Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Movie Review

8.5/10

In 1985, New Line Cinema put out a sequel to the new classic "A Nightmare On Elm Street." His time, it was an all new cast(except Robert Englund), a new set of filmmakers, and a completely different feel of campiness. While this movie isn't one of the more loved of the series, I did particularly enjoy it, because it's fun, and its great portrayal of Krueger. 

Right off the bat, the movie starts off with a twist.  You think that you're experiencing a normal bus ride. The kids are laughing and having fun, but then the bus driver(Krueger) starts to go crazy, and drives into the desert.  In this desert, then ground crumbles in, and the bus goes into the inner depths of hell.  I loved this intro so much, because it really respects the surprise that the original had, and it was executed very well. 

Thankfully, this previous scene was all a dream, and we meet Jesse. Jesse is new to Elm Street, and he is a very kind person.  It is shown that he has a crush on a girl named Lisa, whom he drives to school every day. Life seems to be going great for him, until his nightmares of Freddy worsen...

One of the things I really like about this movie was the cast.  The star, Mark Patton was extremely likable in his role, because he was very funny and genuinely kind.  He was also one of the first male "scream queens" I have ever seen, which was pretty awesome. Kim Myers was great in the role of Lisa, because she had a pretty good connection with Patton, and she was very nice and cheerful.  Robert Englund gave one of his best "Freddy" performances, because he was creepy and darker than ever. I also like that he didn't give as many one liners as usual, which made things more realistic and intense. 

As I watched the film, I noticed that it was extremely campy and homoerotic.  While the filmmakers claim that this was not intentional, I really don't buy it at all. The most apparent scene of this is when Jesse enters a gay bar in his dream. I don't know how this could be explained as anything else, because it's pretty straight forward.  I also feel that Jesse is a character full of gay undertones, and this may have come from the fact that Patton is a homosexual in real life. Honestly, while some people didn't like this change in direction, I really had no problem with it, because it didn't make a difference in my watching experience, and there really isn't any problem with change. 

While the film has a little less of a blood amount than the original(because of the bed scene), the violence in this film is much more graphic and realistic. I really like this a lot, because it brings more of a slasher feel, and it is absolutely insane.  The only thing is that while this one has this advantage, the original was much darker and intense and it had more of a scare factor.  The thing that this one does have is a much more psychological terror to it, with the many questions that come about with Jesse and Freddy. You can really tell the deterioration of the mental health of the characters, and this a lot gives some chills. 

The ending really kicked butt, because there was a great showdown with Freddy. I actually liked it more than the first one's ending, because it was much more intense, and the last twenty seconds were even more surprising in a macabre way. 

Overall, this movie is a lot of fun. Even though it is one of the most frequently picked on movies of the series, I enjoy it a lot, and find it to be one of the best. It is definitely a far step away from the original, which gave it a refreshing feeling that was very much needed. Definitely check this film out, because it will not disappointed.