We started off with The Shining, and our second film is a hell of a follow up. I can say that this is my favorite film franchise of all time, yes, even more so than Star Wars. Freddy Krueger is the greatest horror film villain that I have ever seen, and he is usually among most people’s top 3. While the Nightmare franchise isn’t known for it’s body count like Friday the 13th is, it makes up for it in some of the most creative death scenes ever. So if you are a fan of quality over quantity, you probably dig the Elm Street franchise just a little more.
Anyway, I got this 9 Deuce Horror Facebook Group, and we started small, and added a few people. A good chunk of them agreed to participate in this discussion, so you are going to see some unfamiliar names if you have been reading my other work, and you will see a few familiar folks as well. If you would like to join us, just go to that link and we’d be happy to have you. This is a rare blog in that the males outnumber the females. That’s rarely the case. For the first time ever, we have a 10 year old participating, and it’s pretty damn cool. As usual, all comments in bold are by me. The more that you write, the more likely you are to get a comment. Mentioning cool stuff also works. Thank you for contributing and reading. I hope to see some new faces on June 1st for the New Nightmare 9 Deuce Discussion. Also, this is where I make the announcement for what the next mid month horror blog will be. I have chosen The Babadook. I know that not a lot of people have seen it, but I am hoping that this prompts people to get on NetFlix and watch one of the better made modern horror films out there.
The 9
- Who is your favorite character in this, aside from Freddy?
Chris T: Nancy
Kristi: I did enjoy Nancy’s character. It may be cliche to pick her as she is the main on other than Freddy but she was the only one that was smart enough to figure it out. Also, the only one to have the balls to try to do something about it.
Sara: Nancy; I remember her being the first chick in a horror movie (that I’d seen at the time) that didn’t just run around (mostly) naked and scream. She fought back. (Yeah, that brought me down too. Her stunt double in the tub scene did try to provide some levity. You bring up a good point in that horror actresses back then were still often sex symbols, but Nancy really helped change the mold. I still enjoy my girls falling in woods though.)
Cece: Johnny Depp’s character (Glenn)
Teddy: Depp’s character fer sure (Glenn fer sure)
Jeni: Nancy, of course!
Dom: Nancy
Thomas: Nancy, because she’s a badass.
Kent: I am actually a little surprised at all the love for Nancy. I will go with Nancy’s daddy because he uses his daughter to get to Rod. I approve of that.
- Which parent of Nancy do you prefer: Marge or Daddy?
Chris T: Daddy. John Saxon learned Jute Kune Do from Bruce Lee (And that is how you get a comment. I would have asked you how you knew that back in February, BUT I happened to be flipping through the channels and saw that Enter the Dragon was on. I had never seen it, but it had already started. I then got super excited and was practically screaming “There’s Nancy’s dad!!!” Good times!)
Kristi: Marge, Daddy was annoying. Marge at least understood who Freddy was. Also, I would like to have a drink with her. Shes seems like a crazy chic that would have some stories. (Really good point in that I would absolutely have some drinks with Marge just for the stories.)
Sara: I think they’re both equally awful in their own ways, but I will say I prefer Marge. Poor drunk momma was just doing the best she could to protect her daughter AND deal with her own guilt over the whole murder situation. (I always wondered why there was guilt over it. Maybe I am just a heartless person, but a dude who does the things that he did deserves death, in my opinion. It was an interesting aspect of her character to have that extra layer of depth.)
Cece: I guess Marge because the dad was worse.
Teddy: dad was a dick who tried to drug nancy so fuck him. (Did he use hypnocil? I honestly can’t remember. I don’t think he had access to it at the time. My memory sucks.)
Jeni: Daddy seemed like a pretty awful parent, so probably Marge. Neither were great parents. (I will say this now, but it will make more sense when you get to like #8 or 9. Since my theory down there is apt, I am wondering if Daddy was away most of the time burying himself in his work, for whatever reason. Was it along the same line as Marge with guilt and her drinking?)
