Hello everyone, Matthew here. We've been to Crystal Lake for the New Line Era, Haddonfield, Woodsboro, and to the outskirts of Texas so far. But I am happy to say that its time. Take a walk with me as we visit the streets of Springwood. Rumor has it, it's a town that nightmares are made of. It's time to visit Elm Street.
When people hear A Nightmare On Elm Street, they immediately begin thinking of the 1984 classic from Wes Craven. It's a fantastic film that set a new bar for the genre as well as one that helped build New Line Cinema. But for the Springwood Slasher, that's not where his story begins. I mean technically yes, it is. Nancy's Mom is able to share with her daughter the story of why Freddy was coming after them. But we never see it.
When New Line Cinema was riding the Elm Street train in the late 80s, they decided on bringing Freddy to the TV screen. It then shifted into something of an anthology series where each episode could serve as a standalone story and we would get some glimpses of Robert Englund as Freddy. His presence would serve the series like the Cryptkeeper was for Tales From The Crypt. The pilot for the series was then decided that it'd be the perfect time to tell the backstory that Nancy's Mom had mentioned in the film.
"No More, Mr. Nice Guy" is an interesting approach to telling a Freddy origin story. It was directed by Tobe Hooper. Yes, that Tobe Hooper of Texas Chain Saw Massacre fame. The story for the episode is fairly simple. It follows Timothy Blocker, a cop that was responsible for arresting Fred Krueger. In an interesting approach and the only time in franchise history, we witness the trial of Fred Krueger as the case is dismissed by the judge. The reasoning for it was because Fred wasn't read his rights.
Now if people were thinking that there would be more connective tissue in this episode between the series and the film, sorry to disappoint. We don't see Nancy's parents at any point. Honestly, I am okay with that. It doesn't really need to feature them. We know that they were there - so it doesn't need to bring attention to that. In fact, if they had featured them I feel like it would distract audience from the story. And we'd be wondering why we were following Blocker.
Blocker is a father of two teenage girls. He's a cop. Basically, he's serving as our stand in for John Saxon. That's pretty okay to me. He's not a very bland character. When Freddy is released, he tells Blocker that he'll be seeing his daughters soon. Of course, that's a very upsetting thing for Blocker. Immediately, Blocker ensures his family will be protected. But we all know that won't last. This story is a fairly simple one where the first half moves very quickly. Partially, I felt like it was a little too fast and would have appreciated a little more time for things to breathe. But I get it, it's a tv show.
There's a moment where I was taken out for a moment. Freddy returns to his 'lair' which is a rundown factory. It's meant to evoke the boiler room that we come to associate with the character so much. That is appreciated. But then, Freddy has an ice cream truck. I was like what? Why does he have that? He's never been mentioned having that. It just felt a little over the top. There's a distinct tone of over the topness that I feel was meant as a way of balancing things out. Cause I mean it is a bit dark themes with just Freddy's backstory in general. Something that I felt was missing from the episode was the Elm Street theme. It was something that just stood out a bit. I've seen this story in a fanedit originally that incorporated that theme back into it. But now, I had a chance to see it in its original form thanks to ScreamBox.
And then the story shifts gears when Freddy visits Blocker's family. In a pretty unique way, they are able to tell what Freddy does without showing it. This causes the mob of parents to form. They go to his 'lair' ready to confront him. Blocker goes to attempt to stop them as he believes Fred needs to be brought to justice. However, we all know at this point where the story is going to go. I mean how else could it go? Freddy is burned and set forth on Springwood. It all happens without the use of the Dream Demons. That's something I greatly appreciate. The whole concept of Dream Demons will be something that we'll talk about when we get to Freddy's Dead. After this, the episode shifts into a more traditional Elm Street feel. At this point, we get to see more of Freddy haunting Blocker. It all culminates in a fantastic ending that made me squirm. (For those that don't know, I underwent dental surgery back in July of last year. That event is what brought me back to working on this blog as a way of keeping my sanity. So anything dentist related makes me squirm.)
"My Sister's Keeper" picks up about 3 months after the ending of "No More, Mr. Nice Guy". It focuses on Blocker's daughters, Lisa and Merit. In fair Elm Street fashion, their Mother isn't really a huge factor in the show. Lisa and Merit are our main characters with one or two friends. The friends aren't super memorable. They are there to serve a purpose. However, this episode is just oozing with the classic Elm Street feel. An interesting concept that is played with is the idea of twins switching to see what the other's life is like. It allows Lisa and Merit to understand each other very well. Freddy is a bit more comedic - at one point, he plays the electric guitar. But he's never too far over the top as he was in a future film.
Now typically, I would have went on to the second episode. I don't usually watch episodes out of order for a TV series. However, it was brought to my attention (thanks to John Squires from Bloody-Disgusting) that there was a sequel episode - My Sister's Keeper. Immediately, I had to watch them back to back. There is a shift in tone when comparing the two episodes is incredibly interesting. But they go so well together to form essentially a solid prequel to the films. It was the missing piece.
Overall, I would highly recommend all of Freddy's Nightmares. It's a fantastic series that I am happy to see over on ScreamBox. It's a piece of Elm Street lore that was missing for so long. I had only seen the preview for it on The Dream Master VHS growing up. Now how can we get a physical release for the series so it can sit on my shelf alongside the franchise blu rays?
Rating: 4 out of 5.
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