A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jack Sholder
Produced by	Robert Shaye
Written by	David Chaskin
Based on	Characters  by Wes Craven
Starring	Mark Patton Kim Myers Robert Rusler Clu Gulager Hope Lange Robert Englund
Music by	Christopher Young
Cinematography	Jacques Haitkin Christopher Tufty
Edited by	Bob Brady Arline Garson
Production company	Heron Communications Smart Egg Pictures
Distributed by	New Line Cinema1
Release dates	November 1, 1985 (1985-11-01)
Running time	85 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$3 million
Box office	$29.9 million (US & Canada)

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge is a 1985 American slasher horror film and the second film in the Nightmare on Elm Street film series. The film was directed by Jack Sholder and stars Mark Patton, Kim Myers, Robert Rusler and Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger. It is the sequel to A Nightmare on Elm Street and is followed by A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors.

Plot

Five years have passed since Freddy Krueger was seemingly defeated and the Walshes have moved into the Thompsons' former home. Their teenaged son, Jesse, has a nightmare about being stranded on a school bus with two girls and being stalked by a violent killer. He wakes up in terror and attributes the dream to the unusual heat in the room. Jesse goes to school with his friend Lisa, whom he is interested in romantically, but is too shy to flirt with her. After getting into a fight with a boy named Grady during gym class, Coach Schneider makes them stay after class and they eventually become friends. Lisa comes to visit Jesse after school and they discover a diary from Nancy Thompson detailing her nightmares which are strikingly similar to Jesse's. Small fires happen around the house, which culminates in the spontaneous combustion of their pet birds. Jesse's father accuses him of sabotage. Lisa takes Jesse to an abandoned factory where Fred Krueger worked, but they find nothing there.

The following night, Jesse has a nightmare where he encounters Freddy Krueger, who tells Jesse to kill for him. The dreams grow more intense and Jesse attempts different measures to keep himself awake, none of which stop him from approaching his sleeping sister with a clawed glove. The experiences terrify him as he finds himself wandering the streets at night. Coming across an S&M leather bar, Jesse is caught by Schneider when ordering a drink and is made to run laps at school as punishment. After sending Jesse to the showers, Schneider is attacked by sporting equipment that comes to life in his office. He is then bound by a jumprope and dragged to the showers, where he is stripped. Jesse vanishes into the steam and Freddy emerges, killing Schneider by slashing his back. Jesse is horrified to see the glove on his hand. He is escorted home by police after being found wandering the streets naked and his parents begin to suspect that Jesse may be on drugs or mentally disturbed.

The following night, Jesse goes to Lisa's pool party and kisses her in the cabana. His body begins to change uncontrollably and he leaves in a panic. Lisa's friend Kerry insists she go after him, but she decides to stay. Jesse goes to Grady's house and confesses to killing Schneider. He tells Grady to watch him as he sleeps and to stop him if he tries to leave. Grady eventually falls asleep, and Jesse undergoes a painful transformation. Freddy emerges from Jesse's body and approaches Grady, whose bedroom door jams. He stabs Grady, pinning him to his bedroom door, killing him. Freddy changes back to Jesse who is looking at Freddy's reflection in Grady's mirror. He flees before Grady's parents enter the room.

Returning to Lisa's house, Jesse tells her what is going on. Lisa realizes that Jesse's terror is giving Freddy his strength, but he cannot stop fearing him and transforms again. He locks her parents in their bedroom and makes the pool outside start to boil. Freddy attacks Lisa, but realizes he cannot harm her due to Jesse's influence and he escapes. Outside, Freddy begins to slaughter the teens. Lisa's father emerges with a shotgun, but Lisa stops him from shooting Freddy, who escapes in a ball of flame. She drives to the factory, facing sudden nightmares that she has to control her fear before confronting Freddy. She pleads to Jesse to fight Freddy, but Freddy's hold is too strong. Only when Lisa confesses her love for Jesse and kisses Freddy does Jesse begin to fight back. Freddy combusts and turns to ash, as Lisa watches. After he dies, Jesse emerges from under the ashes and the two reunite.

Later, as Jesse, Lisa and Kerry are taking the bus to school, Jesse begins to notice similarities to his original nightmare and panics. After Lisa finally calms Jesse down, Kerry says that it is all over just before Freddy's clawed arm bursts through her chest. Freddy laughs as the bus drives into the field, just as in Jesse's first nightmare.

