WES CRAVEN’S NEW NIGHTMARE Is the Most Influential Meta Horror Film of All-Time

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As someone who grew up in the 90s, I can vividly remember the impact of Wes Craven’s “New Nightmare” on us kids. It was like a secret handshake among friends, a nod to the darker side of our collective psyche. We knew Freddy Krueger wasn’t just some toy or a joke, he was a beast that could haunt our dreams.

2024 holds significant importance for Freddy Krueger, marking not only the 40th anniversary of “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” but also the 30th anniversary of “Wes Craven’s New Nightmare,” the seventh installment in the “A Nightmare on Elm Street” series. Unlike most sequels in long-running franchises, “New Nightmare” stands out for its innovative approach. When it was released, it was unprecedented among horror movies, pushing boundaries with its meta elements at a time when the concept of ‘meta’ was not widely known or appreciated. To this day, no other film series has managed to replicate the groundbreaking achievements of “New Nightmare.

In “New Nightmare,” director Wes Craven makes a genuine comeback to the series he initiated with the 1984 original (although he did contribute to early drafts for the third film, “A Nightmare on Elm Street: Dream Warriors” before leaving). Unlike traditional sequels, this film is unique as it features Robert Englund and Heather Langenkamp reprising their roles as Freddy Krueger and Nancy Thompson respectively, portraying themselves as real-life LA actors. The plot revolves around an ancient, malevolent force that’s taking the shape of the fictional character, Freddy, in our world.

Without a doubt, New Nightmare made quite an impactful and daring addition to the series. While it earned some impressive critical acclaim, it unfortunately struggled at the box office. This horror sequel found itself trailing behind the unprecedented debut of Pulp Fiction, as well as the second week of the blockbuster collaboration between Sylvester Stallone and Sharon Stone in The Specialist.

These days, there’s been significantly more chatter about “New Nightmare” rather than “The Specialist,” and it’s not without justification. “New Nightmare” seemed unlucky with its timing due to its release date and the general fatigue surrounding the Elm Street franchise, which had previously produced some less-than-stellar films like “Freddy’s Dead.” Nevertheless, “New Nightmare” was a daring and intelligent film. In an unusual move, Wes Craven managed to reflect the Freddy movies and their fame in a way that few would have anticipated before its release.

New Nightmare Is a Profound Meta Horror Film, But It’s Not the First

Horror movies often contain recurring elements and distinctive styles, which has led to a lot of self-examination within the genre. Consequently, films like “New Nightmare” aren’t the first examples of meta horror. For instance, 15 years after the introduction of Universal Monsters in silent films with the 1931 movie “Dracula”, the franchise adopted a more humorous approach in the 1946 film “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein”. This movie offered a more playful perspective on some of their most popular and, typically, frightening characters.

On a more dramatic note, the 1960’s film “Peeping Tom” was initially criticized but later appreciated. This movie seems ahead of its time with its insightful portrayal of a murderer who films his crimes for voyeuristic purposes. The perspective of the killer, captured through footage, creates an uneasy viewing experience. However, it also raises questions about the fascination with watching people die on screen.

1981 saw the arrival of “Student Bodies,” a quick-witted spoof that emerged during the height of the slasher movie phenomenon triggered by “Halloween” and “Friday the 13th.” The film features a virginal high school final girl navigating a murder mystery, with elements such as an onscreen body count list. This portrayal appears to be a more vulgar and unpolished precursor to how Wes Craven’s “Scream” would later deconstruct and playfully explore the stereotypes and conventions of slasher films.

How New Nightmare Stands Out From the Meta Crowd

Previously undertaken projects hadn’t delved as deeply into a single series narrative as New Nightmare did. Unlike other filmmakers who might continue a dramatic franchise with comedy or explore recurring genre themes, Craven chose to focus on the unique history and transformation of the A Nightmare on Elm Street series. Today’s audience is accustomed to films like Deadpool and Wolverine that incorporate meta-humor about the Marvel Cinematic Universe or actor personal lives. However, Craven’s decision to reintroduce Freddy Krueger in a film that defied conventional expectations and blurred the line between movie reality and our own was quite unprecedented.

