A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master Blu-ray Movie Review

This Nightmare's picture quality is a fan's dream come true.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman February 17, 2013

Time to start living like regular people.

The A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise was only three pictures deep -- not exactly a juggernaut of Horror but clearly on its way to "legendary" status -- yet a major worldwide success for the upstart New Line Pictures. When time came to make a fourth film, New Line hired little-known Finnish Director Renny Harlin to helm what was expected to be one of the biggest genre pictures in some time. Harlin, fresh off a successful U.S. debut with the little-seen but very well-made Prison, was something of a wildcard, a trend building around a film also in doubt thanks to a Hollywood writers' strike. Robert Englund's return to play Freddy Krueger seemed the only sure thing and maybe the film's only saving grace. The Dream Master could have been a disaster, but it turns out it's one of the best in the series, a rather formulaic but strongly crafted atmospheric Horror film that works on all fronts, a film that works so well, in fact, that style, acting, and characterization all manage to nearly bury Mr. Krueger in his own movie. A Horror film that's more than the presence of its villain? Indeed, The Dream Master really is nearly that good.

The shadowed face of Horror.

Teenagers Kristen (Tuesday Knight), Joey (Rodney Eastman), and Kincaid (Ken Sagoes) are attempting to piece together their lives and live free of fear from the nightmare killer Freddy Krueger. As they try to re-enter society, they're faced with new challenges but are armed with a group of new friends to help them through. Kristen is dating Rick (Andras Jones), a martial artist whose sister Alice (Lisa Wilcox) suffers from hallucinations in which she plays out scenarios she would never attempt in real life. Kristen's also befriended the nerdy asthmatic Kopecky (Toy Newkirk) and the buff Debbie (Brooke Theiss). Unfortunately, Kristen, Joey, and Kincaid soon learn that their nightmares are just beginning. It turns out Freddy (Robert Englund) is very much alive and very hungry for teenage souls. That means that all of Kristen's new friends are a target for the charred killer who haunts the living in the dream world.

The Dream Master is a flat-out enjoyable little Horror film in every regard. In most every way it embodies the entire franchise as well as any of the sequels and it might be the best of the bunch from a technical perspective to boot. Certainly, the film proves very straightforward, but it's the way it handles series-specific ideas and elements that make it such a success. It's little more than one scene after another of teenagers frightened over Freddy. Every now and then, one of them dies, some in a fairly generic mannor (razor gloves to the gut) and others falling victim to more creative executions (drowned in a waterbed, turned into a roach and squished). The difference here is that the characters are surprisingly well developed, certainly not to any great extent but quite thoroughly for a 90-minute franchise Horror film. Audiences care when these folks find themselves in peril or die, they all enjoy fine character moments, and there's a robust cast camaraderie that just can't be beat for a teen-centeric Horror movie. The actors are all quite good, too; each performance is streamlined and all the characters emote just the right balance between heroism, fear, friendship, doubt, and suffering.

Renny Harlin, still a relative novice in the film industry, shows great command of the Nightmare style and a firm grasp on atmospheric Horror in general. Outside of Wes Craven's own craftsmanship in the first film, this is the best-looking film of the bunch and a testament to Harlin's storytelling and filmmaking abilities. He blends stylish and cool with straightforward and atmospheric, never emphasizing one element but finding for them a balance that enhances the whole. Everything about the movie is so well done that Freddy often seems like an afterthought; he's certainly the driving force of the plot and the main attraction for the film, but there's much more to love here from a technical perspective than one normally finds, or expects to find, in a franchise Horror film that falls smack-dab in the middle of the series. The picture features few but nevertheless very well-executed visual effects, most practical but a few of the optical variety that don't look too sloppy or cartoonish and that enhance some of the film's most intense scenes, such as the classroom kill.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master looks great on Blu-ray, to be straightforward about it. The largely flawless 1080p transfer provides a beautiful film-like texture. Light grain remains throughout, and details sparkle. The image showcases natural facial and clothing textures, and it also picks up nuanced details on the worn paint and wood of the abandoned home, the rust and wear around the boiler room, and all the little touches inside the school. The image is remarkably consistent and crisp, naturally sharp and perfectly defined in most every shot. Colors are equally splendid; the palette is even and every hue perfectly defined, never too bright nor too dull. Flesh tones are even, and black levels solid. There is a hint of banding, some unsightly shadow detail and color transitions on low-light faces, but overall this is a flat-out fantastic catalogue transfer from New Line.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master features a highly aggressive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Fortunately, high energy doesn't mean little clarity. While there's a slight mushiness to a few elements, the track delivers what is largely a very clear and oftentimes exhilarating presentation, creating a big, cinematic virtual landscape in the home theater. The opening notes hit hard; big, deep bass rocks and rumbles while smooth surround support finishes off the deal. Music isn't the only strong element; claps of thunder hit hard and linger around the stage while driving rain saturates the listening area in one early scene. Slamming doors, shaking chandeliers, crashes in a junkyard, a gust of wind in a theater, and plenty of other big, robust elements shape what might be the definitive Horror movie listening experience. There are some fair atmospherics in the school scenes, but most of the time surround usage is made up of those high energy elements. The track's weak point is dialogue. It's clear enough but has a very obvious detached, scratchy tenor about it. It's more obvious in some places and less in others, but it gets to the point of distraction only a few times. Overall, this is a fun listen that begs to be cranked up loud with the lights down low.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master contains a few featurettes and a trailer.

• Krueger, Freddy Krueger (SD, 8:16): New Line Theatrical Distribution President Al Shapiro discusses series history and the fourth film's success. Director Renny Harlin, Producer Robert Shaye, Producer Rachel Talalay, and Screenwriter Ken Wheat speak on hiring Harlin, the writers strike's impact on the film, and molding Freddy into an antihero-type of character.
• Hopeless Chest (SD, 3:45): Special Effects Artist John Carl Buechler discusses his involvement with Renny Harlin's Prison and his creation of this film's famous pizza. Actor Robert Englund and Special Effects Artist Steve Johnson speak on another of the film's famous visuals, with some good behind the scenes footage.
• Let's Makeup (SD, 2:20): Make-Up Artist Howard Berger discusses the film's fan base and applying the Freddy makeup.
• The Finnish Line (SD, 2:27): Director Renny Harlin discusses the film's test screening and premiere.
• Theatrical Trailer (HD, 1:29).

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master ascends above most of the rest of the series -- and beyond most Horror films in general -- as a movie that blends subtly stylish elements, first-class filmmaking, solid acting, and strong characterization in a no-frills franchise Horror film that follows the general formula almost to a fault. While the movie is superficially little more than "worried teens are killed off one at a time" (it doesn't get any more genre "classic" than that, Nightmare or not), it's the aggregate of all the little things that make this one a standout in a sea of otherwise generic Horror films both in this franchise and elsewhere. New Line's Blu-ray release of A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master delivers fantastic video, aggressive audio, and a few supplements. Highly recommended.