RW294 - A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)

In this episode of our A Nightmare on Elm Street Rewatch, Cory and Nathan guard their gate as they discuss "A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master."

Trailer:

Our Favourite Trivia:

This was the highest-grossing entry in the "A Nightmare on Elm Street" film franchise (not counting Freddy vs. Jason (2003)). It earned forty-nine million dollars in the U.S.

First film in the franchise where Robert Englund received top billing in the opening credits.

Robert Englund favorite movie of the series.

Franchise originator Wes Craven presented his own pitch for the fourth Elm Street film, but producers Sara Risher and Robert Shaye turned it down, instead going with the 'Dream Master' pitch as a progression of the Dream Warriors concept from the previous film. 

Oscar-winning Screenwriter Brian Helgeland was hired to write the film after being recommended by Robert Englund, for whom he penned the screenplay to Englund's directorial debut 976-EVIL (1988). The film had a release date set, but no script or director, and Helgeland was hired under the condition that he could deliver the script within seven days. He was advised by New Line Cinema head Robert Shaye that if the script came a day late, they didn't want it. Helgeland then flew home to Massachusetts for Christmas and wrote the script sitting at his father's kitchen table. He FedExed the finished screenplay back to Los Angeles and made his deadline. Based on this script, Director Renny Harlin signed on, and the film marks Helgeland's first screen credit. Though "976-EVIL" was his first produced screenplay, it was released after this movie.

The creative process was bogged down by the untimely 1988 Writers Guild of America strike, running from March 7 to August 7, 1988, forcing Harlin and the producers to improvise much during the filming. Lisa Wilcox and Andras Jones wrote their own dialogue for Alice and Rick after the death of Kristen while watching their old home videos, such as “I saw it happen in my dream”. Many of the nightmare scenes was made up from ideas that Harlin came up with rather than from the writers' script.

Renny Harlin got the job by refusing to take "no" for an answer. Rather than accept the rejection, he instead showed up at the New Line Cinema offices on a daily basis, repeatedly requesting to speak with Producer Robert Shaye. For a variety of reasons, they didn't like any of the other directors who came in for meetings about this movie, and Harlin always seemed to be around. Eventually, his persistence won the day, to some degree, because he was so clearly impoverished, that his clothes never seemed to change day-to-day, and even began to smell. They had to hire him just so he could afford some new clothes, or so Bob Shaye jokes. According to Harlin, Shaye rarely ever spoke to him throughout the shoot, even though he would visit the set quite often. That made filming Shaye's cameo scene a bit difficult. The resulting tension meant Harlin lived each day on-set like it would be his last, because he was fairly positive Shaye was going to fire him at any moment without warning.

During the writing of the film, Renny Harlin and some of the producers by chance happened to bump into James Cameron. Cameron somewhat facetiously asked Harlin, "How are they gonna bring Freddy back to life this time?" To which Harlin (also somewhat facetiously) replied "A dog pisses fire on him and he comes back to life." The idea ended up being used in the film, although in a more metaphorical manner than in a literal sense. (With Robert Englund explaining that the dog urinating fire onto Freddy's remains is meant to symbolize a Hellhound, and how evil Freddy truly is.

Not only did actress Tuesday Knight co-star in the film, she performed the theme song.

The Fat Boys - Are you ready for Freddy - 

The pin-up girl who Joey dreams of is Hope Marie Carlton who played Taryn in Hard Ticket to Hawaii

The name of the diner where Alice works is called the "Crave Inn", a reference to Wes Craven.

The character of Roland Kincaid has a poster of The Hills Have Eyes (1977) on his bedroom wall. This is a nod to Wes Craven, who directed the film.

Reportedly, Renny Harlin's original version of the film was considered to be "too campy and ridiculous" by New Line Cinema, which is why some cuts were made on the film before theatrical release. Harlin's original cut had an alternate score and many deleted and extended scenes. These included more scenes with Kristen, including a nightmare scene in which she is chased by Freddy soon after he killed Joey and Kincaid, and an extended version of the beach scene where Freddy's shadow is touching and burning her with sunburns. Small parts of these scenes can be seen in the trailers for the film, and there are also some stills showing the extended beach scene. There was also an additional nightmare scene with Alice dreaming that her father turns into Freddy. It is believed by fans who first discovered these missing scenes, that Harlin's original version is lost. Only the original script has all the deleted scenes.

Whats Next?

Up next, Cory and Nathan see if there's more to learn in "A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The The Dream Child."

Contact Us:

Send in your feedback to TheRewatchPodcast@gmail.com

Follow the show on Facebook, Twitter @RewatchPod or Instagram