Dom: Neither. You have a drunk and an asshole Dad, who helped create the monster who’s trying to kill you. Way to go Mom and Dad. (I laughed at this response. All I could think of was Bud and Kelly Bundy saying “Thanks dad!” in Married With Children.)
Thomas: Daddy, because he would have saved her if he had been able to get in. (In theory, Daddy would have been the parent to save Nancy, or try to.)
Kent: Well I already said that he was my favorite character. Drunk Marge though was also a champ. These were my 2 favorites after Freddy.
- Have you ever had a nightmare with Freddy in it?
Chris T: All the time when I was younger. My parents never let me watch the movies when they came out, and as a result, seeing the trailers, and hearing my friends talk about Freddy, he became my fucking boogeyman. A fucked up looking serial killer, who kills kids in their dreams! Existing in my head definitely made him scarier than he actually was. I was 18 when I finally saw the first movie; I had just watched The Blair Witch Project and The Sixth Sense in the theaters that day, and a Nightmare on Elm Street was playing on tv when I got home. My dreams were fucked up that night
Kristi: unfortunately not
Sara: nope.
Cece: Not yet! *knock on wood*
Teddy: I mean I have had the 1,2, freddy is coming for you in my dream if that counts? (It counts, but now I am left wondering if you just heard the song, or were the girls playing with their jump rope? A cool tidbit about that song is that very early on when the teens first start talking about their dreams and we first hear the song, have you ever thought about that? Like it’s just this song that little girls sing while playing. That’s pretty F’N creepy.)
Jeni: Yes!
Dom: Not that I can recall, but maybe
Thomas: No.
Kent: What the hell people? I thought that this was going to be close to unanimous with one or two outliers. I am shocked and baffled. I used to have them more frequently in my teens and early 20’s, but now if he shows up, it’s usually on way funnier terms for me.
- Is this the scariest Freddy Krueger or is he scarier in a different film? If you say different, please tell us which film.
Chris T: Of the numbered movies, yes. The farther along they went the more creative the kills got, but they also made Freddy the king of one liners, some of which were funny, some were dumb. By the time Freddy vs. Jason came around he was a straight comedian. (Freddy playing with the Power Glove in Freddy’s Dead I think was the height of the one liners. It’s debatable because he had the “How sweet, dark meat” line in F vs J, but Freddy’s Dead is so loaded with lines. They haven’t aged well either, but it’s a worthy drinking game.)
Kristi: none of them scare me now but when i was younger New Nightmare scared the hell out of me. That damn kid when he was possessed by Freddy.. that was terrifying. (Oh man, I can’t wait to see your responses for the next blog then.)
Sara: I was very afraid of Freddy in the first movie when I first saw it, but I would say that Freddy in New Nightmare is scarier to me, because he’s evolved and seems to be more powerful. (I used to think on that level too. I think it was because I was so wowed at the idea when it came out. There’s a lot to be said in how they really made Freddy “scary” again for that film.)
Cece: He is scariest in Freddy Vs. Jason
Teddy: I personally never viewed Freddy as scary
Jeni: That’s a tough question.. I want to say that he was scarier in Dream Warriors, but that’s probably because Freddy didn’t scare me anymore after that. I remember when The Dream Master came out and the first time I watched it I felt more fascinated by the story of Freddy than scared. (I really wish I could have articulated a better question about the evolution of Freddy. He started as this unknown dream guy, but we learn his dark past which is awful if you apply it to real life terms. Then in part 2, not that I consider that film to exist, he tries to get more powerful so he can disrupt a pool party and possibly be gay, I don’t know. That whole thing is it’s own discussion. In part 3, Freddy now has a persona and he starts to openly mock his victims, pretending to give them a chance, like with the Wizard Master kid and the junkie chick. By 4, he turns up the mockery even more. By five, he cares about mocking, but he’s back on a mission to get the kid. In 6, I don’t even know. Stuff with his daughter and one liners is all I got. By 7, he has regained all focus and in that regard, a focused Freddy should be the scariest. There’s a lot to be said about his development.)
