'Nightmare on Elm Street Collection' DVD Review

A great way to collect the eight Robert Englund Elm Street films from the classic original franchise, although the special features leave much to be desired.

To coincide with the remake, New Line is repackaging its 1999 box set Nightmare on Elm Street Collection, adding 2003's Freddy vs. Jason but removing most of the special features. Still, it's the best way to get all eight films in this landmark horror franchise in one set.

A Nightmare on Elm Street: The original Wes Craven classic that reinvigorated the slasher genre still manages to be creepy today by capturing the warped nature of dreams with striking, nightmarish visuals. (On a side note, it's amazing how bad an actor Johnny Depp was at the start of his career.) Grade: A-

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge: This disappointing sequel features silly nightmares (wet towel snapping?) and the ill-conceived premise of Freddy possessing Jesse to do his bidding, playing like The Amityville Horror with a touch of Carrie. Amazingly, it eliminates a large portion of the appeal of the original by removing most of the action from the dream world. Grade: D+

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors: Returns to the dreamlike feel and imagery of the original, with the twist of Kristen being able to draw people into her dreams. Plus, it expands on Freddy's mythology, introducing more of his back story via his ghostly mother, while also making him more of a lighthearted punster. Grade: B

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master: A fun entry, as Freddy becomes increasingly punny, although the plot also becomes increasingly silly, with Kristen magically passing her gift to Lisa before dying, who then absorbs the talents of all her friends when they die. The kills are more lighthearted (Jaws-inspired glove in the water) and nearly bloodless. Grade: B-

A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child: Recycles the premise of Alice drawing people into Freddy's world, but with a bit darker and more gory edge than the previous film. A particularly nonsensical climax involving an unborn child and an undead mother make for a muddied affair. Grade: C

Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare: Like Joel Schumacher's Batman movies, this "final" film descends into buffoonery, with ridiculous kills (including a video game and fingernails against a chalk board), a ridiculous plot involving Springwood being drained of kids and its adults going insane, and a ridiculous 3-D gimmick. Grade: D

Wes Craven's New Nightmare: The intriguing premise of Freddy invading "real life" rehashes many elements of the original with more of a dramatic, real-world flair, but the mix of drama and horror is awkward at times, and it takes too long to get going, with Freddy not showing up for the first hour of the film. Grade: C+

Freddy vs. Jason: A fun, attractively shot mesh of the Elm Street and Friday the 13th franchises that does an admirable job of living up to the lofty expectations, both story-wise and action-wise. Grade: B-

The DVD

Special features include cast/crew profiles, commentary (first film only) and jump-to-a-nightmare.

Movies: B-
DVD: D

Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.