In simpler terms, “New Nightmare” serves as Wes Craven’s commentary on how the Freddy Krueger series, which includes the ones he didn’t create, has been transformed into something familiar and seemingly harmless. However, this familiarity could potentially be dangerous. The movie features Heather, a character played by Marcia Langenkamp, who is both engaging with fans and grappling with her role as a horror icon. Throughout the film, Freddy Krueger’s presence is ubiquitous, showing up in various forms such as a talk show audience member, cosplay, and even appearing alongside Robert Englund in his Freddy makeup. There’s also a scene where Freddy repeats lines from the sequels. When Heather’s son starts acting strangely, a doctor suspects that watching the “Nightmare” movies may be influencing him negatively. In essence, this movie explores the impact and influence of these horror films on both its characters and audiences.

In a very funny moment, Heather angrily replies to the doctor, “Every kid knows who Freddy is! He’s like Santa Claus or King Kong.” And indeed, Freddy was a major figure in pop culture at that point. Craven clearly has his own issues to sort through in New Nightmare about where the series went after his first film. Freddy became a much more comedic, less intimidating character and the source of a ton of merchandise. (Offscreen, Craven felt New Line Cinema hadn’t done right by him financially. That situation got a resolution before his return for New Nightmare). 

In a potentially awkward situation, if handled poorly by someone else, Craven skillfully explains the current state of Heather to the audience. He subtly hints at Freddy Krueger’s background when he discusses how certain tales can trap an ancient, malevolent entity, imprisoning it. It’s clear that by saying the narrative becoming overly familiar or losing its impact are ways to break this confinement and set free this evil.

In the storyline, the character created by Wes Craven is plagued by terrifying dreams, scenes he’s penning into a script which eerily mirror Heather’s ordeals. Eventually, Heather ventures into an underground inferno to combat and conquer this manifestation of Freddy. Upon her return to reality, she carries the script penned by Wes with her. The movie we’re watching serves as a tool that helps keep the evil at bay once more, demonstrating the power of a well-crafted horror film.

New Nightmare‘s Impact on Horror and Beyond

2024 might find some viewers rolling their eyes at the self-reflective and introspective nature of the movie New Nightmare. This is more likely due to the fact that meta storytelling has become a popular method, making it feel somewhat familiar. However, this was groundbreaking and innovative when it debuted in 1994. I recall audiences gasping as they watched the transition from Craven’s speech to Heather, and then to his computer screen, revealing he had been typing their conversation directly into his script in real-time.

We’ve now come to a point where New Nightmare’s approach is short term for horror fans. You’ll sometimes see Scream fans suggest a new sequel should “Pull a New Nightmare” and have the legacy cast playing themselves rather than their characters. And one of Freddy vs. Jason’s many, many scripts during its path through development hell also took a similar approach with Jason Voorhees. It made him a real life killer who a popular series of films were based on. But doing this sort of thing with another big horror franchise would be difficult to replicate without feeling like a pale imitation, given what Craven accomplished. (No, Seed of Chucky saying Chucky’s murders eventually lead to a movie being made about him within the film’s universe is not the same thing. That’s a very different take on a Hollywood self-parody.)  

Two years after the commercial flop of “New Nightmare,” Craven would go on to achieve massive success with the 1996 release of “Scream.” This movie, which was a deconstruction of slasher films, had a comedic edge and explored the genre as a whole rather than focusing on just one series. Reflecting on this, “New Nightmare” appears as a significant bridge between Craven’s work on the original “A Nightmare on Elm Street” and “Scream.” However, it is also a standalone film that uniquely revisits an iconic movie monster in a way no one anticipated, serving as a reminder of the fundamental importance of the script.

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2024-10-14 17:03