A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master

Name: A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
Genre: Thriller, Horror
Released: August 19, 1988
Duration: 93 min
Rating: 56
Cast: Brooke Bundy, Duane Davis, Hope Marie Carlton, John Beckman, Kisha Brackel

1988

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Mixed or average reviews based on 10 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 59 Ratings

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6.9

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6.9	Your Score
6.9	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 59 Ratings

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A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (Trailer 1)

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Movie Details & Credits

New Line Cinema | Release Date: August 19, 1988 | R

Starring: Brooke Bundy, Duane Davis, Hope Marie Carlton, John Beckman, Kisha Brackel, Kristen Clayton, Richard Garrison, Robert Englund, Rodney Eastman, Wanda Bursey

Summary: The last girl from Elm Street is still bothered by dreams about Freddy; soon he returns and kills her, but before she died she wills her power to a new friend.

Director: Renny Harlin

Genre(s): Thriller, Horror

Rating: R

Runtime: 93 min

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Critic Reviews

Staff (Not Credited)

Robert Englund, receiving star billings for the first time, is delightful in his frequent incarnations as Freddy, delivering his gag lines with relish and making the grisly proceedings funny.

Kevin Thomas

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master is by far the best of the series, a superior horror picture that balances wit and gore with imagination and intelligence. It very effectively mirrors the anxieties of the teen-age audience for which it is primarily intended. [19 Aug 1988, p.17]

Dave Kehr

Directed by the Finnish-born Renny Harlin, it's a deft, fluid piece that rushes from one surrealist epiphany to the next, and along the way displays a craft and imagination far above the norms for the genre. Read full review

Caryn James

Elm Street 4' does have an endless onslaught of astonishing, often grotesque special effects .Mr. Harlin only has to keep things moving, which he does with restless camera work, swirling high above Freddy and his victims. Freddy, who says I am eternal, seems to be a self-fulfilling prophecy, immune to directors and scripts. Read full review

TV Guide Magazine Staff (Not Credited)

It seems that with Part 4, Freddy Krueger has just about run out of gas. Getting further and further away from creator Wes Craven's original concept, the series has declined into a plotless series of special-effects set pieces featuring Freddy slicing and dicing a variety of teenagers in their dreams. What the films lack in narrative, however, they make up for with pure cinematic panache, and the latest installment is no exception. Read full review

Jay Scott

In-jokes for horror-film fans abound (the dog is named Jason, the monster in the Friday the 13th series; a cafe is the Craven Inn - Wes Craven directed the first Nightmare on Elm Street), and it's possible that those fans will be satisfied with the expensive, surreal special effects unleashed by director Renny Harlin. Everyone else is apt to agree with the teen-ager who dismisses Freddy by saying, "We all got better things to dream about." [19 Aug 1988]

Juan Carlos Coto

The movie is heavy on shock and gimmickry, thanks to Renny Harlin's frenetic and flamboyant direction. The wafer-thin plot is little more than an excuse to showcase the astonishing achievements of special-effects makeup artists. [19 Aug 1988, p.D9]

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User Reviews

queenstephanie

Apr 26, 2020

The characters are very interesting, the deaths are terrifying, the scare factor is upped here!

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

Panchogul

Oct 4, 2018

This is definitely the best nightmare of all, great soundtrack, awesome deaths, just everything...

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

robertoiglesias

Oct 9, 2017

Oh my god. A nightmare on elm street 4 is such an AMAZING film to watch. Terror and violence is perfect in this movie! This is my 3rd favorite nightmare on elm street movie and is in my 10 favorite horror movies.

4 of 5 users found this helpful41

Rcavey92212

Mar 19, 2020

Dream Warriors upped the ante of the franchise giving the franchise a more commercial feel but balancing the darkness. Dream Master which is perfectly described by some as "the MTV Nightmare" is just that. It's still wild, ambitious and freaky but it's also a pop horror film. It's funny andDream Warriors upped the ante of the franchise giving the franchise a more commercial feel but balancing the darkness. Dream Master which is perfectly described by some as "the MTV Nightmare" is just that. It's still wild, ambitious and freaky but it's also a pop horror film. It's funny and entertaining and this is where Freddy started to become more of a comedian. Tuesday Knight does a fun but overdramatic job of replacing Patricia Arquette as Kristen and Freddy is reborn by a fog pissing fire in the junkyard. She of course takes him to a new group of friends one of which can carry him to new victims Alice played by a likable Lisa Wilcox. The entry features some of the best death setpieces especially when a girl is transformed into a cockroach. Renny Harlin (Deep Blue Sea) stylishly directs with a killer 80s soundtrack and a whole lot of creativity. Although it's a small step down from 3 it's still overly entertaining.

Budget: $7m
Domestic Box Office: $49m
Worldwide Box Office: $49m

4.25/5… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

kyle20ellis

Mar 26, 2022

The original 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' is still to me one of the scariest and best horror films there is, as well as a truly great film in its own right and introduced us to one of the genre's most iconic villains in Freddy Krueger. It is always difficult to do a sequel that lives up to aThe original 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' is still to me one of the scariest and best horror films there is, as well as a truly great film in its own right and introduced us to one of the genre's most iconic villains in Freddy Krueger. It is always difficult to do a sequel that lives up to a film as good as 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' let alone one to be on the same level.

While the best of the sequels from personal opinion is the third, the fourth one is another one of the series' better sequels. Like the third film it is not on the same level as the original, a very difficult feat, but it does have enough of what is a large appeal of the original and why it works so well. Not perfect, but a lot of very good things.

'The Dream Master' is not without its flaws. With a couple of exceptions, the acting is largely wooden (while not the worst offender as such, Tuesday Knight is no Patricia Arquette) and the beginning rock song is really cheesy and feels out of place. The story at times gets a little silly.

However, Lisa Wilcox is a winning lead and Robert Englund continues to terrify as the iconic character that epitomises "what nightmares are made of". 'The Dream Master' is to me the second best directed sequel, courtesy of Renny Harlin, giving a potentially clichéd premise freshness and imagination.

Special effects are neatly executed. The humour is darkly comic and very funny and there are some wickedly cracking one-liners. The scares are aplenty and they are legitimately creepy with some cool deaths (the water bed one is a strong example) and amazing dream sequences thrown into the mix. Alice being flung into the on-screen action from the cinema balcony is one of the series' most marvellous highlights.

It's a beautifully photographed film, particularly the dream sequences, and is the most unique-looking 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' sequel with its European art-horror visual style. The production design is both dream-like and nightmare while the music is suitably haunting.

Overall, good sequel and one of the series' better ones. 7/10 Bethany Cox… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

JLau

Sep 25, 2020

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Kristen, the girl who can summon others into her dreams, is out of the institution but Freddy kills her and her friends so she passes her powers onto someone else in the hope of defeating him.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

royalguy07

Oct 18, 2022

Definitely felt like a much more standard by the numbers slasher, The bug kill was probably the best of the bunch. Had some awkward but welcome silliness thrown in at random places.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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