Starring: Mark Patton, Kim Myers, Robert Englund, Robert Russler, Clu Gulagher, Hope Lange.
Director: Jack Shoulder.
It's prioritizing time here on the blog. I've been meaning to watch the Nightmare on Elm Street sequels for awhile now-even came close a couple of times-but never actually got around to them. Considering I did the original and New Nightmare WAAAAAAAAAY back on day one, this really is somewhat unforgivable. I've also fallen so far behind that now, at this point, I have to basically do "important" horror films to make sure bases are covered. So, somewhat unfortunately, that means muscling through Jack Shoulder's unfortunate little Freddy flick and, well, provide commentary.
This movie has been called a lot of things (besides terrible, I mean): primarily in regards to certain homo-erotic undertones scattered throughout the film. Shoulder himself states pretty directly that he didn't mean for it to be a "gay" film, while writer David Chaskin says that the subtext is intentional. Fans and critics have called it "anti-gay" while others have called it "pro-gay." Maybe I'll weigh in on that score, maybe not. We'll see where this goes, I guess.
The opening scene seems to want to spend more time discussing alienation more than latent homosexuality: Jesse appears as a nerd on a school bus, disregarded by his peers and eventually mocked by a couple of young ladies. Then Freddy does his thing, causing Jesse to wake up screaming...well, like a girl. Not to be, y'know, sexist.
Yeah...I dunno if it's pro or anti, but there is definitely a lot of homosexual undertones: while Jesse clearly likes Lisa-the girl next door-he ends up rolling around in the dirt(ass exposed to the world) with pretty boy jock Grady. Grady informs Jesse that the Coach hangs out at "queer S&M joints downtown."
I once heard a rumor (it was pretty much entirely dismissed by the excellent Never Sleep Again:The Elm Street Legacy documentary-a must see for any horror buff, by the way) that the genders of Jesse and Lisa were reversed, which is why the not-so-manly screams and, well, the lead male being the primary target of Freddy. But, considering that latent homosexuality seems to be of subtextual significance to the film, this takes a different connotation. Freddy's initial encounter with Jesse certainly is one of seduction: he places his knife against Jesse's lips and whispers "shh." He touches Jesse's face...and then that, oh my god I almost forgot the dance scene.
That. Dance. Scene. I'm sure you've seen it. Bouncing butt, lightning bolt glasses, "Probe" board games, and phallic objects. I know it's supposed to be a funny parody of Risky Business and all but...wow. Then the lovely Lisa comes by and before you can hear a sad trombone sound, it's over.
I feel like this movie is kind of light on scares. I imagine they wanted to be a little more subtle, maybe even subversive, but it really comes off as a little dull. Freddy tearing his own scalp off works,and...well, Freddy's appearances work because Englund understands the role so well, but "the room is so hot you guys" isn't exactly the most frightening thing in the world. Nor is...oh, boy, killer bird.
It seems like I should say a few words on Clu Gulagher but...what is there to say, really? His role here is essentially ridiculous: Bird explodes and he assumes either a leaking gas main or his son using a cherry bomb. The performance is mostly played for laughs, anyway. I will say the "What are you taking and where are you getting them" bit makes an awful lot of sense under the circumstances, though...that part has logic.
Jesse goes to an S&M club, where he is given a beer despite basically being in his pajamas and barefoot. The Coach spies him and, against all reason or logic, forces Jesse to go to the school and run laps. Then the Coach is tied up, attacked by various balls, has his clothes stripped off and towels whack him in the ass. Yeah...all of that is crazy. If nothing else, this movie is extremely batshit insane.
After what feels like an eternity, we finally get to Lisa's pool party. Lisa is basically throwing herself at him in every conceivable way and...well, we don't really know why. It's not like Jesse has shown much genuine personality: mostly all he does is scowl, scream or cry. What does Jesse even like? But, anyway, they finally start having some sort of sexual encounter and a giant phallic Freddy tongue comes out of his mouth...so he abandons Lisa and goes to Grady's house instead, yelling about how something is trying to get inside his body and asking the guy to watch him sleep.
The "Freddy bursting from Jesse" effects are genuinely pretty excellent, though. As much as this film really isn't particularly strong, that transformation scene is probably one of the best effects sequences in the entire series. Poor Grady, your only crime was being kind of a jerk and letting Jesse hang out in your room. Jesse runs off back to Lisa, who is awfully cool about her frigid, mostly disinterested boyfriend showing up covered in blood. Lisa is totally a keeper, if you swing that way.
I suppose it mostly makes sense that Freddy, in control of the physical form of Jesse's body, could start doing weird psychokinetic stuff in real life...I mean, sort of? In theory wouldn't he just be physically controlling Jesse's body and, as such, unable to do his cool stuff? Where are the boundaries of his supernatural powers? I feel like it's safe to say that this film is mostly not officially canon and we should probably ignore it in the larger mythology. Or accept that Freddy does have some modicum of power outside of the dream realm under certain circumstances. Or whatever. At any rate, I'm not sure why all those muscular teens didn't just rush the dude and beat the shit out of him.
The climax takes place as a big, honking factory that is never mentioned as being in Springwood ever again throughout the rest of the series, though to be fair a bunch of landmarks present in later films never appear again, either. The factory does make a certain sense, considering the boiler room stuff and all that. The set piece is pretty great, even if the events that occur there aren't anything to write home about: the evil dog/rat/cat things look pretty terrible.
Lisa tells Jesse that she loves him, and it allows Jesse to fight and defeat Freddy, which is what leads most people to feel that this movie is anti-gay. I'm not sure this is entirely the case. While heterosexual love seems to be the power that frees Jesse from evil(which, in this case, would make Freddy a metaphor for the evils of homosexuality, which seems a bit too strong), you could also make an argument for Lisa providing acceptance of Jesse for who he is. Remember that bus scene at the beginning, where Jesse is an outcast? Maybe it's Jesse believing his life is without love, that no one will ever care for him, which changes when Lisa loves him? Also, even though Lisa pulls him out, there's not necessarily any guarantee they remain together. Or maybe I'm being an apologist and it really is a statement of heterosexuality destroying homosexuality...but I really do feel like that read is way too aggressive to be accurate.
Final Thoughts: Homosexual allegories and theories aside, this film really is pretty mediocre. It has its moment, though, which is probably better than what most say about it...Englund understands Freddy very well and manages to get through this film with dignity intact, which is no small feat. The cast does okay with what they have.
Final Rating: Two Stars.
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