A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 - The Dream Master poster & wallpaper
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Robert Englund, Lisa Wilcox, Rodney Eastman, Danny Hassel, Andras Jones ... see more see more... , Tuesday Knight , Ken Sagoes , Toy Newkirk , Brooke Theiss , Jeff Levine , Nicholas Mele , Robert Shaye , Linnea Quigley , Brooke Bundy , Hope Marie Carlton , Duane Davis , Joanna Lipari , L.E. Moko , Mickey Yablans , John Beckman , Richard Garrison , Jacquelyn Masche

This fourth trip down Freddy Lane was the most successful at the box-office, but although it has some impressive visuals, it is mostly an empty film. Credit must go to the effects team for some fine w... read more read more...ork, but otherwise, this entry from the director of Cutthroat Island (Renny Harlin) is extremely weak. Roland Kincaid falls asleep and awakens in the Springwood junkyard, where his dog -- named "Jason" in a sad foreshadowing of the film's giggly tone -- pees fire on Freddy's grave. The pyro-urinary baptism causes Krueger (Robert Englund) to reassemble from bones outward in an admittedly impressive sequence. Predictably, Freddy guts Kincaid, then appears in Joey's waterbed as a naked pinup girl (Hope-Marie Carlton) before slicing him to ribbons. And so it goes. The film has a few interesting ideas kicking around, but no real identification points. This is a video game, not a movie, and the characters seem to exist only in order to move the film from one effects sequence to another. There is a lot to be said for special effects, and the ones here are extraordinary and vivid. However, the wonderfully grim mood and subtle performances of Chuck Russell's outstanding third entry in the series are gone, abandoned by Harlin in favor of a splashy, comic book approach which would, unfortunately, dominate the series' later installments. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

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60% liked it

228,083 ratings

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54% liked it

26 critics

R, 1 hr. 33 min.

Directed by: Renny Harlin

Release Date: August 19, 1988

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DVD Release Date: August 21, 2001

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Stats: 4,565 reviews

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A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 - The Dream Master A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 John Carl Buechler Alice Johnson Freddy Krueger A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 - The Dream Master A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 - The Dream Master Alice Johnson Danny A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 - The Dream Master Freddy Krueger Rick Johnson Debbie Danny and Alice A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 - The Dream Master Kincaid's demise A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 - The Dream Master Freddy Krueger
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Flixster Reviews (4,565)

  • fb500439213
    January 1, 2011
    fb500439213
    An ultra-stylish, guilty-pleasure sequel with a multi-layered character arc for the female protagonist who can tranpose interlopers into her dreams. Alice must mature from a shy, introverted side character to an impregnable warrior who can finally vanquish the culprit responsible... read more for the deaths of her friends (and her wide-eyed naivete). Freddy has succumb to macabre one-liners and MTV-generation swagger (like a demonic James Dean), but, considering the prolific series, he cannot remain a frightening mystery forever.
  • MizturY0da
    September 8, 2010
    MizturY0da
    3 stars
  • creepfreak
    August 11, 2010
    creepfreak
    Directed by Renny Harlin (director of Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Deep Blue Sea, Mindhunters, and Exorcist: The Beginning). Elm Street 4 is another great sequel. It's my fourth favorite in the series (the third being Wes Craven's New Nightmare). The Dream Ma... read morester also has amazing effects, but they're not as memorable as Dream Warriors. Freddy Krueger comes back with even more jokes and they all work. Very smart script. This is when I fell in love with Lisa Wilcox (who plays Alice Johnson), Freddy's newest obstacle. She's beautiful...still is beautiful. I recently saw new pictures of her at horror conventions, and she's absolutely stunning. I just wish she was in better movies (other than this one). This is actually the only movie I've seen her in (and part 5). But I think she's a great actress too. All the characters gave good performances and all the characters were convincing, and likable. The Dream Master isn't that bloody at all, but it's very icky (the Debbie Stevens cockroach was gross, the little pizza pie heads were gross, and the sucked in face while kissing was pretty nasty). Again, the effects were great. Being so over the top it all looked pretty realistic. Lots of latex, no CGI crap...I love latex. What's also amazing about this film is the soundtrack. This features the best soundtrack out of the whole series. Find the music (not score) if you can, it's really good! What The Dream Master doesn't deliver in scares, it delivers in fun. It's a must see for fans of the series. It's one of my favorite late-80's teen horror films.