Dom: Hard to say. It’s the first film so I feel that they tried to make him as scary as possible but I didn’t find him scary.
Thomas: I have only seen the 1st Nightmare on Elm St., so I have no opinion on this.
Kent: I want to say that he was scarier in Part 3, but that awful skeleton fight at the end…..I just can’t. I will go with Part 4 Freddy, and it’s for 2 reasons. The cockroach dream sequence and the people running around and repeating themselves, which may be the same sequence. Anyway, as a person who has had the same dream sequence play out, that stuff freaks me out. Plus he killed a teen with asthma. Come on. He’s not scary ever in reality, but I would suggest that 4 is his scariest.
- Who’s the worst character in this? Worst can mean that they are awful, or you simply don’t like them for whatever reason.
Chris T: the retarded deputy. I’m surprised any cops lived through the ‘80’s ( i am just enjoying the cops living through the 80’s comment.)
Kristi: Rod, I think that’s his name, the one that they thought killed Tina. He was just a little too arrogant for my liking. Watching him get hung was a highlight for me. (I used to feel that way, but Rod is just a dude. He’s a teen trying to score, and if he can have fun by F’N with Glenn, it’s like bonus points. He really isn’t a bad guy, but I am willing to bet a lot of people would agree with you.)
Sara: Rod. He just annoyed me for some reason.
Cece: Nancy’s father
Teddy: the dad (like who tries to ruffie their own daughter smh) (Bonus point for the ruffie line.)
Jeni: Aside from the parents.. I found Rod a little annoying, but I don’t know if he’s the worst character. It bothers me that he ran after Tina was killed. He just made the cops think that he was guilty by running. (I am curious, is that something that you have always thought of or something you think of as an adult, regarding the running away part? He’s a dumb 17 or 18 year old in a room where his girlfriend got slaughtered. I feel that in his circumstance, I would also run. Nobody is going to believe your story. You’re kinda screwed.)
Dom: Dad
Thomas: Nancy’s mom, because she wouldn’t give Nancy the keys to get out to save Glen. (When I was younger, that used to bug the hell out of me as well. I get it now, but at the time, I was more irritated.)
Kent: When I was younger, it absolutely would have been Rod. Now, it’s actually Glenn. He’s pretty useless, and somewhat of a pussy. Like he doesn’t stay awake for Nancy. He let’s Rod bully him. His attire. I have no idea how Depp became a star after this film, but good for him.
- What is your favorite dream sequence in the film?
Chris T: the opening sequence (At the time, I can’t think of a horror film that had a better opening sequence. Maybe Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Burning would be contenders, but for very different reasons. Of course the grand daddy of them all is the opening to Night of the Living Dead. Then you fast forward 12 years, and Scream set the standard for opening sequences that still holds today.)
Kristi: I don’t know if it counts but when Tina dies. The flashing back and forth of Freddy killing her in real life and the dream was awesome! (Of course it counts! Without that scene, the franchise may never have gotten the praise that it did.)
Sara: The study hall dream-sequence. “Screw your hall pass!” was always a huge favorite of mine. (Nodding my head in agreement.)
Cece: Boiler room with Nancy (This film made boiler rooms cool! I admit, after this film and part 3, I started looking forward to a boiler room scene in every film. There’s a cool boiler room scene in a film called Los Innocentes. I think it’s on NetFlix. The people who made the film actually liked my review.)
Teddy: not sure if it counts but when Depp’s character gets pulled into the bed and then it has it’s period all over the place. (As with Kristi, of course that counts! I can’t think of a film prior to this that would do something that awesome and bloody. I think this was the scene that almost electrocuted Nancy in real life, and Robert Englund saved her. I think I read about that in the DVD box set.)
