamp playing herself, Robert Englund playing Freddy and himself, Robert Shaye playing himself, Wes Craven playing himself and John Saxon playing himself. Not all of these people are actors and accordingly the acting isn't the greatest. Alas, with these people playing themselves it ends up not mattering that they aren't such strong performances.
Then we have Engund, who as usual is terrific. He is great as himself and he is great as Freddy, bringing back the terror and scariness that he so showed in the first and second films, before he started becoming a character of his former self. And then there is Langenkamp. She's not the greatest performer but here she is fun and it's awesome to watch her turn from Langenkamp into Nancy (her character from the first film).
The script is probably the best thing that Craven has ever written. It's witty and clever and literally throws in everything but the kitchen sink. It repeats moments and lines and deaths from the first film but in unique and original ways that make sense in the context of the story. Craven has taken his idea of dreams and nightmares and reality and the blending of the three and stretched into a new and exciting framework. He uses that theme here in new ways and stretches the framework of reality and fiction in ways you could never see coming. It is also pays homage in so many ways to the first film, and horror in general, starting from the first frames.
There are times when things get unbelievable or a little far fetched but in the context of the film they could just be very realistic dreams. The music is pretty good too. I did find that there was music playing in the background of scenes that didn't really need it but otherwise it was a pretty solid score filled with tension and haunting melodies. Near the end of the film I could of sworn that the music almost becomes a play on the classic theme from Halloween.
The effects too are pretty good, especially at the beginning. Some of them seem a little worse for wear than when I first saw the film but in general they look pretty good for a film that is 19 years old. Freddy's make-up has also changed, looking more realistic and flesh like than it ever had before. And it's a scary film, the scariest Craven film since Nightmare and the scariest Nightmare film since the first one.I can't get over how good of a film this is. The first time I saw it it blew me away and I've seen it many times since. It never gets old, the story only gets better and you end up seeing more and more to the story every time you see it. Like I said, some of the effects and some of the music and some of the scenes seem a little over the top but the first time (or two, or three) you watch this you will be so enthralled by the film that you won't notice. Without a doubt Wes Craven's New Nightmare (a title that couldn't be more apt) is one hell of a good film that cannot be missed.
Re-playability: 9 out of 10 Directing: 8 out of 10 Originality: 10 out of 10
Costumes and Make-up: 9 out of 10 Acting: 7 out of 10 Editing: 8 out of 10
Cinematography: 8 out of 10 Music: 8 out of 10 Script: 10 out of 10
Production Design (Sets/Locations/Special Effects: 8 out of 10
Total Score = 85%
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