Retrospective Film Review

A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989) • 35 Years Later —Freddy’s mid-life crisis fails to claw back fans

The pregnant Alice finds Freddy Krueger striking through the sleeping mind of her unborn child, hoping to be reborn into the real world.

“One of the executives was pregnant… picture Freddy clawing his way out.” This was Leslie Bohem’s pitch for the next Nightmare on Elm Street. “No one liked my idea.” Though that sequel became A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), by the time a fifth entry was in the works, producer Sara Risher was then pregnant and unable to forget the chilling image.

This could certainly be the darkest Nightmare since Wes Craven’s 1984 original. Yet in just five years, Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) was dealing with an identity crisis. With the sudden rise to superstardom bolstered with TV spin-offs, video games, MTV music videos, and other merchandising aimed squarely at kids, returning to his roots seemed a pipe dream.