
For this year’s 31 Nights of Horror Challenge, the Day 12 prompt is Movie in a Movie. We watched the movie, New Nightmare (1994) on Amazon Prime Video
Storyline
It’s nearing the 10th Anniversary of the film ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ and one of the stars, Heather Langenkamp, is being scared by a voice on a phone, sounding very similar to the film’s villain, Freddy Krueger. When Heather realizes that Freddy has now entered the real world, the only way to defeat him is to become Nancy Thompson once again.
Out Thoughts on New Nightmare (1994)
Dare I say this is probably my favorite of the Freddy films. That is saying a lot because I remember seeing the first one in the theater when I was 13 with my dad. I love Wes Craven and he did such an awesome job on this movie. It truly is an excellent concept with the movie in a movie theme and it just hits on so many levels.
I love the “behind-the-scenes” stuff and how movies/books/etc. are made and this just ticked off all of the boxes.
8.5 out of 10
Trivia
In this film, Freddy is depicted much closer to what Wes Craven had originally intended for the character, much more menacing, much less comical, with an updated attire and appearance. However in 2015, before his death, he would admit he regretted changing his appearance and said: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Which was why he kept Ghostface’s mask the same in every Scream movie.
The television show appearance was inspired by a real encounter. According to Wes Craven: “Robert Englund and I did an appearance together on public television in the San Francisco area. It was about whether this kind of movie was bad for children or not. There were parents in the audience and then kids. All the kids leaped to their feet and started chanting, ‘Freddy! Freddy! Freddy!’ I remember looking at the show host and the parents, and they all looked horrified.”
The film has no opening titles to blur the illusion of whether it’s a film, a documentary or something else altogether.
In the ending credits, Freddy Krueger is credited as himself, even though Robert Englund reprises the role.