Finally got through the Elm Street collection. This was the last one :
Wes Craven's New Nightmare
Wes is back in the director's chair perhaps to have the final word. He started it all so it's fitting he should end it. This film is not part of the Nightmare on Elm Street story continuity. Rather, it is set in the "real world" where Freddy is just an iconic horror character like you and me know him to be. However, life becomes hard for actor Heather Langenkamp who played Nancy Thompson and her son when an ancient evil entity, which has the ability to take the shape of story characters, brings Freddy to life - out of the movies and into in the real world.
This meta-film was a brilliant way to end the franchise, I think, and must have been quite satisfying for the die-hard fans! Some of the people involved in the earlier movies play themselves in this film, for example Wes Craven and, obviously, Robert Englund who plays both himself and the "new" Freddy. Especially Robert playing himself was fun to see as he's really the number 1 guy I've felt I've built up a relationship with over the course of all these sequels
He is, after all, the only actor appearing in all of them.
It's quite different from the other sequels in that new Freddy is not really comical like his story-predecessor. He's there to scare you, not to make you laugh and the movie does feel more serious than the others. Gone are the outrageous kills and a lot of the crazy 80s special FX. There are still some comical scenes (the tongue scene towards the end for example) and the movie is, while a bit scarier than the other sequels, not particularly spooky. It is still entertaining and well worth a watch.
The only slight disappointment is a somewhat weak climax (imo) and that this isn't really Freddy, is it? It's something mimicking Freddy and he does "feel" a bit different. The real Fred died in movie number 6 after all
It takes away a little, but then you get some, so.