FREDDY'S NIGHTMARES : A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Series

I’ve been given the opportunity to finally see some episodes of the late 80’s syndicated television offshoot Freddy’s Nightmares. I have heard for years about how bad it was with some dissenting opinions sometimes expressed in carefully couched terms. I can only imagine how it might have felt to catch this show on late cable channels and wonder what in the world was going on. It must have seemed incredibly transgressive at the time but time has certainly moved on. I’ve watched two episodes to get a taste and neither one was good at all. Even at roughly 45 minutes they both strained to fill time as if they might have been scripted for a shorter time slot.

 

The first was a restaging/retelling of the origin of Freddy Krueger, but showing us exactly how a child murderer was denied a conviction because of a paperwork mistake sounds more interesting than this show can manage. The biggest problem is the low budget the series seems to have had. Everything looks cheap. Everything! The sets, the lighting, the costumes, the effects and score all feel slapped together. I can only assume that there was less than a couple of days to get each episode shot as the only explanation for how uninteresting it is. The visual look is the same as a soap opera, all flat lighting, basic camera setups and sloppy editing. The visuals are so dull that it at times it feels like a parody or an SNL skit. I suspect that most of the meager money spent on this thing went to convince Robert Englund to reprise his signature role as Freddy. But I think they must have only had him for a few days at a time because there are a few scenes in the first episode where it is clear that the actor is not on set. One sequence has Freddy with his back to the camera while Englund seems to be performing his dialog in an ADR booth in another state or well after the fact. It is embarrassing! But the entire thing is embarrassing, truth be told. 

The second episode I watched was slightly better but still pretty dull. It’s a Halloween themed tale with Freddie as a boogeyman still lurking around trying to murder teenagers. It involves a scientist who can record dreams and an attempt to best ol’ Krueger but we know how that’s going to play out – dully! I might watch a few more of these to see if there are any gems among the dross but maybe not. I wonder if there are any fans out there who feel a sense of nostalgia for this show. Even the worst of the Elm Street sequel films is better than this, so far.