Jeni: The dream sequence that comes to mind is when Nancy asks Glen to watch her sleep. The scene when she is running up the melting stairs.. Could you imagine the feeling of running away from a serial killer and the ground beneath you is melting? Also, Freddy walks through a jail cell seven years before T2! (The melting stairs was really something unique, and actually creep’d me out when I was younger. A T2 reference will get you bonus points on this blog. The points are meaningless, but it’s like getting a sticker.)
Dom: Johnny Depp’s. A dude pulled into his mattress and then we see his blood spurt out. Awesome
Thomas: When Glen gets sucked into his bed and there is a giant blood explosion.
Kent: I gotta go with the school and Nancy following Tina. The whole sequence is pretty neat and eerie, especially for it’s time.Plus it gives me an opportunity to give props to the great Lin Shaye, who is the sister of Robert Shaye, who is the producer. You know Lin Shaye. She’s one of the best storytellers in horror. She’s the saving grace of Insideous.
- Please give me your interpretation of the ending. Please, please make sure to answer this on your own. (I just have to say that there are true pieces in everybody’s interpretation, and I didn’t want to leave comments for this one.)
Chris T: The studio made Craven go back and shoot that ending because no one liked the original happy ending. The original ending was never released in the states. Basically the studio wanted a new franchise, which worked out well for them, but gave us the cliche ‘80’s horror movie ending, with the ‘not-really’ dead villain jumping out at the last second
Kristi: That it was an illusion that he died and she was actually killed. It brought them into an alternate world where they were constantly trying to defeat him. They were in his dream world though so even if they win it basically starts over.
Sara: I always thought that it was a way of saying that even though Nancy thought she had beaten Freddy, she was kidding herself, and that Freddy was going to win in the end.
Cece: She’s just dreaming again because of her PTSD. Idk.
Teddy: Freddy used Nancy’s mom to jump back into the dream world. So i feel like Nancy was having another nightmare
Jeni: The ending feels like it’s Marge or possibly even Daddy’s dream. They feel guilt for burning Freddy and the deaths that have resulted. Marge and Daddy want their daughter to overcome Freddy, so the film uses a quick symbolic way (turning her back) to show that Nancy can defeat Freddy by overcoming her fear of him. It’s really sad because they want Nancy to be happy and have her friends back again. It shows that Nancy’s parents had good intentions and maybe they are ultimately good parents because they wants what’s best for their daughter. Freddy shows them, though, that he’s not easily beaten and you can’t escape him.
Dom: An endless nightmare/dream cycle. She thought she defeated him by not believing and hence conquered her fears, but the are others who believe in him and thus he’s “reborn”
Thomas: I think they’re giving you a clue that there will be a second movie. The car means that Freddy’s not dead yet, even though he burned.
Kent: Well, like the last 20 or so minutes of the film is a dream. For close to 20 years I had issues with how it ended. Nothing added up nor did it make sense. In Freddy’s Dead, they brought him to the real world and killed him, but that’s what they allegedly did here. We know by the ending that she was still dreaming. The reality is that Nancy dreamed most of the final quarter of the film. The next time that you watch the film, wait for her to start her dream sequence shortly after Glenn’s death I believe. Here’s the thing, Marge still dies though. This is fact. Maybe she didn’t die when we saw her, but she in fact dies. What we do know is that Nancy returns in part 3 because part 2 never happened as far as I’m concerned. Nancy returns as this dream specialist. So what happened from the time that she fell asleep around the 65 minute mark until Dream Warriors? Marge died. Nancy became institutionalized. Her dad became a drunk. Nancy gets better and studies dreams. If you remember in Dream Warriors, there’s a bit about how Kristen Parker can pull people into dreams. Had we chosen Dream Warriors, I would have saved some of this analysis, but here it goes. We know that people can pull another person into their dream. Kristen does it to Nancy as well as Alice in part 4. So it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Nancy couldn’t have pulled her drunk mom into a dream and bam. Technically, we could have seen her death. Seeing Marge at the end was meaningless since it was all just a dream anyway. Lots to think about there, but that is my best explanation.
