* ½ And it barely got that many stars.
Freddy is revived by flaming dog urine. He decides to kill the three remaining Elm Street children, and then go on to new prey. His choices are Alice Johnson (Lisa Wilcox), her friends (Danny Hassle, Toy Newkirk, Brooke Theiss) and brother (Andras Jones). However, Alice was given the powers of the (temporarily) surviving girl from part 3, so she has a chance of beating Freddy! flaming dog urine? Seriously? Sadly, yes. In fact, I probably don't even need to say much beyond that. However, I'll be at least somewhat more specific.
Although how you get any more specific than flaming dog urine Obviously, this movie is not a particularly smart film. In fact, to be perfectly honest, it's just plain stupid. The flaming dog urine is just the beginning. From the beginning to the end, the ideas and writing are truly awful. And not just unintelligent. The characters are totally one-dimensional. Of course, if the actors had at least had a little bit of charisma, they could have overcome this at least enough for us to be somehow remotely interested in what was going on. However, they're almost all not only completely wooden, but lack even the slightest bit of charm. Jones does have charisma and acting ability. Consequently, his role is brutally underwritten and he dies far too early in the film.
Of course, Englund isn't wooden, but he's barely given anything to do. Pretty much the only thing he is allowed to do is toss out lame wisecracks.
Now, all this crap is well filmed. Director Renny Harlin isn't incompetent. Visually, the movie looks very cool. Not creepy, per se, but definitely cool. The few halfway decent ideas in the script come across well. There is one scene that is incredibly effective due to Harlin's direction: the scene where a girl is tricked into having a sleeping pill and trying desperately to call her friend before she goes. He doesn't actually manage to create a sense of fear, but he does manage to make it look good and occasionally makes it kind of suspenseful. He also sneaks in a few eerie moments.
And the special effects are very good. The giant fly bit is very convincing and gross, albeit a dumb idea in the first place. The final visuals of the souls in Freddy's body trying to escape are very convincing.
But neither Harlin nor his f/x technicians can make up for the junk they've been given. The series started out promisingly. The first one was a classic horror film. The third was a pretty enjoyable fantasy film. Even the second one at least showed signs of life and sparked some interest. But when this one came around, something was clearly missing. Now, it was only for money. No more imagination, no more terror. Just kill teenagers and toss visuals up on the screen. At least Harlin knows how to do that competently.
Freddy is revived by flaming dog urine. He decides to kill the three remaining Elm Street children, and then go on to new prey. His choices are Alice Johnson (Lisa Wilcox), her friends (Danny Hassle, Toy Newkirk, Brooke Theiss) and brother (Andras Jones). However, Alice was given the powers of the (temporarily) surviving girl from part 3, so she has a chance of beating Freddy! flaming dog urine? Seriously? Sadly, yes. In fact, I probably don't even need to say much beyond that. However, I'll be at least somewhat more specific.
Although how you get any more specific than flaming dog urine Obviously, this movie is not a particularly smart film. In fact, to be perfectly honest, it's just plain stupid. The flaming dog urine is just the beginning. From the beginning to the end, the ideas and writing are truly awful. And not just unintelligent. The characters are totally one-dimensional. Of course, if the actors had at least had a little bit of charisma, they could have overcome this at least enough for us to be somehow remotely interested in what was going on. However, they're almost all not only completely wooden, but lack even the slightest bit of charm. Jones does have charisma and acting ability. Consequently, his role is brutally underwritten and he dies far too early in the film.
Of course, Englund isn't wooden, but he's barely given anything to do. Pretty much the only thing he is allowed to do is toss out lame wisecracks.
Now, all this crap is well filmed. Director Renny Harlin isn't incompetent. Visually, the movie looks very cool. Not creepy, per se, but definitely cool. The few halfway decent ideas in the script come across well. There is one scene that is incredibly effective due to Harlin's direction: the scene where a girl is tricked into having a sleeping pill and trying desperately to call her friend before she goes. He doesn't actually manage to create a sense of fear, but he does manage to make it look good and occasionally makes it kind of suspenseful. He also sneaks in a few eerie moments.
And the special effects are very good. The giant fly bit is very convincing and gross, albeit a dumb idea in the first place. The final visuals of the souls in Freddy's body trying to escape are very convincing.
But neither Harlin nor his f/x technicians can make up for the junk they've been given. The series started out promisingly. The first one was a classic horror film. The third was a pretty enjoyable fantasy film. Even the second one at least showed signs of life and sparked some interest. But when this one came around, something was clearly missing. Now, it was only for money. No more imagination, no more terror. Just kill teenagers and toss visuals up on the screen. At least Harlin knows how to do that competently.