SuperVHS

...to show the amateurs how it's done.

After watching the mess of "Freddy's Dead" it's interesting to note that both Mike DeLuca and Rachel Talalay (who was on board from part 3) are missing. Wonder why...?

This only serves to show up just how bad their movie was compared to this. Wes Craven pre-empts his own movie 'Scream' by 2 years and does a 'post-modernising' of the whole Nightmare on Elm Street series.

Reworking the whole Nightmare concept and having the main actors and crew from the original 3 movies play themselves being terrorised by the demon manifestation of Freddy is inspired. As well as incorporating it into a dark and twisted version of an already dark and twisted fairytale.

Ranks 3rd in the Nightmare top 7, just because it shows that despite "Freddy's Dead", Freddy is still very much alive in the 90's; if handled right.

...to go into the 90's, Freddy comes along for the ride.

Rachel Talalay started of as Line Producer (whatever that is?) back in Part 3. Now she takes on direction AND story writing. Not only that, New Line boss-type guy, Mike De Luca suddenly decides he'll have a go at writing screenplays. Needless to say after checking their credits they've not done a credible movie between them in any of these departments but you don't need me to tell you that, just check out this mess.

Freddy finally becomes the freakshow clown started in Part 4, sacrificing nearly all scaryness for so-called comedy. The film totally messes with the whole concept and mythology established in previous films and is just a lame excuse for a nineties installment and an attempt to end the licence due to waining popularity.

Even the gimmicky 3D finale is poorly executed and implemented and makes you wonder why they bothered: Freddy don't seem any more dead than usual.

Freddy's Dead?: Shame he went out in a low-budget pop and not the big budget bang he deserved in Part 3.

Stephen (Predator 2, Lost In Space) Hopkins takes on this installment and adds some well needed creepiness after part 4's action-and-comedy-but-where's-the-horror turn.

Shame he doesn't add a decent plot to go with it.

As with part 4, there is none of the real blood and gore of the originals and Freddy plays for laughs rather than for scares. The film makes also the mistake of starting to tamper with the mythology set out in 1 and 3 and although the baby 'dreamstate' idea has potential it is wasted.

Fortunately, unlike Star Trek's so called "odd-number-curse", it seems Nightmare suffers from the dreaded "even-number-curse" as the worst is yet to come...

...you can hear the chords of Psycho's shower scene as New Line stick a big sharp knife in the Nightmare licence.

Let's get one thing straight, Renny Harlin can put in a half decent turn as an action director (Die Hard 2, Long Kiss Goodnight) but he IS NOT a horror director. Watch and you'll not be scared because there's nothing to be scared of. Sure the visual effects are even more impressive than last time but it all plays out like a Freddy music video instead of a horror movie. There is no tension or atmosphere at all. Even in the final showdown, Harlin can't resist putting in a physical fight scene between Alice and Freddy.

Would've been second worse in the series if not for 'Freddy's Dead'

Wes Craven steps back in to apologise for the mess of Part 2 by co-writing a conclusion to the original movie and completely ignoring the fact that Part 2 ever existed.

Add to that a bigger budget and impressive effects courtesy of Dream Quest (the more modestly budgeted movie's ILM) and you've got what should've been Freddy's big finale. Unfortunately New Line had other ideas...

But this is definitely the second best in the series and the only worthy follow up to the original, proving one again that Wes Craven knows his way round a horror film. And Freddy still puts in a convincingly scary turn with some played straight one-liners which actually work.

So Jack Shoulder thought the script for NOES2 was better than the original?

Shame he didn't turn it into a better film then.

It's shot on low quality film, features no-one from the original cast (Freddy excepted) and completely misses the point of the original film by bringing Freddy out of the nightmares and into reality.

There is only one redeeming quality in this whole film; Freddy is still played relatively straight and scary.

But despite all its attempts to be original, this still rates lowest on my Nightmare Top 7 merely for the fact NOES4&6 were slightly entertaining; this is not.

There's only one thing that sums up NOES for me; It's the only horror movie that's come close to scaring me.

Wes Craven manages to show up all the horror wannabes (Especially the Nightmare sequels) for the cheap and nasty cash-ins and rip offs that they are.

This is the only film in the series where Freddy Kreuger is really evil. There's no cheesy one liners or comedy torturing here, it's 100% scare all the way...

Take my advice: Check out Parts 1,3 and New Nightmare and forget the rest. Or watch them all just to see what a mess they made of a good thing.

Total Recall is without doubt Arnold Schwarzenegger's best movie since The Terminator. Arnold fits perfectly in the role of Doug Quaid (definitely his best acting in a movie to date) the confused construction worker and Ronny Cox provides his usual evil plotting arch bad-guy. The impressive visual effects are worth the movie's $100million price tag, and Paul Verhoeven proved that, as with Robocop and Starship Troopers, sci-fi is where he does his best work.

What does spoil films like these, however, are people who cannot grasp the concept of Science FICTION, and refuse to suspend their belief for 2 hours(a vital part of enjoying these movies). Movies like this don't work without the overplayed violence, cheesy one-liners and stunning effects. Take away any of these elements and you no longer have a sci-fi action movie.

Chill out, check out and enjoy...