- Towards the end when Nancy is fighting with Freddy and breaking all of the windows, why was the one officer so calm outside prior to getting her dad’s attention?
Chris T: I’m pretty sure he is an example of natural selection at its finest (That was an unexpected response, but it got a chuckle out of me.)
Kristi: One, they had a superiority complex. The young girl obviously knows nothing. Two, she lost her best friend, best friends boyfriend, and her man so they thought she was just losing it. (Minus the superiority thing, I had basically came to that conclusion for years. It was the only reasonable solution that I had.)
Sara: I always thought it was because they assumed Nancy was nuts, but Thomas’ suggestion about it being a part of her dream made me think that maybe THAT was the case. (Yeah, he’s right.)
Cece: He was part of the dream…? (Correctamundo!)
Teddy: maybe the father said “dont bother me unless its super important” (I could picture John Saxon saying that with a beer in his hand.)
Jeni: I guess it’s supposed to show how terrible and worthless the cops are in Springwood. Nancy keeps trying to get people to help her, but she can’t really rely on anyone. (That’s an interesting take because they already alluded a bit to the flawed legal system. I like this answer.)
Dom: He didn’t care or didn’t “hear” her (Well Dom, if he was wearing those big ass headphone that Glenn had on, he surely wouldn’t have heard anything.)
Thomas: Because he couldn’t really see what was going on, or maybe it was part of a nightmare. (The latter part of your statement is spot on.)
Kent: I think that in all fairness, he’s probably sick of attention whores. With all the teens dying, maybe he had worked one too many days in a row or was on hour #47 of his shift, who knows. I don’t think he was necessarily malicious, but rather, he didn’t want to deal with anymore BS. She had bars on the windows, so she was fine. Here’s the best part. I think that was also part of the dream. You practically have to view this Memento style. Remember, Nancy was trying to call Glenn, but instead got his folks. They hung up, took the phone off the hook. Nancy then gets the call with Freddy’s blade sound, so she rips the line out and wraps it around the phone, but he calls again and we get the sill mouth and tongue thing on the phone. Well that is indicative to me that she’s already dreaming. You have to go from before then and try to pinpoint when she fell asleep, or was the whole film just a dream? That was an original intention. Could so much stuff have happened to Nancy that we are seeing a long dream while she’s in the institution? I don’t know if we ever officially know the causes of her friend’s deaths, we just know what we were presented, but that could all just be a dream. At this point, you’re probably pissed and not wanting to think about it, or I’m ruining the film for you, but we don’t know what is real in this film aside from the fact that Nancy and her dad survived. Nancy had some friends who died, as well as her mother. We know the story about the parents killing Freddy to be true. To me, all of this not knowing makes this film all the better.
- Most people consider Tina’s death the best in the franchise. Would you agree? If not, name one that you think is the best.
Chris T: Dream Warriors and Dream Master had some cool deaths. From this movie with its relatively small body count it would be Tina’s (As a kid, I used to think Rod’s was the best. I have no idea why. Compared to Tina and Glenn’s, Rod’s is terrible, but it’s what I gravitated towards.)
Kristi: Her death was pretty legit! (Was it 2 Legit 2 Quit? I just got that song stuck in like 30 people’s heads.)
Sara: My *favorite* Freddy death is from dream warriors, when the girl gets yanked into the TV, and Freddy’s all ‘Welcome to Prime Time, bitch!’ That said, after watching ‘Never Sleep Again’ I loved learning about how they executed Tina’s death, and think it was brilliant for the time. (I must watch Never Sleep Again. I have been saying this for years. Maybe Saturday. So keep in mind, Dream Warriors was my first Nightmare, and we get Phillip and her death back to back. How could a child not be hooked? Also, she got to talk to Larry Fishburne before dying, right before he became Lawrence. It was also cool to see Zsa Zsa Gabor.)
Cece: It’s aside from this movie, I like the puppeteer one! (Mine too!)
