1989 saw the release of both A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 5: THE DREAM CHILD and NIGHTMARE creator Wes Craven's SHOCKER, which was Craven's attempt to create a new horror icon at Universal while Freddy was running on fumes at New Line Cinema. The idea was that SHOCKER's Horace Pinker could be a character that Craven would retain creative control over, so he could keep him from becoming the beloved pop culture star Freddy had become. To mark the 30th anniversary of these films, we thought it would be fun to put them up against each other and see which one will win in a Face-Off: the Craven creation that had drifted away from him, or Craven's attempt to make a new nightmare (before he made NEW NIGHTMARE.)
It's a Very Special NIGHTMARE as the franchise tackles the subject of teen pregnancy. Returning heroine Alice Johnson thought she had defeated the dream stalking Freddy Krueger in the previous film, but he has found a way to return through the dreams of the fetus napping in Alice's womb. Quite an odd loophole; I don't think anyone saw that coming back when part 4 ended. Alice has to decide what to do with her child (whose father is, of course, the first to die) while also trying to keep her friends safe from Freddy and figure out a way to stop the supernatural killer. Again. THE DREAM CHILD covers the same ground as its predecessors and it's all feeling a bit tired at this point, even if the filmmakers did find a unique way to approach the concept. Judging by the reaction to the film, it's not an approach many fans were happy with.
The story Wes Craven crafted for SHOCKER is so scattered that it feels like this was three movies combined into one. It begins as a serial killer thriller, with college football player Jonathan realizing that the nightmares he's been having about local murderer Horace Pinker are actually a psychic connection to the guy, who happens to be his biological father. Pinker is captured with Jonathan's help and executed in the electric chair, then SHOCKER becomes a possession movie as Pinker's spirit jumps from person to person. Finally it goes completely off the rails when Pinker starts traveling through electrical lines and TV sets. The nightmare and possession parts together are enough for a movie, going straight from the execution to the electricity stuff would have worked, but cramming all three together is overkill.
Freddy was known for his one-liners by part 5, but director Stephen Hopkins built one of the darkest movies in the series around his quips. I can't say anything is scary, but Hopkins does his best to make Freddy come off as creepy. The overall tone is unnerving because everything is so weird. And often gross. The sets are usually filthy, there's some gut-munching, there's a funky little Freddy baby running around, Freddy himself is hanging out in a womb with an infant. THE DREAM CHILD might not make you jump, but could leave you feeling like you need a shower.
SHOCKER is at its most effectively unnerving when Pinker is just a maniac stalking the streets with a knife in his hand and Jonathan is having visions of the murders he's committing. I think this could have been a better movie if Craven had just stuck to that idea for the duration. Pinker is a creepy, sleazy scumbag and actor Mitch Pileggi delivered an intense performance. A weird, unsettling atmosphere lingers over the rest of the film, but Pinker just isn't as troubling when he's possessing someone else's body, or when he's an electricity ghost jumping out of someone's TV.
Freddy keeps the quips flying in the dream sequences and he sure seems to be enjoying himself, but there aren't many lines that I actually find amusing in this one. I could have done with less jokes, as they're either too dark and cruel to be funny, or they're an irritating example of Freddy being a motormouth. One of the only quips that gets a reaction out of me is “Bon appétit, bitch”, and that's entirely due to Robert Englund's delivery.
Pinker is a really nasty person, but like Freddy he gets goofier as he gets more powerful. Problem is, this movie's attempts at humor are such groaners they might even make Freddy wince. Humorous moments include Pinker morphing into a recliner someone is sitting in; the killer saying “Finger lickin' good!” after gnawing on someone's fingers (easy and obvious, but I can go with it); and lines like “Let's take a ride in my Volts-wagen”… Which is really awful. This supernatural maniac has a lame sense of humor.
One thing the NIGHTMARE series has over the other popular slasher franchises is the fact that the dream sequences allowed the filmmakers to pack these movies with stunning visuals and incredible special effects. While Hopkins brings a Gothic style and M.C Escher homage to the table for his entry, the FX guys put together jaw-dropping sights like a horrific melding of man and machine, journeys through a character's insides, that Freddy baby puppet, and a scene in which Freddy emerges from within Alice.
Fittingly, SHOCKER is best remembered for moments that take place after Pinker has become one with electricity. The effects showing him getting blasted over a city by a satellite dish or zapping in and out of electrical outlets and light sockets aren't so impressive, but it is cool when Pinker and Jonathan start chasing and fighting each other through TV channels. They bounce through Leave It to Beaver, FRANKENSTEIN, music videos, war movies, archival footage, even a family's living room… That's a fun sequence.
It's a shocking twist that the fifth NIGHTMARE actually has the lowest body count in the entire franchise. Freddy only claims three victims in this movie, allowing for a whole lot of “what's going on with my baby?” drama between deaths. Each death is memorable, though, and leaves the victim a mess. One character undergoes a body horror transformation, another gets force fed her own guts until her cheeks are bulging out and another – this is my favorite – is a comic book fan who tries to fight Freddy as the superhero he has created, but ends up getting shredded like paper.
SHOCKER has a body count in the double digits, but these aren't memorable crowd-pleasers like you find in a NIGHTMARE movie. A few kills and injuries are played for laughs and excitement, but most of the deaths in here are heart-wrenching tragedies. There's no fun to be gleaned from seeing the aftermath of a brutal attack on Jonathan's sweet girlfriend, or in watching his coach, struggling with the spirit of Pinker that's within him, stab himself rather than harm Jonathan. The best death may actually be Pinker's at the end, which involves the killer being controlled with a TV remote.
This is sort of a "whoever wins, we lose" situation, because I don't think either THE DREAM CHILD or SHOCKER are very good movies. THE DREAM CHILD I have always been a little disappointed with, while SHOCKER is a movie I seem to like less every time I revisit it. In the end I have to give the win to the Freddy movie, because SHOCKER suffers from an overabundance of ideas and an odd mixture of tones.
Do you think THE DREAM CHILD should have won, or would you give the win to Pinker? Share your thoughts on these films in the comments section below. If you have suggestions for future Face-Off articles, you can send them to [email protected].