A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge

This would be a better movie if it was stripped from the NoES franchise. As an early queer body possession film it was entertaining and thought provoking, but it breaks a lot of the rules of the other Freddy films without any logical reason for doing so, disregarding much of the first story, and even treating dreams as unimportant after the first act. I know Freddy is key for keeping the conversation alive, but I would have liked to see a world where this was a separate entity.

There's a very good idea buried in this weird, convoluted film. Freddy possesses the body of his victim while he's asleep, making him kill the people closest to him. That is a very scary concept, and if it were employed better, this movie could have surpassed the original. But there's so many missed opportunities. Freddy manifesting himself into the real world, and chasing teenagers around a backyard pool while throwing deck chairs at them? Not scary. It's a two star movie. I'm giving it four, because if I give it fewer, Shudder will move my review to the bottom of the page where it will erase sooner. Not very democratic.

I saw this in the theater when it originally released, and actually find it holds up better over time. As a kid I was really annoyed about the way it seemed to break the rules from the first to second movie of the dreamtime and how it worked, but all these years later I both realize it actually fits well with the thematics of the first movie (in which dragging Freddy from the dream to reality happens at the end, though it feints with the idea maybe it was a dream all along) to suggesting Freddy himself gets obsessed with the concept, of finding a vessel to let him in to the real world. Also, as a kid I really did not notice the queer subtext, but watching it now it's pretty obvious...bold movie for its time, I suppose.

i would describe my type as constantly drenched in sweat

queer classic