Best Nightmare on Elm Street


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Question says it all.

I was going to leave New Nightmare off because it's technically not a sequel (seeing as how it's a demon and not Freddy), as well as Freddy v Jason because it's a crossover film (and therefore not dedicated to Freddy alone), but thought better of it and obviously included both.

EDIT:

And of course please state why.

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Nightmare on Elm Street. I did like when Freddy started to show signs of a sense of humor later on in the series, but this was what made him. It's just so damn innovative. This is in my top five favorite movies. Not to mention, I hate Johnny Depp and we know what happens to him...

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Mmm... Three (it was Dream Warriors wasn't it?) was pretty damn entertaining. That's where the humor that I was talking about started to come out (if I'm remembering correctly). This is where voting critieria comes into play. Do you go with what movie you thought was the best, or what entertained you the most?

Can we just agree that Freddy's Dead wasn't up to snuff?

I can see you and I really getting into discussions on this stuff Yoda :)

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I'm actually a huge fan of New Nightmare. I think they managed to convey Freddy crossing into the real world well, and the direction was good. Plus, it had that awesome moment of Heather Lagenkamps son singing the Freddy song, having never seen the movie.

Plus, when I first watched it ...in the middle of the night....in the middle of the countryside in Ireland....on my own....there's a scene where the clock strikes midnight...and the clock next to me...at the same moment, struck midnight.

Scared the shit out of me.

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Mmm... Three (it was Dream Warriors wasn't it?) was pretty damn entertaining.  That's where the humor that I was talking about started to come out (if I'm remembering correctly).  This is where voting critieria comes into play.  Do you go with what movie you thought was the best, or what entertained you the most? 

Exactly. And that's my problem. The first film brought so much to the table. This idea that you were helpless while asleep (as far as I know) had never been tackled in American cinema before. Until then it was always about the monster/madman tirelessly chasing you in the real world. Plus, s/he was someone who could be killed. Freddy could be defeated but never killed, because, as we later learned, he was already dead. Fresh ideas like that will always draw an audience in because they want to see the impossible come to life. They want to see the hero overcome such impossible odds.

Also, the gore and outlandish deaths were novel in their day: from Tina being thrown around the room, to Johnny Depp being sucked into the bed and blasted out as buckets of blood. That shit was nasty (and cool)!

As for the third film, it started the ball rolling on the whole superpowers thing. Granted, it would become contrived and quite stupid in later films, but, again, this was a new idea and almost felt like Freddy's Kryptonite. (Finally the kids had a way to combat their tormentor.) Plus, Freddy's humor was really coming into its own here, and the gore was stepped up yet again. (Anyone who doesn't twitch at the site of Phillip becoming Freddy's puppet is hardcore, because that shit still gets me to this day.)

But which one's better...? After taking it out here, I have to go with the first.

Can we just agree that Freddy's Dead wasn't up to snuff?

Agreed!

I can see you and I really getting into discussions on this stuff Yoda :)

Indeed we will.

HOLY SHIT! I just checked the credits and noticed that Frank Darabont, the Oscar-nominated writer/director of The Shawshank Redemption, co-wrote part 3.

The one thing that bothers me about the franchise, however, is the humor. Granted, I still laugh at the jokes and they kept the series alive, but they seem to make Freddy the good guy. When the audience is laughing with him, they stop caring about the kids he's haunting. Add to the fact that he's a child molester, and our laughs seem even more out of place.

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Also, the gore and outlandish deaths were novel in their day: from Tina being thrown around the room, to Johnny Depp being sucked into the bed and blasted out as buckets of blood.  That shit was nasty (and cool)!

------------------------

(Anyone who doesn't twitch at the site of Phillip becoming Freddy's puppet is hardcore, because that shit still gets me to this day.)

You're right about that. Ugh, I was actually pretty shocked when they showed the puppet strings. The only thing that I can say is a close rival to setting a precident for deaths is Friday the 13th.

The one thing that bothers me about the franchise, however, is the humor.  Granted, I still laugh at the jokes and they kept the series alive, but they seem to make Freddy the good guy.  When the audience is laughing with him, they stop caring about the kids he's haunting.  Add to the fact that he's a child molester, and our laughs seem even more out of place.

I wish they didn't do it too much. Some humor is good, especially when the character is so despicable, but like you said, they tend to overdo it. What I used to tell my friends is that Freddy was the awesomest of the horror villians because not only did he kill you in grotesque ways, he made you laugh while he did it!

