Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare

Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (also known as A Nightmare on Elm Street 6: The Final Nightmare) is a 1991 American slasher film and the sixth film in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. The film is the sequel to A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child and was originally intended to be the final installment of the series; Wes Craven's New Nightmare was released three years later but takes place outside the series canon. A canonical crossover/sequel, Freddy vs. Jason, was released in 2003. This was New Line Cinema's first 3D film release.

"Freddy's Dead" redirects here. For the Curtis Mayfield song, see Freddie's Dead.

Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRachel Talalay
Produced by
Screenplay byMichael De Luca
Story byRachel Talalay
Based onCharacters
by Wes Craven
Starring
Music byBrian May
CinematographyDeclan Quinn
Edited byJanice Hampton
Production
company
Distributed byNew Line Cinema
Release date
  • September 13, 1991 (1991-09-13) (United States)
Running time
89 minutes (home video) 100 minutes (theatrical)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$9–11 million[1][2]
Box office$34.9 million (US)[2]

Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare was released on December 13, 1991, and grossed $34.9 million domestically on a budget of $9–11 million, surpassing its predecessor's gross.[3] It received a very negative critical reception upon release.

The film stars Lisa Zane, Yaphet Kotto, Breckin Meyer, Shon Greenblatt, Ricky Dean Logan, Lezlie Deane, Tobe Sexton, and Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger in his sixth portrayal. Additionally, several well-known actors make cameo appearances, including: Johnny Depp (whose screen debut was in the original film), Roseanne Barr, Tom Arnold, and Alice Cooper. Iggy Pop sings the title song, which plays during the end credits over a montage of scenes from the previous films in the series.

Plot

Many years after the previous film, Freddy Krueger has returned and killed nearly every child and teenager in the town of Springwood, Ohio. The only surviving teenager, John Doe, is confronted by Freddy in a dream. John wakes up just outside the Springwood city limits but, due to a head injury, does not remember who he is or why he is there.

At a shelter for troubled youth, three of the residents—Spencer, Carlos, and Tracy—plot to run away to California. The police find John and take him to the shelter, where he becomes a patient of Dr. Maggie Burroughs. Maggie notices a newspaper clipping from Springwood in John's pocket. To attempt to cure John's amnesia, she plans a road trip to Springwood. In an attempt to run away, Tracy, Carlos, and Spencer stow away in the van, but they are discovered when John has a hallucination and almost wrecks the van just outside Springwood.

Tracy, Spencer, and Carlos try to leave Springwood but first rest at a nearby abandoned house. The house is 1428 Elm Street, Freddy Krueger's former home. John and Maggie visit the Springwood orphanage and discover that Freddy had a child. John believes he is that child, because Freddy allowed him to live. Back on Elm Street, Carlos and Spencer fall asleep and are killed by Freddy. Tracy is almost killed, but is awakened by Maggie. John, who went into the dream world with Tracy to try to help Spencer, is still asleep. Maggie and Tracy take John back to the shelter. On their way back, Krueger attacks John in his dream. Before killing John, Krueger reveals that his child is a girl; as John dies, he tells this to Maggie. Tracy and Maggie return to the shelter, but they find that no one remembers John, Spencer, or Carlos except for Doc, who has learned to control his dreams. Maggie finds her adoption papers and realizes that she is Freddy's daughter. Her birth name was Katherine Krueger. Her name was changed to Maggie Burroughs when her father was arrested and subsequently murdered.

Doc discovers that Freddy's power comes from dream demons who continually revive him, and that Freddy can be killed if he is pulled into the real world. Maggie decides that she will be the one to enter Freddy's mind and pull him into the real world. Once in the dream world, she puts on a pair of 3D glasses and enters Freddy's mind. In his mind, she learns that Freddy was teased as a child, was abused by his foster father, inflicted self-abuse as a teenager, and murdered his wife. Freddy was given the power to become immortal by fiery demons. Maggie struggles to pull Freddy into the real world but eventually succeeds.

Maggie and Freddy end up in hand-to-hand combat against one another; she uses several weapons confiscated from patients at the shelter. Enraged by the knowledge of what he has done, Maggie tears off Freddy's clawed glove and stabs him through the stomach with it, embedding the glove's claws into a steel support beam and leaving Freddy suspended above the ground. Tracy tosses Maggie a pipe bomb which she throws into Freddy's chest. She says "Happy Father's Day", kisses him, and runs. The three dream demons fly out of Freddy after the pipe bomb kills him. Maggie smiles at Tracy and Doc; she is confident that her father is dead.

Cast
Main articles: List of cast members of the A Nightmare on Elm Street film series and List of A Nightmare on Elm Street characters

Production

Development

In the original script, 15-year-old Jacob Johnson (son of the previous installment's main character Alice Johnson) is the major character, and many of the dream warriors from A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors return to aid Jacob in defeating Freddy after he kills Alice.[5] This idea was later discarded. Peter Jackson also wrote a screenplay that was not used; his story was about teenagers who did not see Freddy as a threat and took sleeping pills to enter Freddy's world. Jackson's script also included a police officer put into a comatose state to permanently be in Freddy's realm.[6]

John Carl Buechler was the chief special make-up effects artist for the film, returning to the series after serving the same role in A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master. He also contributed to the film's 3-D "Freddyvision" climax.[7]

The last ten minutes of the film are in 3D. To cue the audience to put on their 3D glasses, Maggie is seen to put on her 3D glasses in the film. The effect was eliminated for the VHS and television releases, with the exception of the UK and French rental version and the US Laserdisc version. The DVD box set released in 1999 reinstated the 3D effect and included two pairs of 3D glasses.

