Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge

Sorry it's been a while.  I have a touch of bloggers block. The cure for bloggers block, of course, is a really bad film.  Ladies and Gentleman, I present, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge.  Also known as the Gay one.  The obvious (to modern audiences) homosexual subtext in NOES2 is really the only thing that makes this entry interesting.  But it makes it VERY interesting, especially when you consider that this film was supposed to launch the franchise. 

Before we get started can I just talk about how bad that poster is?  I would say it belongs on "Photoshop Disasters" but it's not photoshopped.  Is the guy a hunchback? Why are they in the bathroom?  Why are his hands so big?  Where the hell is Freddy Kruger?  Lets look at a better poster....

Thank you!  That's more like it.  That original poster is a good indication of everything that is wrong with this film.  It's just "off."  Freddy has about 10 minutes of screen time.  He kills only men (until the end) and one of them is an adult.  He can somehow leave the dream world and kill in the real world.  And he really doesn't have that much of a sense of humor.  All the hallmarks of the series are missing in this first sequel.  Freddy's Revenge is like the Season of the Witch in the "Halloween" series: it just doesn't fit.  It's like the producers just didn't know what to do with the series and tried to take it in a whole new direction which didn't work.  Which is pretty much what happened.  You can learn more in the excellent documentary Never Sleep Again, about the entire Nightmare franchise.  Just be prepared: it's like 5 hours long, and you won't be able to stop watching.

I remember watching Freddy's Revenge as a kid at a slumber party.  We watched all the Nightmare films at slumber parties.  I was too young to pick up what was really going on in this film, but as an adult it is obvious.  Blazing even.

Mark Patton plays Jesse, a young kid whose family moves to Elm Street, taking over the Thompson house.  Immediately Jesse begins having horrible nightmares featuring one F.Kruger.  Kruger doesn't want to "kill" Jesse.  He wants to take him over and have him start killing.  Trying to save Jesse is Lisa (Kim Myers), the local rich girl who has the hots for him.  She is not going to get far because Jesse is deep, deep in the closet.  How do we know?  The producers give us plenty of helpful hints:

1. The effeminate scream
2. The effeminate gestures
3. The dance sequence
4. He frequents gay clubs while sleepwalking
5. He keeps a board game called "probe" in his closet
6. He flips the bird like a girl
7. His first victim is the gay gym teacher
8. whom he smacks to death with a wet towel
9. He leaves Lisa (who is trying to seduce him) and breaks into his best friend's house, asking to stay the night.
10. That jump at the end.

It actually is great fun looking for all the clues in this film.  It's the only thing that got me through it.  The writer has admitted that he added the homosexual subtext intentionally.  Most of the cast and crew claim that they were not aware of it!  Come on!  It's so obvious!  And it's fun.  Not only for a horror film, but any film from 1985.  Pretty bold as well.  Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge has been embraced by the gay community, as it should.  Check out the excellent CampBlood for more info.