Teddy: i would say brecken Meyer’s death, the comic book cut up scene, or the scene where its Freddy vs the guy with the hearing aids (Alright, so we are dealing with the video game death (Spencer) and hearing aid death (Carlos) in Freddy’s Dead, and the kick ass comic book one (Mark) that was partially in black and white in part 5. You basically nailed the 3 best death scenes from those 2 films. Breckin’s cracks me up still. Greta’s in part 5 was also fun. )
Jeni: Really? There were much better and far more creative death scenes in the later films. Philip in Dream Warriors.. It was gross, but what a crazy puppet sequence! The television scene from Dream Warriors is also pretty classic. Also, Debbie’s death in Dream Master always freaked me out! (Debbie’s death scene doesn’t get enough love. The amount of hell he puts her through. First she is lifting weight and he snaps he elbows, then she ends up in the sticky hell, and it rips her skin off, and then she gets squished. That is my #2 all time behind Phillip. I used to sleepwalk a lot, so that one hit home.)
Dom: My favorite death is Nancy’s. Not cause I wanna see her die but cause you’re like oh she and the other’s made it. Look here comes dad and there’s going to be a loving reunion but wait, isn’t Dad dead? Oh shit!! No don;t hug him…oh you’re dead. (By then, I have to admit that I didn’t see it coming the first time because I was naive as hell. It was such a great way to kill her and underappreciated. I think that film hits you with so much stuff that you aren’t even thinking clear by the time it gets to that scene.)
Thomas: It’s a toss up between Glen’s death and Marge’s. (The fact that you included Marge’s makes me happy.)
Kent: A lot of my favorites were mentioned, as I have already commented on them. For me, it has to be Phillip’s in Dream Warriors. I will go so far as to say that my dream tattoo is to slim down and get my back down with Freddy in the sky and Phillip on the puppet strings. I have talked about this for a long time. I know that back tattoos are stupid, admit it, they are. But if you are going to get one, make sure it is something that you can proudly show off…..or a tramp stamp.
Bonus Deuce
- Do you think that this film influenced Home Alone?
Chris T: If it did I would have to research John Hughes movies for darker interpretations
Kristi: I cant wait to read the responses to this one because I do not see the connection.
Sara: I had never thought of that until I (just this weekend) showed this film to my son (so he could play along here) and that was his first reaction to the booby-trap scene. I see the connection. (After reading her son’s response, I actually messaged her at like 3AM just to pay a compliment because I keep weird hours.)
Cece: I’m not too sure how. Maybe Kevin saw this film and that’s why he’s scared to go downstairs.
Teddy: never heard of that correlation tbh
Jeni: Wow.. I never thought of this, but the boobytraps are weirdly the same and the furnace sounds like Freddy when it’s calling to Kevin. I guess it’s impossible for filmmakers not to be influenced by Nightmare! It’s also possible that they intentionally used it as a reference because it’s such an iconic horror film and people would subconsciously understand. (I had never correlated the furnace thing, but you are very right. I love this because now I wanna watch Home Alone to hear it, and the whole “Keep the change you filthy animal” bit.)
Dom: No
Thomas: Yes. The hammer hitting Freddy reminded me immediately of when the burglars get hit with the paint can in Home Alone. (You were the first person who responded and got the correlation. So kudos to you!)
Kent: I read these responses as they came in, so not necessarily in the order that you are currently seeing them. Props to Thomas for being the first one to get it. There is no doubt in my mind that the traps were inspired by this film.
- Looking back on it, some of the sound effects are cheesy. At the time, do you think they were cheesy or did they add to the aura and presentation of the film?
Chris T: At the time it was the norm. Look at Freddy’s disappearing FX at the end. Pretty cool back then, huh? Not so much now. (To kinda go along with what you’re saying, isn’t it amazing how well the special effects held up on John Carpenter’s The Thing and also Independence Day? Both still look incredibly well. One had a slightly bigger budget than the other though.)