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  • TheDudeLebowski65
    June 9, 2010
    TheDudeLebowski65
    Although not as great as Dream Warriors, this film still has strong moments, and is a terrific film in the Nightmare series. This is one of the first films in the Nightmare On Elm Street series to include a bit of comedy. The film Also has great dream sequences, and the deja vu p... read moreart really does play tricks on you, I though that at one point my DVD was messing up on me, but no, it was Freddy all along. One thing I love about the Nightmare films is that even though some of them manage to be less great, all of them as a whole manage to be entertaining, and this film is a great example of that. The Dream Master is a good sequel and is a great addition to the franchise and will sure appeal to Freddy fans everywhere.
  • ScoopOnline
    December 1, 2009
    ScoopOnline
    Very Creepy, not in my Nightmares though.
  • ythelastman89
    November 18, 2009
    ythelastman89
    It was at least better than the third one. It still suffers from the same curse of bad teenage actors. I don't know why they don't use Freddy more, he's the main attraction.
  • SirPant
    September 15, 2009
    SirPant
    The Freddy films started to get a bit tired by this point and killing off the remaining Dream warriors made me quite upset :o(
  • stormyweather980
    August 15, 2009
    stormyweather980
    "A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 - The Dream Master" isn't the best movie in the series, but it is good. Kristen (Tuesday Knight) returns in this sequel as the only child left for Freddy Krueger to terrorize. Years ago, the kids' parents all burned Freddy to death and buried him. Tha... read moret's why he's been terrorizing those parents' kids all these years, and Kristen is the final one. However, Freddy decides that to get to Kristen, he must use some of her friends, especially Alice (Lisa Wilcox), in order to get to her.
    "A Nightmare on Elm Street 4" is a good horror movie, but what I really liked about it was its special effects. It has some of the best in the series. Some of the best special effects scenes are when you see all the kids' souls in Freddy and on the pizza, and when Freddy uses a model that is inside a waterbed as bait to get to one of the original Dream Warriors.

    If you like good horror movies or The Nightmare on Elm Street movies, I recommend getting this one. NOTE: That was my Amazon review from the year 2000.
  • Deano78
    September 6, 2008
    Deano78
    I don't think this was as good as the first or third ones.
  • 76Majikat
    December 29, 2007
    76Majikat
    Entertaining, nostalically interesting to watch

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Critic Reviews

Jonathan Rosenbaum
April 5, 2010
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

Consistently watchable and inventive. Full Review

Variety Staff
March 26, 2009
Variety Staff, Variety

Robert Englund, receiving star billing for the first time, is delightful in his frequent incarnations as Freddy, delivering his gag lines with relish and making the grisly proceedings funny. Full Review

Caryn James
August 30, 2004
Caryn James, New York Times

Though the Elm Street series contains the most intelligent premise in current genre films, none of the movies take much advantage of their potential. Full Review

Richard Harrington
January 1, 2000
Richard Harrington, Washington Post

As always, the teen actors are disposable, and even Robert Englund seems to be sleepwalking through Freddy. Full Review

David Nusair
October 19, 2010
David Nusair, rec.arts.movies.reviews

...an obvious low point within this incredibly uneven series. Full Review

Karen Krizanovich
April 5, 2010
Karen Krizanovich, Empire Magazine

Surprisingly watchable for the third sequel and despite its general predictability it's entertainingly inventive. Full Review

April 5, 2010
TV Guide's Movie Guide

With each entry, the films become more removed from their source. Freddy just isn't scary anymore. Full Review

Dustin Putman
October 9, 2008
Dustin Putman, DustinPutman.com

Not counting 1994's Wes Craven's New Nightmare, it's superior to all the other later sequels in the series. Full Review

Clint Morris
September 5, 2008
Clint Morris, Moviehole

Fun, but not a shade on the earlier Elm Street flicks

Stefan Birgir Stefansson
February 3, 2008
Stefan Birgir Stefansson, sbs.is

The new comedy version of Freddy...

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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Facts

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    • Freddy Krueger: How's this for a wet dream?
    • Freddy Krueger: You can check in, but you can't check out.
    • Freddy Krueger: If the food don't kill ya, the service will.
    • Freddy Krueger: (after killing Kincaid) One down. Two to go.
    • Debbie: I don't believe in you.
    • Freddy Krueger: I believe in you.
    • Freddy Krueger: (to Joey; drowning him in his water bed) How's this for a wet dream?!
Submit a Fact | View All

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A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 - The Dream Master Trivia

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  • What do the films The Fly and A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master have in common?  Answer »
  • In 'A Nightmare On Elm Street 4 : The Dream Master', who died from an asthma attack?   Answer »
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