One of the nice things about the Halloween season is the plethora of horror everywhere. It's the one time of years where we almost seem normal.

I was having a quiet meal by myself a week or two ago, and the restaurant had some TV screens playing. I was alone, with a book (of course), but my attention was diverted to what was playing on the TVs. It was A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child.

For personal reasons that I don't care to go into here and now, I almost never watch movies at home any more. I miss it, but it frees my time up for other things.

I felt a pang in my heart as I watched Englund hamming it up as Freddy. The Dream Child is my least favorite in the series, even considering Freddy's Dead. As far as I am concerned, Freddy Vs. Jason doesn't count. And though I do consider it to be one of the original movies, Wes Craven's New Nightmare doesn't really fit into what I am talking about here.

Though the fifth in the outrageously popular Elm Street series is my least favorite, I still like it. A lot.

It's easy to criticize the later Elm Street movies. I can dig it. I mean, they are pretty silly. Especially when one considers the first one and how tense it was.

Are they good movies? Bad movies? I don't think it's quite fair to call movies from, oh, 3-6, good or bad. Certainly they are not what many would consider to be quality motion pictures. On the other hand, I think they are successful because they achieved what the filmmakers intended to do.

These movies are showcases of special makeup and visual effects. Some of the best shops working then were heavily involved in the elaborate set pieces the screenwriters concocted. Computers were used, certainly, but most of the effects were done conventionally. And I love them for that.

Oh yes, these are silly movies, but that is what audiences wanted from Freddy. The attempts at humor grew with each successive entry. Whether they succeeded is up to the individual. I always got a kick out of them.

In retrospect it was a great time. For the genre and in my own life. I was much younger and my love of horror was boundless. I saw all the movies, and I liked them all.

Freddy Krueger was big, big box office money for a while there. The audience for these movies transcended the relatively small cadre of horror fans. Freddy struck a chord in society with the first Elm Street movie, and a lot of people hung on for the ride as the series went on.

It was always good to see Freddy's grinning mug on the cover of Fangoria. It usually meant that either a new Nightmare was playing, or was on the way.

Some people say that these movies are not horror, but I do not agree. Horror is a broad umbrella and many approaches fall under the darkness it creates. I consider these movies to be Funhouse Horror, and those type of horror movies have been coming out since James Whale delighted audiences with The Bride of Frankenstein and The Old Dark House.

I'm not the kind of old guy who decries all modern horror movies. Though I do strongly dislike things like Saw and Rob Zombie movies, I have greatly enjoyed a lot of genre movies that have been released in the last decade.

But I seriously doubt that any of them will give me the nostalgia of the Freddy Krueger movies. Of all the horror franchises I think this series is the most watchable throughout the entire run of movies. Jason grew turgid, Michael got boring, Pinhead became trite, and Leatherface lost his edge. Despite how trivial and silly the later Elm Street movies are, they are at least entertaining.

You've got to hand it to New Line, too. They at least tried to get some real talent with the writing. William Kotzwinkle worked on Part 4, and Splatterpunk posterboys John Skipp and Craig Spector were recruited to write The Dream Child. Too bad almost nothing of Skipp and Spector's was up on the screen in the finished product. At least that is what I have heard.

The inevitable Nightmare on Elm Street remake came along a few years ago. Reactions from fans was mixed, but I felt it was a game effort. Competent, watchable, entertaining enough, but unfortunately forgettable. The Freddy remake bombed at the box office. Times have changed and moviegoers want something else.

Come to think of it, The Dream Child was not much of a moneymaker either. The 90's were nearly upon us when it came out, and the good old days of FX-heavy horror comedy sequels were numbered. It saddened me then as it saddens me now.


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