A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) - Growing up, this was my favorite of all the Freddy Krueger films. I loved the whole idea of an asylum full of kids haunted by Freddy all while being coached on how to defeat him by the one and only Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp) who returns to the series after a film away. But watching it again, it wasn't nearly as much fun. The special effects were just way too overdone and the kids playing their different roles were not as sympathetic as I remembered them, save for Patricia Arquette in the lead as Kristen Parker. 

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: Dream Master (1988) - This is the second in the series of Dream Warrior films seeing the return, at least initially, of three of the characters from the third film. Unfortunately, only two of the three actors returned with Kristen Parker now being played Tuesday Knight. But given the continuing storyline and the fact it's directed by future action superstar Renny Harlin, the film blows, and that's being nice.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989) - You reach a point where you think a film series can't get any worse and then... it does. Now Freddy wants to come to the real world by being born into as the soul of the unborn child of yet another nightmare-laden young soon-to-be victim. This was just terrible. I can't believe I actually made it all the way through.

New Nightmare (1994) - Funny thing here... I forgot there was actually a sixth film in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise (Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare) before I went in and watched this. Lord only knows how bad that one was. But, despite that possibility, New Line Studios greenlit a seventh film, but one with a major twist. This film is a real-life-set, highly self aware movie about the making of the franchise. In it, we see the return of Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, and Robert Englund, but as themselves, playing the part of the actors in the films who are enduring the fame and the struggles of the legacy of those films. However, the spirit of Freddy Krueger, despite just being a character in the scripts of those films, wants to break out into the real world through Heather/Nancy and her family. This is actually a pretty decent film, although the descent into Freddy's world is full of terrible effects. 

Hellraiser (1987) - I've always been curious about this movie given a teenaged love of some of the books written by its creator, Clive Barker, and a fascination with its protagonist, Pinhead. But, man, was this film weird. A woman, who pines for her brother-in-law with whom she had a one-time fling and who was recently killed, realizes his spirit is with her and can be brought back to life by killing other people in sacrifice. However, when her stepdaughter realizes what is going on, she tries like hell (see what I did there?) to bring an end to it. I did not care for it one bit and will not be continuing with the series. Sorry to all the fans out there. Not my cuppa.

Candyman (1992) - And rounding out the trippy, psychedelic horror film reviews for the evening is the original Candyman. In this film, a psychologist (Virginia Madsen), researching the role of folklore and horror stories in the Chicago projects, discovers that the tale of a former slave (Tony Todd) who can be brought back to life by saying the name "Candyman" five times while looking in a mirror is actually true. Wow! This one is out there. I mean, it's a well-told story. But the cinematography is way trippy and brings to mind an earlier role of Madsen's in the original Dune. I am curious about the remake, though. 

And, there you go. I'll be back soon with another installment. Got a lot of ground to cover including the entirety of the Scream franchise.

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