A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors

    A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
    1987

    Synopsis

    During a hallucinatory incident, Kristen Parker has her wrists slashed by dream-stalking monster, Freddy Krueger. Her mother, mistaking the wounds for a suicide attempt, sends her to a psychiatric ward, where she joins a group of similarly troubled teens.

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    Cast

    • Patricia ArquetteKristen Parker
    • Heather LangenkampNancy Thompson
    • Craig WassonNeil Gordon
    • Robert EnglundFreddy Krueger
    • Ken SagoesKincaid
    • Rodney EastmanJoey
    • Jennifer RubinTaryn
    • Bradley GreggPhillip
    • Ira HeidenWill
    • Laurence FishburneMax

    Recommendations

    • 80

      Time Out London

      A particularly nice touch is the ability of one of the teenagers to pull people into her dreams, allowing Langenkamp and the threatened kids to gang up against Freddie. The neat script also fills in a little more of the Freddie mythology, including a suitably tasteless account of his conception. A creepy score and Russell's sure grasp of the skewed logic of nightmares helps to sustain the ambiguity between the 'real' and 'dream' worlds, while Englund's Freddie now fits like a glove.
    • 70

      Los Angeles Times

      The morbid tone of the original has given way to horror comedy set off by quite spectacular and imaginative fantasy sequences. Dream Warriors is no less grisly, but at least you can laugh at it.
    • 63

      The Globe and Mail (Toronto)

      Of Course A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors is repulsive. That is its primary attraction. All right-thinking people will steer clear. But wrong-thinkers with a taste for the grotesque will be in heaven, or the nearest satanic equivalent. [27 Feb 1987]
    • 60

      Empire

      Arguably the most imaginative of the horror franchise, with a fair number of truly resonant scenes.
    • 60

      The New York Times

      Freddy Krueger is the most talkative of slashers, and also the most creative. In A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, he displays a great debt to Dali in concocting surreal visions for his prey. When Freddy enters the dreams of his teen-age victims, ordinary objects become armed and dangerous.
    • 50

      Washington Post

      There are a few cheap thrills in Elm Street 3, but there are also plenty of effective effects, including mirrors-as-drowning-pools, Ray Harryhausen skeletal work and Freddy's body as a living frieze from hell. The film's major weakness can be summed up in two words: Craig Wasson. Wasson, who has the charisma of a bowl of wet chow mein, plays the sympathetic doctor who must try to outwit Freddy.
    • 50

      TV Guide Magazine

      As played by the classically trained Robert Englund, Freddy is a vital killer who brings a sense of creepy fun to his demented work — moviegoers actually like the guy. The nightmares themselves are another reason for the series' success. Seldom have films explored the nightmare world with such effect, style, and panache.
    • 40

      Variety

      Pic is mainly focused on the violent special effects outbursts of Freddy Krueger (ably limned under heavy makeup by Robert Englund), the child murderer’s demon spirit who seeks revenge on Langenkamp and the other Elm St kids for the sins of their parents. Debuting director Chuck Russell elicits poor performances from most of his thesps, making it difficult to differentiate between pic’s comic relief and unintended howlers.

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