A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master

R

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1h 33m

Horror

List

57%

30 Reviews

Tomatometer

43%

100,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Grotesque Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) gives some more suburban teenagers something to dream about.

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Critics Consensus

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master marks a relative high point in this franchise's bumpy creative journey, although the original remains far superior.

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Kevin Thomas

Los Angeles Times

"A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master" is by far the best of the series, a superior horror picture that balances wit and gore with imagination and intelligence.

Oct 5, 2018

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Karen Krizanovich

Empire Magazine

Surprisingly watchable for the third sequel and despite its general predictability it's entertainingly inventive.

Rated: 3/5

Apr 5, 2010

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Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

Consistently watchable and inventive.

Apr 5, 2010

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Dennis Harvey

48 Hills

The most visually imaginative entry in a series that enjoyed quite a bit of surreal creative leeway from the start...

Dec 8, 2023

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Cody Leach

Cody Leach (YouTube)

Dream Master is a colorful and energetic slasher for the MTV generation. Freddy Krueger is the star and all the characters & set pieces exist solely to service his on-screen energy. The comedic edge of it's predecessor is unfortunately taken too far.

Rated: 3/5

Aug 20, 2022

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Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

The special effects continue to advance, particularly with a creative waterbed sequence, a hilarious human-meatball snack, and increased levels of bloodshed.

Rated: 2/10

Sep 6, 2020

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Jay H

My favorite of the Elm Street sequels. It's action-packed, and most of the effects are outstanding.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

05/10/24

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Lloyd S

It has changed completely. This one looks more like a teen movie. I wouldn't call it a horror...

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

05/08/24

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hailee M

These movies keep getting more and more intense and damn Freddy making the dreams even more crazier. I love his iconic lick of the tongue back and forth such a weird man.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

05/04/24

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David C

Lo que no está genial es que mata a cada rato además la muerte de Freddy está muy malo

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/10/24

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Tommy D

This movie is fantastic also nightmare on elm street and nightmare on elm street 3

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/09/23

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Blu B

It's ok. The highlights of this are the production value and the phenominal special effects. The sets, the ideas are kind of cool, and kills are extremely creative. The problem though is everything else about it is just ok. The acting is just ok. Alice is really the only one that has any depth being the Dream Master. The Dream Warriors from 3 take up the first half being killed off but don't have any development and I can see why people would feel like there disrespected. We than jump to the new group of kids who got no focus in the first half and don't really have any depth or share that many scenes together beyond one of them interacting with Alice (No group therapy). Add in also some of the camera angles are very obnoxious, the soundtrack doesn't really fit at times with pop numbers, and this is paced like a fantasy action movie than anything, and you can see why this is a mess overall. The other big issue is this is extremely jumpy with editing nonstop until the final 15 minutes or so with Alice fighting. Alice is clearly the main focus but she doesn't even emerge as the main character until mid second half. Also, the fact Freddy's reflection kills him is kind of out of nowehere and stupid and never explained. This needed to leave the kids from 3 out of it and focus on developing the new group of kids better so ideas and characters could be better fleshed out. If you a big fan of the franchise I guess give this a try. But for most just stick with 1 & 3.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

10/31/23

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Renny Harlin

Director

Robert Englund

Freddy Krueger

Lisa Wilcox

Alice Johnson

Rodney Eastman

Joey Crusel

Danny Hassel

Dan Jordan

Andras Jones

Rick Johnson

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Synopsis

Grotesque Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) gives some more suburban teenagers something to dream about.

Director: Renny Harlin
Producer: Stephen Diener, Sara Risher
Distributor: New Line Cinema, Image Entertainment Inc., Media Home Entertainment
Production Co: New Line Cinema
Rating: R
Genre: Horror
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 19, 1988, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 1, 2010
Box Office (Gross USA): $49.3M
Runtime: 1h 33m
Sound Mix: Surround
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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