There's no question, "A Nightmare on Elm Street part 2" is the red-headed stepchild of the series. In a time when every other slasher film from the 1980s is being remade and/or revered as a seminal genre work, this atmospheric little sequel has been all but dismissed, even by the Fredheads themselves. The overtly homosexual subtext is often cited as the reason, with the writer and director, both of whom are reportedly gay, crafting a film about a troubled young man who can't perform with his would-be girlfriend and running off to see his chum Grady at home in bed this after tying up and slaughtering (with Fred's help, of course) his S&M-inclined gym teacher (Marshall Bell). Yet, they maintain, a homosexual undercurrent was not intended.
Ahem.
In any case, this is a solid indeed, far better than average entry in the Freddy canon specifically, and slasher oeuvre more generally. It is certainly the most deliberately and effectively paced sequel in the entire series. In the broad strokes, it seems more concerned with ratcheting up the tension, rather than the body count.
But let's not forget the humour. ANOES2 has more than its share of laughs, most of them courtesy of the "Happy Family" sequences, featuring an exploding pet bird, an impromptu drug intervention, and the best clean-up-dance-sequence in cinema history ("How do you like that, Dad?"), not to mention the deliriously funny sequence in science class, when our dozing young protagonist is nearly done away with by the local python ("NOOOOOOOO!!!").
But unlikely chum Grady also draws a chuckle or two, with his coarse talk about the film's supremely hot Meryl Streep lookalike ("that rich babe you've been cruising to school with everyday are you mounting her nightly or what?"), Kim Myers, whom Seinfeld fans may recognize as the ga-ga girl with the velvet scrunchy.
Christopher Young's score also merits recognition. Foregoing the frequently frantic synth of part 1, Young utilizes reverberating, dissonant piano chords and eerie strings, building atmosphere in a manner that is very far removed from current examples of the genre.
But a word about Part 2's Freddy. Without a doubt, this is the scariest Freddy to be seen post-part 1's initial dream sequence ("THIS is God."). Try as he might, Englund (thanks largely to the writers and directors) was unable to recapture the raw terror or parts 1 and 2 in the subsequent twenty or so years. It's just been announced that there will be a remake of the first film and that Englund won't be involved. I love the guy, but I can't help but feel that it's the right decision; he's too tied to the gimmicky humour of parts 3 through 6 to be effective in a new context, I think.
The conclusion rather reminds me of Polanski's "The Fearless Vampire Killers", with its utter lack of satisfying resolution. Fear not: Part 3 was on the horizon, and the fan-base was destined to swell still further, but even "Wes Craven's New Nightmare" (part 7) wouldn't be able to compete with little old part 2 for sheer terror.
Ahem.
In any case, this is a solid indeed, far better than average entry in the Freddy canon specifically, and slasher oeuvre more generally. It is certainly the most deliberately and effectively paced sequel in the entire series. In the broad strokes, it seems more concerned with ratcheting up the tension, rather than the body count.
But let's not forget the humour. ANOES2 has more than its share of laughs, most of them courtesy of the "Happy Family" sequences, featuring an exploding pet bird, an impromptu drug intervention, and the best clean-up-dance-sequence in cinema history ("How do you like that, Dad?"), not to mention the deliriously funny sequence in science class, when our dozing young protagonist is nearly done away with by the local python ("NOOOOOOOO!!!").
But unlikely chum Grady also draws a chuckle or two, with his coarse talk about the film's supremely hot Meryl Streep lookalike ("that rich babe you've been cruising to school with everyday are you mounting her nightly or what?"), Kim Myers, whom Seinfeld fans may recognize as the ga-ga girl with the velvet scrunchy.
Christopher Young's score also merits recognition. Foregoing the frequently frantic synth of part 1, Young utilizes reverberating, dissonant piano chords and eerie strings, building atmosphere in a manner that is very far removed from current examples of the genre.
But a word about Part 2's Freddy. Without a doubt, this is the scariest Freddy to be seen post-part 1's initial dream sequence ("THIS is God."). Try as he might, Englund (thanks largely to the writers and directors) was unable to recapture the raw terror or parts 1 and 2 in the subsequent twenty or so years. It's just been announced that there will be a remake of the first film and that Englund won't be involved. I love the guy, but I can't help but feel that it's the right decision; he's too tied to the gimmicky humour of parts 3 through 6 to be effective in a new context, I think.
The conclusion rather reminds me of Polanski's "The Fearless Vampire Killers", with its utter lack of satisfying resolution. Fear not: Part 3 was on the horizon, and the fan-base was destined to swell still further, but even "Wes Craven's New Nightmare" (part 7) wouldn't be able to compete with little old part 2 for sheer terror.