Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare

In Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare, the last installment (so they promise) of the Nightmare on Elm Street series, Freddy Krueger’s psychologist daughter (Lisa Zane) plumbs Dad’s mind to finally put an end to dream-terrorist Freddy (Robert Englund). But not before we see exploding heads and houses, state-of-the-art computer graphics, and teenage tragedies. The end result, which could have been called Freddy’s Head, is gross, a bit boring, but occasionally fun.

Years from now, the Elm Street series will likely tell more about our culture than current award-winning films combined. Adolescents, smack in the middle of discovering their feelings and acting them out (and thrilled by the prospect of scoring and sharing an R-rated tape), get a kick out of Freddy Scissorhands and his fantasies of chaotic violence. But those who’ve trudged past puberty might view the sight of someone getting his ear excavated by a giant cotton swab as pornographic — and less interesting than their own dream demons. B-