Cast

• Mark Patton as Jesse Walsh
• Kim Myers as Lisa Webber
• Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger/Bus Driver
• Robert Rusler as Ron Grady
• Clu Gulager as Ken Walsh
• Hope Lange as Cheryl Walsh
• Christie Clark as Angela Walsh
• Marshall Bell as Coach Schneider
• Melinda O. Fee as Mrs. Webber
• Tom McFadden as Eddie Webber
• Sydney Walsh as Kerry

Production

• Nightmare series creator Wes Craven turned down the chance to direct due to disinterest in slasher films, and in 1985 stated "It got to the point where every script I received began with the point of view of a crazed killer stalking a teenage girl. I'm not giving up on horror films altogether. I just want to try something different." Craven claims he never wanted or intended A Nightmare on Elm Street to become an ongoing franchise (and even wanted the first film to have a happy ending), and also because the movie changed the premise of the first film with Freddy deciding to attack people in the waking world, rather than avoiding this in favor of killing people in their dreams. Craven also said that he did not like the idea of Freddy manipulating the protagonist into committing the murders. Craven did help shape the film, however, by suggesting more of the lead character focus be shifted from Jesse to Lisa, and believing the final battle be changed from a wide-open area to a confined area.

• The film was a seven-week production in the Los Angeles area for an approximate budget of $3 million.

• Kevin Yagher handled Robert Englund's make-up transformation into Freddy, an application which took three hours. Nine sections were used on Freddy's burnt face, with Yeager stating he made the make-up less bulky than in the original film in order to allow more facial movement.

• This was screenwriting debut for 31-year-old David Chaskin, who attempted to mix humor into the film. New Line asked for a script, and 3 days later he provided 15 pages, which led to him getting the job. After 10 weeks, three drafts and a polished script had been finished. Chaskin believed that a third Elm Street film should be a prequel, explaining Freddy's childhood.

Reception

Box office

In 1985, the film opened in just 614 theaters, making $2.9 million in its opening weekend, coming in 4th place. Domestically, the film has made $30 million,^[1] making it another huge success on a budget of only $3 million.^[2]

Critical reception

Much of the criticism of Freddy's Revenge was aimed at the fact that the film, while continuing the storyline of its predecessor, takes on a completely different direction . However, over its thirty years of existence, Freddy's Revenge has garnered a cult following.

The film currently holds a 42% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 24 reviews.^[3]

Homoerotic subtext

Film commentators often remark on the film's perceived homoerotic theme. The argument is that a subtext exists about Jesse's alleged repressed homosexuality (never clarified in the movie), with the major examples pointed to being the encounter he has with his gym teacher in a gay S&M leather bar, and his fleeing to a male friend's house after an aborted attempt of making out at his girlfriend's pool party.^[4][5]

In a February 2010 interview with Attitude magazine, Robert Englund commented on this when asked whether he was aware about the camp, gay appeal of the series. He replied: "... the second Nightmare on Elm Street is obviously intended as a bisexual themed film. It was early '80s, pre-AIDS paranoia. Jesse's wrestling with whether to come out or not and his own sexual desires was manifested by Freddy. His friend is the object of his affection. That's all there in that film. We did it subtly but the casting of Mark Patton was intentional too, because Mark was out and had done Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean."^[6]

In an article written by Brent Hartinger for After Elton, it is stated that a "frequent debate in gay pop culture circles is this: Just how 'gay' was 1985's A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (the first Elm Street sequel)? The imagery in the movie makes it seem unmistakably gay — but the filmmakers have all along denied that that was their intention." During his interview segment for the documentary Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy, screenwriter David Chaskin admitted that the homosexual themes were intentionally written into the script. The rest of the cast and crew stated that they were unaware of any such themes at the time they made the film, but that a series of creative decisions on the part of director Jack Sholder unintentionally brought Chaskin's themes to the forefront. In his interview, Sholder stated, "I simply didn't have the self-awareness to realize that any of this might be interpreted as gay", while "now-out actor" Mark Patton stated, "I don't think that [the character] Jesse was originally written as a gay character. I think it's something that happened along the line by serendipity."^[7] Patton also wrote Jesse's Lost Journal about Jesse's life after the film and dealing with his homosexuality.^[8]

Soundtrack

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[9]

The film's score was composed by Christopher Young.

See also

• List of ghost films
• List of monster movies

Footnotes

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge

• A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge at the Internet Movie Database
• A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge at AllMovie
• A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge at Rotten Tomatoes
• A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge at Box Office Mojo
• A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge at Nightmare on Elm Street Companion