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

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master is a 1988 American fantasy slasher film directed by Renny Harlin, and is the fourth installment in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. Serving as a sequel to A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), the film follows Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) who, following the death of Nancy Thompson and completing his revenge against the families who killed him, reappears in the dreams of Kristen Parker, Joey Crusel, and Roland Kincaid, where he uses Kristen's best friend, Alice Johnson, to gain access to new victims in order to satiate his murderous needs. The Dream Master is often popularly referred to as "the MTV Nightmare" of the franchise.

The Dream Master was released on August 19, 1988, and grossed $49.4 million at the domestic box office on a budget of $6.5 million, which made it the highest-grossing film in the franchise in the United States until the release of Freddy vs. Jason, a crossover with the Friday the 13th franchise, in 2003. The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics. It was followed by A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989).

Storyline[]

In 1988, a year after the events of the previous film, Kristen, Kincaid, and Joey have been released from Westin Hills and returned to their normal lives. However, when Kristen dreams that she is in Freddy's old boiler room, she summons Joey and Kincaid into the dream, fearing that Krueger might be back. Joey and Kincaid, disgruntled, insist that Freddy is gone. The next day, Kristen meets with her boyfriend, martial arts enthusiast Rick Johnson, and their friends—Rick's shy and quiet sister Alice, Sheila, an asthmatic genius, and Debbie, an athletic girl who dislikes bugs.

That night, Kincaid falls asleep and awakens in a junkyard, where Freddy has been accidentally resurrected. Freddy kills him. Joey falls asleep next and Freddy pulls him into his waterbed, killing him as well. Kristen is heartbroken to learn that the boys are dead. At dinner, she realizes with horror that her mother has put sleeping pills in her meal because Kristen has not been sleeping. She tries to resist but eventually falls asleep. As the last of the Elm Street children, Freddy taunts her into summoning one of her friends into the dream so that his torment can begin anew. She summons Alice, and Freddy throws Kristen into his boiler. Before she dies, Kristen transfers her dream power to Alice. When Alice and Rick arrive at Kristen's house, they find her bedroom on fire and discover that she has burned to death.

At school, Alice falls asleep during class and inadvertently brings Sheila into her dream. Freddy kills Sheila, making it appear like an asthma attack. Rick begins to believe Alice and has a dream in which an invisible Freddy kills him in a martial arts dojo. With each death, Alice changes—she acquires the abilities and personalities of her dead friends. Freddy targets Debbie next, transforms her into a cockroach, and crushes her in a roach motel. Trapped by Freddy in a time loop dream with her crush Dan Jordan, Alice tries to ram Freddy with her car to save Debbie but collides with a tree in reality, injuring Dan, who is rushed into surgery.

In a dream, Alice rescues Dan, but he gets injured, prompting his surgeons to wake him up when he starts bleeding out in real life. Alice now has to face Freddy alone. She uses her friends' dream powers against him. When Freddy seems to be winning, she recalls a nursery rhyme called "The Dream Master," which instructs one to show evil its reflection. She forces Freddy to face his own reflection, causing the souls within him to revolt. The strain tears him apart. Alice's friends' souls are released, leaving Freddy a hollow husk. Months later, Dan and Alice are on a date when Dan tosses a coin into a fountain. For a moment, Alice sees Freddy's reflection in the water but chooses to ignore it as they walk away.

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

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