DVD Review: A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge

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EDITOR'S NOTE: I started writing this post in the wee hours of Sunday morning. I decided to watch A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge right after the Betty White episode of Saturday Night Live. And then a funny thing happened. I was alternatively watching the DVD and typing my review, and I damned near fell asleep.  So, I saved my spot on both and hit the hay. Today, upon reflection, I'm not sure I know how to finish the write-up.  But I also didn't want to throw it away after all that typing. So what I'm going to do is tack on this prologue, followed by a quick epilogue, and then a link to a much better review! How's that for having your cake and eating it too?

ORIGINAL POST:

Inspired by the new "reboot" of the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, I decided to re-watch the first sequel to the original movie. The movie has long been considered to be the worst of the sequels, and has also been assigned to be the gayest horror movie ever.  I'm inclined to agree with the latter, but not with the former.

While part 2 is not on par with 3 or 4, (and the less said about 5 and 6, the better), it isn't bad. In fact, much of the feel of the original is present here.  And while it is absolutely skippable in the whole scheme of the Nightmare franchise (part 3 picks up the story after part 1), it is still a pretty good movie.

It must be a challenge for writers and actors in a Part 2 of any franchise that wasn't intended to have a sequel. They've got to keep the vibe of the original, without overly rehashing it, or betraying it. And they will hopefully make it better.  Part 2 doesn't make it better, but it doesn't trash it either.  The acting for one thing is well above average. The writing takes the plot a little far astray from the original--Freddy can be supernatural in the real world?--but the feel of the original is still there, in my opinion for the last time in the series. Part 3 set up a whole new direction in both look and feel.  Sidenote: you could argue that without part 2 there never would have been a franchise. It made lots of money, inspiring the studio (and Wes Craven) to pull out the stops for the third chapter. It also continued the iconography with the house, which carried on through most of them.

Mark Patton is the protagonist, Jesse, in this one. Which alone is a strange choice in a horror movie. The "last girl" is a horror movie cliche that has lasted far beyond the vintage of this picture.  So casting a young man in the part is right away a unique way to go.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with Patton as an actor--he's very good--but much has been made over the years of his androgyny. What? Really? Why?

He's not buff like Grady, Jesse's best friend, but he doesn't come off girly to me. Plus, Jesse has a girlfriend in Lisa (Kim Myers), who is probably the best actress the series has seen (possibly excepting Part 3's Patricia Arquette).  Jesse (who lives in the iconic Elm Street house of Part 1's "last girl," Nancy) and Lisa find Nancy's diary, and figure out that Freddy Krueger is haunting Jesse's sleeping and waking life.  Freddy is trying to break through to the real world by taking over Jesse's body.

So while the dreamworld is a little under-represented in this chapter, I don't think--like many fans of the series do--this anomaly is a bad thing. Freddy has tried a variety of ways to keep up his murder spree, so his attempt to take over Jesse's body is just one more thing he tried. But back to the gay stuff (and yes, I realize that Freddy wanting Jesse for his body--"You've got the body, I've got the brains!"--is just one more thing that makes this flick have a queer vibe.

I watched this movie for the first time in 1985 or '86, a time when I was well aware of my sexuality, but still keeping it under wraps. I was not as savvy to homoerotic allusions then, but I definitely noticed even then that this movie was working for me on more than one level! Some of it is overt and leans slightly homophobic. But casting Patton (who is very attractive in a non-threatening way) and Robert Rusler (Grady, who is very attractive in a bad boy way), and then getting them out of their clothing much of the time was much appreciated by me! And while Jesse's and Grady's relationship can only be seen as gay in subtext, I have to say I picked up on it, even in the 80s. I think only Jeepers Creepers 2 gives ANOES2 a run for its money for gay subtext in a mainstream horror film.

EPILOGUE: So that's where I left off, musing about the gayness of the movie. This particular facet of the film has been covered--and much better--by others. So rather than beat a dead horse, here is one of those better reviews.  But before you go there, you might want to read this excellent interview with the star, Mark Patton, who oddly enough has been "missing" for 25 years. That interview is here.  Now, onto the review.

[Excerpt]

A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge; The Man of Your Dreams is Back!

Nightmare On Elm Street 2 is probably the least heralded of all the Kruegerfests, and rightfully so. Compared to the rest of the series, Freddy's Revenge displays a severe lack in scares, gore, and yes - even the main man himself. I found the movie pretty watchable on the whole, but can easily understand why fans collectively aimed their assholes at it before taking a sh*t. If you erased this one from the continuity entirely, nobody would know the difference. . .


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