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A Nightmare on Elm Street: Dream Warriors (1987)

Starring Heather Langenkamp, Patricia Arquette, Laurence Fishburne, and Robert Englund.  Cinematography by Roy H. Wagner. Edited by Chuck Weiss and Terry Stokes.  Produced by Robert Shaye. Written by Chuck Russell, Frank Darabont, Bruce Wagner, and Wes Craven.  Directed by Chuck Russell.

In a mental hospital a group of teenagers complain of nightmares that aren’t limited to their subconsciouses.  Their therapist, who happens to be Nancy, the sole survivor from the first A Nightmare on Elm Street, (and played again by Heather Langenkamp), is one of the few authority figures that sympathizes with the kids and works to help them.  The collective nightmare’s ring leader is, as always, Freddy Krueger (played by Robert Englund), a homicidal demon that can move in and out of reality as his murderous rage dictates.

In Dream Warriors, we learn a bit of back story about Krueger.  We discover that he was at one time a child killer that lived in the local junkyard. A group of vigilante parents, all who happened to live on Elm Street, set fire to Krueger’s hideout and burned him alive.

Then there’s something about him not being buried in consummated ground so his soul is ill at rest or something like that. It kind of gets convoluted from there. Anyway, one of the aforementioned teenagers has a gift that allows multiple players inside the same dream. So instead of Freddy being able to pick them off one by one, he now has to deal with a small army of vengeful teens.

Frank Darabont, young and eager to get into the film business, followed a tip from a friend and ended up on the set of Hell Night in 1981.  He was lucky enough to land a job as a production assistant for the campy horror flick.  During production he befriended the film’s executive producer, Chuck Russell. When Russell was given the opportunity to write and direct the second A Nightmare on Elm Street sequel, he included Darabont as his screenwriting collaborator.

The film by in itself is pretty weak, but as a third film in a horror series goes it’s not too bad.  The special effects are pretty good for a film with a limited budget and there are some pretty genuinely creepy moments.  But the story struggles and the characters are all terribly flat.

If you’re a fan of the series, you will probably appreciate Dream Warriors.  But if you haven’t seen the first A Nightmare on Elm Street, you really should start there. And on a side note our very own God of Filmmaking Scott has a piece of the Nightmare action as his dad went to high school with Freddy himself, Robert England.  So don’t piss Scott off or he’ll have you cleaved.

Budget: $4,000,000

Total US Gross: $44,793,222

Genre: Horror

Runtime: 96 Minutes

US Release Date: 2/27/87

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Awards: none

Tagline: If You Think You're Ready For Freddy, Think Again!

Quote: “Ain't gonna dream no more, no more. Ain't gonna dream no more. All night long I sing this song. Ain't gonna dream no more.”