{"id":11424,"date":"2020-06-08T16:26:16","date_gmt":"2020-06-08T20:26:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=11424"},"modified":"2026-05-22T17:09:39","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T21:09:39","slug":"a-nightmare-on-elm-street-4-the-dream-master-1988","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=11424","title":{"rendered":"A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master-1988"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master-1988<\/strong><\/p>\n

Director Renny Harlin<\/strong><\/p>\n

Starring Robert Englund, Lisa Wilcox<\/strong><\/p>\n

Scott’s Review #1,030<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Reviewed June 8, 2020<\/p>\n

Grade: B-<\/strong><\/p>\n

By 1988, a tepid year in cinema, and with the slasher genre nearly dead on arrival, the release of A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988) had the cards stacked against it.<\/p>\n

The franchise feels tired and out of gas by this point, so more comedy and humorous lines were added, along with a return to a similar concept from A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987): the dream sequences.<\/p>\n

The film is so-so, with not much that makes it stand out compared to the superior first three offerings.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, Robert Englund is the mainstay and main attraction.<\/p>\n

A year after the events of the previous film, Kristen (Tuesday Knight) and her friends have been released from the stifling Westin Hills sanitarium, putting the horrific events behind them.<\/p>\n

Their attempts to resume normal teenage activities, like attending class and partying, are thwarted by Freddy Krueger (Englund), who begins infiltrating Kristen’s dreams.<\/p>\n

As usual, a fresh batch of teenagers is along for the ride as they struggle to stay awake by watching Music Television (MTV) and revisiting the lavish junkyard featured in the previous installment.<\/p>\n

The redundancy of another franchise film using the tired “one year later” to begin events anew is feeling like a clich\u00e9.<\/p>\n

The main character, Kristen, played by a different actress, does not help the film; she only makes it inconsistent.<\/p>\n

The fact that actress Patricia Arquette had little interest in returning for around two more films in the role is not the film’s fault, but a brand-new character, instead of a recast, might not have been a bad idea.<\/p>\n

Recasting prominent roles may work in daytime soap operas but not in the movies.<\/p>\n

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, while quite similar to its predecessor, Dream Warriors, so much so that they could easily be watched in tandem, has some positive qualities.<\/p>\n

I love the MTV angle, the music network channel overtaking nearly every United States teenager’s living room or bedroom throughout the 1980s.<\/p>\n

If the filmmakers wanted to get teenagers who might not necessarily watch horror films, this was a perfect marketing tool. The target audience is perfectly aligned, and the film feels fresh and relevant for its time.<\/p>\n

The drawback to the above point is that making a film that is timely means that decades later, its risk is being referred to as “of its time”, and sadly, that is what has happened with Dream Master.<\/p>\n

Nobody will scramble to watch this installment when other better chapters are out there. There may hardly be a reason to watch this one against you unless a Nightmare marathon is on the docket.<\/p>\n

The junkyard set and the creepy church set are very good, so the film does well from a visual perspective.<\/p>\n

Englund is<\/strong> <\/em>Freddy, and his familiarity cannot be dismissed, but the actor seems to be phoning in his performance by this point in the franchise.<\/p>\n

Finally receiving top billing, as he should, he shares his familiar witty remarks and playfully taunts his victims like a cat would before pouncing on a mouse.<\/p>\n

The actor adds even more humor to his one-liners, but this sacrifices the horrific moments, of which there are not many. A successful horror\/comedy fusion is a delicate balance, and there is not enough meat on the bone.<\/p>\n

Entertaining at best, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988) is not well remembered, nor should it be. A dated affair, with emotionless teenage actors needing acting lessons and surely never to be heard from again, rounds out the cast, led by Robert Englund.<\/p>\n

The film is a letdown because it is too much like Dream Warrior and overly predictable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master-1988 Director Renny Harlin Starring Robert Englund, Lisa Wilcox Scott’s Review #1,030 Reviewed June 8, 2020 Grade: B- By 1988, a tepid year in cinema, and with the slasher genre nearly dead on arrival, the release of A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988) … Continue reading A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master-1988<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,11235,5305,11234,11233,201,1558,13,11267,11128,6983,11232,11231,1300,11130,310,1574],"tags":[71,11240,5309,11239,11238,257,1559,248,11273,11133,6990,11237,11236,1304,11135,311,1575],"class_list":["post-11424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1988-films","category-andras-jones","category-brian-helgeland","category-brooke-theiss","category-danny-hassel","category-fantasy-films","category-freddie-kruger","category-horror-films","category-john-carl-buechler","category-ken-sagoes","category-linnea-quigley","category-lisa-wilcox","category-renny-harlin","category-robert-englund","category-rodney-eastman","category-slasher-films","category-tuesday-knight","tag-1988-movie-reviews","tag-andras-jones","tag-brian-helgeland","tag-brooke-theiss","tag-danny-hassel","tag-fantasy-films","tag-freddie-kruger","tag-horror-films","tag-john-carl-buechler","tag-ken-sagoes","tag-linnea-quigley","tag-lisa-wilcox","tag-renny-harlin","tag-robert-englund","tag-rodney-eastman","tag-slasher-films","tag-tuesday-knight"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11424"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11424\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23194,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11424\/revisions\/23194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}