A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master Review (1988) Worth Watching?

It's about the last Elm Street kid who accidentally pulls a new batch of kids into Freddy's nightmare realm.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master was directed by Renny Harlin (who also directed The Dyatlov Pass Incident and The Covenant) and stars Robert Englund (from The Midnight Man and Lake Placid Vs. Anaconda), Tuesday Knight (from FredHeads: The Documentary) and Ken Sagoes (from A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors).

Terror beyond your wildest dreams.

"When deep sleep falleth on men, fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake." - Job IV. 13-14.

Dream Master starts off strong with an intense nightmare sequence. Only problem is it's a bit confusing since "Kristen" from Dream Warriors isn't actually Kristen anymore, she's now played by another actress named Tuesday Knight (who also happens to be the singer in The Dream Master's theme song). We're just all supposed to believe it's the same character. A belief that Joey and Kincaid, the last of the Dream Warriors alumni, do their best to jam down our throats. But whatever, Patricia Arquette just didn't want to keep doing Nightmare films kinda like how Jamie Lee Curtis didn't want to keep doing Halloween films. It happens.

This one starts with "Kristen" unable to break the habit of pulling her friends into her dreams. Problem is Freddy keeps inching closer and closer to her but none of her friends believe her. They eventually believe her though, Freddy makes damn sure of that.

Dream Master introduces a few new characters, one of whom is Alice, a shy mousy girl who drifts in and out of wild daydreams Walter Mitty style. Alice works in a little diner called "Crave Inn", as in Wes "Craven". Get it? It's funny because it's a play on words.

The biggest standout from this movie, by far, were the nightmare scenes. Crave Inn must have surely been proud with the ramped up creativity and intensity of Dream Master. Every new character has their own quirk that Freddy exploits. He also has plenty of fresh meat since Kristen passed on her ability to pull friends into dreams to Alice who basically pulls in EVERYONE she knows. A very cool detail that gives us some very cool nightmares. You get Freddy as a naked chick in a waterbed, you see him sucking face with a nerd, soaking up the sun on the beach, you get Freddy as an elevator operator, Freddy as a doctor, Freddy as a nurse, Freddy as a karate master, Freddy as a gym rat, you even get Freddy as an exterminator.

What's not to love?

Dream Master could have easily been the perfect end to the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, its that good. Of course the franchise goes on for another few movies. But nothing can beat this, the original and Dream Warriors. They're the horror trifecta.

Worth Watching?

Definitely. This is one of three that I think are a must watch in this franchise, the others being the original and Dream Warriors. You could watch just these three and have an awesome triple feature.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master Review (1988) Worth Watching? - ALL HORROR Tweet it