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I'm not so well versed in the Friday the 13th films, so I can't really comment on that. (I've seen maybe half of them.) All I remember is that Jason would kill a lot more people than Freddy.

I wish the people who voted for part 2 and FvJ would chime in.

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The following is pathetically true. I wandered away from the children's section of the video store and found myself staring at Freddy, Pinhead and The Crow (not the same, granted, but I found goths scary too) and got such bad nightmares at the time that not only did I not watch horror films until very recently but I also didn't set foot in a video store for a good 10 years. Laugh away

So I'm only contributing to say that I caught part 3 on MTV on tuesday and enjoyed it. But having not seen the others, I can't really vote

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Freddy could be defeated but never killed, because, as we later learned, he was already dead.

Of course, Jason and Michael Myers can't be killed either because of their healing abilities, but they can be contained. The way Freddy is written, can he be contained? If he is brought into the "real world", can he be locked up so he can't do any harm?

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I would say 3. Bringing back Nancy and her father was a great way to have continuity in the series. (The way the story progresses through 1 and then 3-5 really leaves part 2 out in the wilderness, though.)

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Freddy could be defeated but never killed, because, as we later learned, he was already dead.

Of course, Jason and Michael Myers can't be killed either because of their healing abilities, but they can be contained. The way Freddy is written, can he be contained? If he is brought into the "real world", can he be locked up so he can't do any harm?

Is Jason a zombie? I mean, he's already dead. And what's up with Michael? Is he alive or dead or super strong?

Theoretically if Freddy was brought into the real world and thrown into a jail his reign of terror might end. But then again, he was brought into the real world several times and ended up going back to the dream world. So I don't know.

I would say 3. Bringing back Nancy and her father was a great way to have continuity in the series. (The way the story progresses through 1 and then 3-5 really leaves part 2 out in the wilderness, though.)

I always hated that they killed both Nancy and her father in part 3. One of them should have lived to hunt Freddy another day.

Yeah, part 2 is pretty much the bastard child of the franchise.

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It was strongly hinted in "Halloween 6" that Myers went though some sort of experiments. I suppose those experiments could have augmented his physical abiulities, durability and healing factor. "Jason X" explained that Jason can heal pretty much any injury given enough time, so he's not really dead.

Can Freddy, if brought into the real world, return to the astral plane on his own? Or does he have to be sent back via his physical body being killed again? That's never really been explored in the series, and would be an interesting story.

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It was strongly hinted in "Halloween 6" that Myers went though some sort of experiments. I suppose those experiments could have augmented his physical abiulities, durability and healing factor.

Can't recall if I've seen that one.

"Jason X" explained that Jason can heal pretty much any injury given enough time, so he's not really dead.

But he died as a child... right?

Can Freddy, if brought into the real world, return to the astral plane on his own? Or does he have to be sent back via his physical body being killed again? That's never really been explored in the series, and would be an interesting story.

Good question. He might have to die to return. Can anyone confirm this?

Yeah, part 2 is pretty much the bastard child of the franchise.

It didn't have to be. It was just "forgotten".

That's probably because Wes Cravin wanted nothing to do with it.

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It was strongly hinted in "Halloween 6" that Myers went though some sort of experiments. I suppose those experiments could have augmented his physical abiulities, durability and healing factor.

Can't recall if I've seen that one.

Don't worry, nobody else did.

Six was the absolute drizzling shits.

Michael Myers works best when he's human, but he's got something about him. We don't know what, but something. As he was portrayed in numbers one, two and seven - funnily enough, the best of the series.

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The thing about these movies is that they preyed upon one's sense of stability and feeling of safety. However ludicrious the means of death in the movie, people were still frightened. It's because the whole idea of sleep being this safe haven is completely destroyed. I mean, how can you stop something that attacks you when your guard is completely down? You can't and audiences acknowledged this fact. I was one of those kids who could watch a movie and realize that it was fiction, but this was one of the first movies that really frightened me. I had Freddy nightmares for weeks, and was convinced that I would die. Terrible. I only just got back into these movies.

Of these movies, I voted for Dream Warriors as my favorite. That was one that I saw for the first time on Halloween, my 8th grade year. Vulnerability made Freddy a better character.

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From what I've gathered in the movies, if Freddy himself is taken out of the dream world (as in Freddy vs. Jason), he must die to go back. BUT, if he inhabits another body in the real world, he can leave that one at any time.

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