I watched Wes Craven’s “New Nightmare” last night and enjoyed it for the most part. I was interested in seeing it since it’s not a “sequel” to the original “A Nightmare on Elm Street” and has gotten more good praise than bad. The movie is set in the “real world” and follows actress Heather Langenkamp (Nancy from the original “Nightmare”) ten years after the making of the first film. She’s married, has a child and seems to be being stalked by a rabid “A Nightmare of Elm Street” fan. Of course, she starts see Freddy Kruger everywhere she goes and becomes convinced that he’s trying to kill her family so he can come out of the “movie” and into “real world.” It’s an interesting premise to turn the reality of Freddy Kruger in on itself and the movie does have some really good scenes and scares. I particularly like the sub-plot of Los Angeles having one earthquake after another for no real reason. It mirrors Heather’s unsettled mind. Yeah, it sounds silly, but it works. And it’s fun to see Robert Englund, Wes Craven and assorted other “Nightmare” alumni play themselves. What didn’t really work for me was the climax of the film. It’s ok and certainly doesn’t ruin the movie. I think that rooting the movie’s premise abd conclusion totally in Heather’s psychology would have made for a far more interesting conclusion.

Bottom Line:
Worth seeing for it’s clever reinvention of the “A Nightmare on Elm Street” story line.
(Hell, you might even like the ending more than I did.)