Marketing

As a publicity stunt for both Freddy's Dead and the comic storylines that were still being released around the film's cinematic release, New Line Cinema held a mock funeral for Freddy Krueger at Hollywood Forever Cemetery[6] in Los Angeles, including attendants from the film series such as Alice Cooper, Lezlie Deane, Shon Greenblatt, Ricky Dean Logan, Breckin Meyer, Tobe Sexton, Lisa Zane, Lisa Wilcox and Whit Hertford. Andy Mangels and Rachel Talalay were among others present.[8] On encouragement by New Line Cinema, the Los Angeles mayor at the time, Tom Bradley, declared September 13 to be 'Freddy Krueger Day', but this move was heavily criticized by for glorifying a mass murderer, with Robert Englund adding that "we have to separate crime reality from movie escapism".[3]

Reception

Box office

Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare made $12.9 million in its opening weekend,[2] which was the highest opening weekend of the series until the release of Freddy vs. Jason and the biggest September opening at the time, ranking number 1 at the box office.[9][10] In its second weekend it made $6.6 million and remained in the top spot, before falling to number 7 in its third weekend. After its initial run, the film grossed $34.9 million in the United States and Canada, making it the fifth-highest-grossing film in the series.[11]

Critical response

Reviews for the film were generally negative and some critics named it one of the "worst films of 1991." It currently holds a 19% positive rating on film review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 31 reviews.[12] Austin Chronicle wrote, "Freddy Krueger ... has devolved from the horrific, ill-defined phantasm posited in the original film, into a bland and annoyingly predictable boogeyman loved by kids everywhere."[13]

The song "Why Was I Born? (Freddy's Dead)", written for the film, was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Original Song.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for the film was released on September 24, 1991, by Warner Bros. Records. Although not included on the soundtrack, the song "In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida" by Iron Butterfly is featured in the film.

  1. Goo Goo Dolls – "I'm Awake Now"
  2. Junk Monkeys – "Everything Remains the Same"
  3. Goo Goo Dolls – "You Know What I Mean"
  4. Johnny Law – "Remember the Night"
  5. Chubb Rock – "Treat 'em Right"
  6. Iggy Pop – "Why Was I Born? (Freddy's Dead)"
  7. Johnny Law – "Hold Me Down"
  8. Goo Goo Dolls – "Two Days in February"
  9. Young Lords – "Give Me a Beat"
  10. Fates Warning – "Nothing Left to Say"

On September 3, 1991, Varèse Sarabande released an album of Brian May's score.

Comic spin-off

Innovation Publishing published a three-issue comic adaptation of the film. An alternate version of the third issue was published in 3D to recreate the effect used in the film. The series was also published in trade paperback format. Innovation followed the adaptation with A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Beginning, which served as a direct sequel to Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare. In the sequel, Maggie Burroughs continues to have nightmares of her father, Freddy Krueger. Burroughs travels back to Springwood with Tracy, another survivor from the film, to research Freddy's life leading up to his death at the hands of the Springwood parents. Only the first two issues of the series were released before Innovation Publishing declared bankruptcy. The third issue went unpublished, and the story remains incomplete. Series writer Andy Mangels made the original script for the third issue available on his website.[14]

See also

References
  1. Mitchell, Chris (August 10, 1992). "Shrewd marketing fuels Freddy promotion". Variety. p. 36.
  2. "Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved June 5, 2016.
  3. Bob Pool (September 13, 1991). "Sharp Edge : Mayor Proclaims 'Freddy Krueger Day' but Not Everyone Is Celebrating". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on September 15, 2015.
  4. Seibold, Whitney (October 12, 2012). "The Series Project: Freddy & Jason (Part 4)". CraveOnline. Retrieved June 5, 2016.
  5. Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (Original script). Retrieved January 29, 2012.
  6. Farrands, Daniel and Kasch, Andrew (Directors) (May 4, 2010). Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy (DVD). 1428 Films.
  7. Shapiro, Marc (October 1991). "Freddy's Dead No Kidding!". Fangoria (107): 40–47.
  8. "Innovation Previews, Vol. 1, No. 21". Andymangels.com. Innovation Publishing. 1991. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
  9. Dutka, Elaine (September 17, 1991). "'Freddy's Dead' Wakes Up Box Office". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 9, 2010.
  10. McBride, Joseph (September 17, 1991). "Top 10 Gets Rise Out Of Freddy". Daily Variety. p. 1.
  11. "Nightmare on Elm Street Movies at the Box Office - Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
  12. "Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  13. Savlov, Mark (September 20, 1991). "Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare". Austin Chronicle. Retrieved August 6, 2012.
  14. "Nightmares on Elm Street". Andymangels.com. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
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