Taglines: This time, staying awake won’t save you.
Wes Craven’s New Nightmare movie storyline. It’s nearing the 10th Anniversary of the film ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ and one of the stars, Heather Langenkamp is being scared by a voice on a phone, sounding very similar to the film’s villain, Freddy Krueger. When Heather’s husband is killed in a car accident and is discovered with slash marks on him, Heather starts to wonder something. Especially when she discovers that Wes Craven is writing another ‘Nightmare’ film. Soon, she realizes that Freddy has now entered the real world, and the only way to defeat him is to become Nancy Thompson once again.
Wes Craven’s New Nightmare is a 1994 American slasher film written and directed by original Nightmare on Elm Street creator Wes Craven. Although it is the seventh film in the franchise, it is not part of the series continuity, instead portraying Freddy Krueger as a fictional movie villain who invades the real world and haunts the cast and crew responsible for his films. In this film, Freddy is depicted as closer to what Craven originally intended, being more menacing and less comical, with an updated attire and appearance.
About the Story
Heather Langenkamp lives in Los Angeles, California with her husband Chase and their young son Dylan. Heather has become quite popular due to her role as Nancy Thompson from the Nightmare on Elm Street film series. One night, she has a nightmare in which she, Dylan, and Chase are attacked by a set of animated Krueger claws of an upcoming Nightmare film in which two of the workers are brutally murdered on set. Waking up to an earthquake, she spies a cut on Chase’s finger exactly like one he had received in her dream, but they quickly dismiss the notion.
Heather receives a call from an obsessed fan who calls and quotes Freddy’s nursery rhyme in an eerie Freddy-like voice. This coincides with a meeting she has with New Line Cinema in which she is pitched an idea to reprise her role as Nancy in a new Nightmare film, which Chase had been working on, unknown to her at the time. When she returns home, she sees Dylan watch her original film. When she interrupts him, he has a severely traumatizing episode where he screams at her.
The frequent calls and Dylan’s strange behavior cause her to call Chase, who agrees to rush home from his work site, as the two men from the opening dream did not report in for work. But Chase falls asleep while driving and is slashed by Freddy’s claw, which results in his death. His death seems to affect Dylan even further, which causes concern for Heather’s long-time friend and former costar John Saxon. He suggests she seek medical attention for both him and for her after Heather has a nightmare at Chase’s funeral in which Freddy tries to take Dylan away.
Dylan’s health continues to destabilize, becoming increasingly paranoid about going to sleep and fearing Freddy Krueger even though Heather had never shown him her films. She visits Wes Craven, who suggests that Freddy is a supernatural entity drawn to his films, released after the series completed and now focuses on Heather, as Nancy, as its primary foe. Robert Englund also has a strange knowledge of it, describing the new Freddy to Heather, only shortly after disappearing from all contact.
After another earthquake, Heather takes a traumatized Dylan to the hospital, where the head nurse, suspecting abuse, suggests Dylan stay for observation. Heather returns home for Dylan’s stuffed dinosaur while his babysitter Julie tries to keep the nurses from sedating the sleep-deprived boy. Dylan falls asleep after the nurses sedate him, and Freddy brutally kills Julie in Dylan’s dream.
Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994)
Directed by: Wes Craven
Starring: Heather Langenkamp, Robert Englund, Jeff Davis, Miko Hughes, Matt Winston, Marianne Maddalena, Tracy Middendorf, Claudia Haro, Cully Fredricksen
Screenplay by: Wes Craven
Production Design by: Cynthia Kay Charette
Cinematography by: Mark Irwin
Film Editing by: Patrick Lussier
Costume Design by: Mary Jane Fort
Set Decoration by: Ruby Guidara
Art Direction by: Diane McKinnon, Troy Sizemore
Music by: J. Peter Robinson
Distributed by: New Line Cinema
MPAA Rating: R for explicit horror violence and gore, and for language.
Release Date: October 14, 1994
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