A Nightmare On Elm Street 6: Freddy's Dead - The Final Nightmare

The producers have insisted that this sixth entry in the Nightmare on Elm Street series, but they've said that before. This time, homicidal wraith Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) decides to extend his reign of terror past Elm Street. His agent-on-earth is his own long-lost daughter Maggie (Lisa Zane, sister of Phantom star Billy Zane). Securing a job as a dream therapist for troubled teens, Maggie is able to "open up" the minds of her patients so that Freddy can exercise his usual bloody prerogative. In a garish, 3-D climax, Freddy himself becomes the victim of the vengeful Maggie. Since what happens in this picture is laid out in the title, we can't possibly be accused of giving the ending away. Watch for cameos from Roseanne and her then-husband Tom Arnold, Alice Cooper, Elinor Donahue, and Johnny Depp, one of the stars of the very first Nightmare. — Hal Erickson

Despite being written by longtime series producer Michael DeLuca and directed by series vet Rachel Talalay, Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare essentially hits the reset button on the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. The results, though frequently bizarre, do little to rescucitate the ailing bogeyman, however. Deeply influenced by Twin Peaks, Freddy's Dead offers a strongly Lynchian brand of oddness in its first half, particularly during a trip to a virtually abandoned, childless small town devastated by Freddy. But once the dream killings start, it's pretty much business as usual, although DeLuca and Talay seem to be savoring the absurdity brought on by later entries' excess. One video game-themed sequence in particular is too much of a self-parody to not be self-conscious. Still, it doesn't make for a particularly compelling film, unaided by a 3-D climax that looks no more impressive at home than it did in the theaters. — Keith Phipps