- Directed by Renny Harlin
- Written by Wes Craven, William Kotzwinkle, Brian Helgeland
- Stars Robert Englund, Rodney Eastman, John Beckman
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 33 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jc-9vF9F_eg
Spoiler-free judgment zone:
This continues with the surviving Dream Warriors from the last film and expands on more of the dream-fighting and dream-sharing idea. This one has a steady body count as Freddy kills his way through a bunch of youngsters. All in all, it’s on about the same level as part 3.
Synopsis
We open at Freddy’s house. Kirsten goes inside, and strange things start happening. The house is all torn up and looks very haunted. Through a series of unfortunate events, she winds up in the basement of an old factory. She calls for Joey and Kinkaid to come help her, and they’re both pulled into her dream as well. “It’s Freddy. He’s here. He’s coming back for us!” The two boys say Freddy is dead; they killed him in the previous film. In the dream, a giant dog bites her, and all three teens wake up.
All the teenagers go to school, and we get to meet some of the characters. Alice has a crush on Dan. Rick and Kristen are a couple. Kincaid and Joey warn Kristen not to go into dreams anymore; they might stir things up.
After school, we see that Alice and Rick don’t have a great family life. Kincaid talks to his dog, Jason, and nods off. He wakes up in the junkyard where Freddy’s bones were burned. There’s a flaming earthquake, and Freddy’s bones reassemble. He’s back, and Kincaid is dead. Joey also goes to sleep and sees a mermaid in his waterbed. Freddy jumps out, and soon it’s Joey inside the waterbed.
Kristen goes to school and knows what happened when Kincaid and Joey don’t show up. Kristen, Alice, Rick, and Dan go to Freddy’s old house. Kristen’s mother interrupts and takes Kristen home before dosing her with sleeping pills. Kristen dreams of herself at the beach until Freddy shows up as a shark. She soon finds herself in Freddy’s basement again. Kristen pulls Alice into her nightmare too. Freddy kills Kristen, but first, Kristen gives Alice her dream power.
Alice talks to Sheila, the math wiz and inventor stereotype with asthma. Sheila nods off during a big exam. Freddy appears and kisses her– he sucks her dry. Back in class, she dies of an asthma attack.
Dan and Alice talk about Freddy; he doesn’t believe her story. Rick tells Dan their town’s history isn’t exactly safe for teenagers. Alice sits through a really boring class lecture on dreams. Rick goes to sleep in the restroom and ends up in Freddy’s world. Rick is killed in a ninja battle against the invisible Freddy.
Dan and Deb try to console Alice, who’s now lost nearly everybody she knows. They come to the conclusion that Alice changes a little after each of her friends’ deaths. Now she can work the nunchucks just like Rick could.
That night, Alice and Dan go to Debbie’s house, but Deb has turned into a giant bug in her dreams. Except Alice and Dan are stuck in a dreamy time loop where they can’t get anywhere. Meanwhile, Freddy kills Debbie in a roach motel. Alice looks at Dan and says, “I’ve collected, like the others.”
Dan gets hurt in a car wreck and is sedated for surgery. Alice goes through all her new abilities, and we get a “getting ready for dream combat” montage before taking some sleeping pills. The doctors wake Dan up, leaving Alice alone with Freddy.
Alice uses karate against Freddy, but he laughs it off. “You’ve got their power, but I’ve got their souls.” She blows a hole through Freddy with Sheila’s invention. “I am eternal,” he boasts. Alice holds up a mirror for Freddy to see himself, and all the souls he’s eaten tear their way out of him. Freddy dies, and all the souls escape.
Out in the real world, Dan and Alice talk. She sees Freddy’s reflection in the fountain– is it all over for him?
Commentary
It continues on where part 3 left off, with the Dream Warriors still active, at least for as long as they live. This one expands on the idea of dream magic by giving Alice completely different powers.
They really drop like flies in this one– one dead teen after another. Robert England got top billing this time, and he’s hammier than ever