A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

Too much of everything

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

The last of the Elm Street kids are in a psychiatric hospital. Good visuals, but the story is fragments of ideas put together. The eeriness of the original is gone.

Although billed as pure horror, A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors strays into fantasy as well and is a pure blast of fantastically diabolical special effects when it's working in either genre. Around the middle of the franchise marks the place where Freddy Krueger began to turn into more of a cartoonish wise-guy from his original mainly silent phantom, but he's still pretty foreboding here, as Robert Englund puts energetic work into both his funny and frightening sides. The cool thing about this flick is it's 'Goonies' style aesthetic; several youngsters, committed to a mental facility for their insomniac 'delusions', do dream battle with Freddy, and it's one of the few instances in a slasher film where victims get to fight back in some capacity, and as a unit. Patricia Arquette is wonderful as Kristen, leader of the pack and a fiercely vulnerable spirit, while a young Laurence Fishburne plays the kindly head nurse. It's also a treat to see Heather Langenkamp return as brave Nancy Thompson, still out for Freddy's head. The effects are dazzling, from Freddy's remodelled syringe needle glove in one scene, to a giant pac-man version of his head attempting to eat a live person whole in another, it's just imagination run wild in dreamland. The kills are still sufficiently gory too, if punctuated by his now classic growling one liners ("Bitch!"). It's safe to say this is the best in the franchise barring the first film, it's quite a bit of fun. Oh, and for a good hearty laugh, nothing beats the Dick Cavett/Zsa Zsa Gabor cameo featuring a priceless interruption from Freddy.

As a horror fanatic and huge fan of the "Elm Street" franchise, I honestly think Dream Warriors is one of the greatest sequels of all- time. It has everything - great atmosphere, fun characters and Freddy Krueger at his absolute best!!! The story takes place in a mental institution and the patients' dreams while the line between reality and dreamland is blurred and we are not always sure which one we are in. Freddy himself is used sparingly, which I believe was a good idea since he is so effective when he does appear. The cinematography is brilliant and along with the haunting score creates such a nightmarish atmosphere that feels genuinely scary. I was always impressed with how dreamlike the film can be at times. The special effects were done especially well when it came to the gore and dream sequences. The part where Freddy comes out of the ground as a giant snake-like creature and starts swallowing the girl whole looked freaky as hell! But one of the most memorable scenes has to be where the guy is used as a puppet and sleepwalks to his death. All of the sets looked great and helped create much of the film's haunting feel. The cast did very well also, especially Patricia Arquette in the lead role. Heather Langenkamp returns as Nancy from the first film and even if her acting is sub-par, her presence helps bridge a connection to the original Nightmare On Elm Street film. Of course, the true star has to be Robert Englund, who is really the only man who should ever play Freddy Krueger. He brings a wicked sense of humor to the role and provides much of the films comic relief without losing the scary. This is an accomplishment in itself since most horror- comedies tend to lean more towards the comedy side no matter how hard they try. What makes "Dream Warriors" great is that it doesn't have to try. It knows what it is and has all the necessary ingredients to succeed. This is a great standalone horror movie and should not go overlooked by fans of the original Elm Street film.

A.N.O.E.S. III Dream Warriors is a truer sequel to the original in my opinion. Some of the original cast returns as well. Of course it does not live up to the original Night on Elm St. but is a better effort considering how disappointing the second installment was. The second film felt rushed and pointless, obviously trying to bank off the success of the original as it was released just the following year. This film came out two years after the second installment so perhaps that extra year in between releases paid off, as this had an overall better flow and pacing with an interesting enough concept. But this film sort of started the trend within the franchise of overblown effects and over the top death scenes, to the point where it comes off comical more often than not. And the last act is anti-climactic and silly as in the previous film. This is also when Freddy first starts to show subtle signs of becoming a parody of himself as was the case as the franchise progressed.Overall better than the second but still very average compared to first.Pros:much darker atmosphere than the previous film with actual elements of horrorFreddy again looks pretty creepy in this like the previous film (one of the only high points of part 2)a young Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) appears in thisties into the original much better than part 2 maybe because Freddy stays within his realm, a truer sequel Cons:too many effects can lead to silly looking situations at timesstandard 80's horror flick sub par to poor acting from mostfinal act leaves a lot to be desiredSoundtrack: 8/10