MovieChat Forums > A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child (1989) Discussion > Worst Nightmare Film - By Far

Worst Nightmare Film - By Far

posted 11 years ago by hexedd
28 replies | jump to latest

I love most of the series, but this one just totally went off the rails. It's not the slightest bit scary, because there isn't any tension leading up to the Freddy kills. He just pops in and out with ridiculous cheesy lines and kills them in the most asinine and hilarious manner. I found myself laughing for most of it, and cringing at the other half because the dialogue and general feel was just terrible. It has none of the tension and freaky elements that were present in much of the first few. I've re-watched this about 3 times over the years, every time hoping I will find something in it I like, but the more times I watch it, the more I despise it. It is, in my opinion, the worst of the series, and has basically zero redeeming features. The acting is awful, the dialogue is awful, and the effects are particularly awful. I don't even think it deserves to have the series title. Do you think the cast and crew knew how bad it was going to be? I mean, surely when the "comic book" fight happens between Mark and Freddy they had to know how terrible it would be. If I were a part of this I'd probably have stopped several times and asked the director: "Are you for real?" It is classified as a horror and comedy and I can see why. Although, unlike Ed Wood films and many other horror films, it's not so-bad-it's-good, it's just bad.

Anyway, just my thoughts. Feel free to agree or disagree.

[–] brandonhelee 9 years ago

Most certainly not at least in my very humble opinion that honor goes to the still great and cool remake.
The remake is the weakest entry in the franchise but that doesn't mean I don't love it because I most certainly do love the film.
Elm Street 5 has a cool progression of it's predecessors plot and some cool ideas.

[–] pecinqa 9 years ago

Having recently watched the films I'd have to agree that this one is the worst of the series (personally I don't include F vs J, or the remake). This one was the worst because it tried to be scary, but fell well short of the mark. There's usually something to appreciate in the ANOES films, but outside of Robert Englund's performance (as always) and some special effects there's really nothing here.

I actually enjoyed Freddy's Dead more. At least that film was aware it was off-the-rails and reveled in it. In terms of entertainment it was much more bearable to watch than Dream Child.

Having said that, I'm still not very fond of Freddy's Dead. Personally my bottom three ANOES films are 2, 5 and 6.

[–] hexedd 9 years ago

Agreed, Englund was the only good thing here. It was super cheesy and not the slightest bit scary.

I also don't count the remakes when I measure them against one another, since the remakes were done so far after and will never seem like something easily comparable.

[–] Legion_89 9 years ago

I find Freddy's Dead the weakest to be honest, as it focused too much on comedy.

My ranking of the series:

1. Dream Warriors
2. Dream Master
3. New Nightmare
4. Original
5. Freddys Revenge
6. Remake
7. Freddy Vs Jason
8. Dream Child
9. Freddys Dead

"Martyr me for Cordis Die."

[–] ElectricWarlock 9 years ago

I think the remake is the worst. Whether you like the previous films or not they're most certainly not boring and the remake is. It feels dull and lifeless. It's as though a vampire took the original film and drained all the life out of it then called it a remake.

[–] hexedd 9 years ago

Ahh yes, I should've specified I wasn't including the remake. Yes the remake doesn't even feel like a Nightmare film. Totally agree.

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] IMDB_Vits 9 years ago

IMHO the worst are FREDDY'S REVENGE, FREDDY'S DEAD, FREDDY VS JASON and the remake.

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] Henahey41 8 years ago

there are weak moments but it is still enjoyable to watch

[–] apriloish 8 years ago

If your being serious with this post i have to say your being way to judge mental this isnt the best freddy but its far from the worst its better then freddys dead an the remake this is an ok movie its the drama one of the series about abortion an teen pregnancy an what not the problems with this are there just isnt enough kills the film feels to life less there isnt enough going on because threes so few kills an because of that they focus on the drama which isnt what we really want to see from nightmare so it feels bland an because its drama about a pregnant teen it feels out of place for a slasher the film has a beautiful look an the dark tone is great but freddy has to many one liners here he goes from super dark to goof ball its like it cant decide but the story is very creative idea with baby dreams buts not used to the full extent the original script was better still not great but used the idea better it would have been a descent movie not good but descent as is its ok time waster