Kristi: This was the very first horror flick i saw when I was a kid. It didn’t scare me at all. It definitely adds something to the film. Its cheesy but necessary! (You’re right, it does add to the film. It doesn’t detract, and if they just cut it out now, I think it would make the film feel weird.)
Sara: I mean, yes, it’s cheesy, but looking back, wasn’t all horror movie music cheesy in the 80’s? I’m not sure if they scared people originally, because I was 2. Lol All in all, I’m still a fan. (I will say that The Thing was made in 1982. It has to be one of the best soundtracks for the time frame. Aside from that exception, I am trying to think of other ones. Mostly I can think of films that may have had a memorable song like Dream Warriors or Alice Cooper’s “Man Behind the Mask”. I will say that Maximum Overdrive’s soundtrack is no joke….if you like ACDC.)
Cece: These sound effects are some of my favorite!
Teddy: Cheesy doesn’t make it any less scary, look at the Friday the 13th movies. Music was cheesy but it didn’t take away from the oh shit moments when Jason popped out (I agree, and more importantly, I will use this as a platform for everybody to hear one of the greatest Nintendo game soundtracks of all time, yes, Friday the 13th. As a kid, playing that with the lights off and suddenly Jason bum rushes you and it is absolutely pee pee pants city, as Negan would say.)
Jeni: In the 80’s the sound effects seemed more scary. It’s hard to watch these films now and not see the effects as cheezy. I’m sure that we’ll look back at films made today and think that the effects are cheezy. (I can pinpoint quite a few present day audio sound effects, notably for horror films that are downright cringeworthy. It baffles me how certain sound effects have been so overused, especially in horror trailers. I’ll also just toss out how overused record players have become in horror. It used to be a special treat. Now it’s done way too often.)
Dom: It’s 80’s cheese though. Gotta love 80’s cheesy-ness (We should get a pizza. You are making me really want a pizza.)
Thomas: Back then they would still let kids play dodge ball, so they were probably tougher back then. So I say no, it’s always been cheesy. (I thoroughly enjoyed this comment. Judging by this, am I to assume that kids don’t play dodge ball anymore? Yes, the generation before you was tougher, and the generation before that and so on and so forth, as a whole. There are probably more reasons than I can think of off the top of my head, but the main ones are technology, genetics, and knowledge. Technology has obviously made us soft compared to 50 or 100 years ago, that one is obvious. Genetics should be considered because every parent has a chance of passing down their bad genes to their children, so long term that is bound to affect the situation. Then there’s the knowledge that we get as kids. The bad shit that we went through so when we become adults and have kids, we try to help kids avoid that stuff. All it takes nowadays is one loudmouth with a cause to ruin the fun for everybody, but we live in a country where we bend at the knee for these loud people, and as a group effectively become softer. You mention dodge ball, and I will say that in 50 years, I am guessing the NFL doesn’t exist, and boxing may not either due to the knowledge that we are gaining about head trauma. Combine that with the right loud mouth and it could be gone. Then in 50 years you’ll be reminiscing with your neighbor about how much you miss the Super Bowl.)
Kent: I found them silly when I first saw them, but it felt right at home with other stuff. The goat thing always seemed so out of place for me. Now that we have nostalgia, it’s easy to forgive it, but they could have done a better job and heightened the scare factor, in hindsight. The audio in a horror flick can sometimes really make or break a film. Look at Psycho and Jaws and how the music added so much to it. The 80’s is just an era unto itself where you could do so many wacky things, and it’s still beloved. You can say that for every generation, but I think 80’s horror holds a special place in the hearts of all horror fans.
All the pictures used in this blog are for review purposes. They are the property of:
- New Line Cinema (presents)
- Media Home Entertainment (presents)
- Smart Egg Pictures (presents)
- Elm Street Venture, The (copyright owner)
& whoever else may own it. Please go find a copy and support the creators. It’s also on NetFlix currently.
Thank you for reading. Come back on June 1st for the New Nightmare blog. Join us at 9 Deuce Horror Facebook Group or follow us on Twitter or Instagram @Official9Deuce.