A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
(1988)
DIRECTED BY: Renny Harlin
STORY BY: William Kotzwinkle and Brian Helgeland
SCREENPLAY BY: Brian Helgeland and Scott Pierce (really Jim Wheat & Ken Wheat)
MUSIC BY: Craig Safan
DISTRIBUTOR: New Line Cinema
STARRING: Robert Englund; Rodney Eastman; Tuesday Knight; Ken Sagoes; Lisa Wilcox; Brooke Bundy; Danny Hassel; Nicholas Mele; Toy Newkirk; Brooke Theiss
RUNNING TIME: 93 Minutes
PLOT:
Figuring that Freddy was dead the survivors of part 3 rebuilt their lives.
They all got out of the mental hospital, and were attending Springwood
High School. Kristen Parker (Tuesday Knight) keeps bringing Joey and
Kincaid into her dreams because she thinks that Freddy is coming back.
He comes back and kills all three of them. Before Kristen is killed she
accidentally calls Alice Johnson (Lisa Wilcox) into her dream. As Freddy
kills Kristen she gives Alice her psychic power. Freddy has several
confrontations with Alice, but does not kill her. Since Kristen was the last
of the "Elm Street kids" (children of the people who killed Krueger) Freddy
needs Alice to bring more kids into his dream world so that he can kill
them. Alice and Krueger finally do battle where she turns his power
against him; all of the souls of his victims get free of his grasp and he is
presumed to be gone forever.
MYTHOS INFORMATION:
Because Kristen was the last of the "Elm Street kids" Freddy had to use her power to
enter other people's dreams. Because she pulled, Alice in Freddy could use her as a
conduit to other people after Kristen was dead.
Freddy once again uses his power to influence the world while not in someone's dream (i.e. the tongue-phone in part 1). After Kristen dies Alice looks at a photo in her room and Freddy causes it to burst into flames.
BEHIND-THE-SCENES:
Scott Pierce is listed as a screenwriter, it really it was a pseudonym of Jim Wheat & Ken Wheat.
As they were preparing to go into production they did not have a completed script that they were happy with. The storyline that they had was bits of diferent writer's scripts that had been combined. Director Renny Harlin had to be very involved with the storyline because the Writers Guild was on strike.
Patricia Arquette did not reprise her role as Kristen Parker; instead Kristen was played by look alike Tuesday Knight.
For the effect with Freddy's chest of souls John Carl Buechler's
company Magical Media Industries wanted to take the concept further than
in the previous film. There were 12 animated faces and one fully
articulated gripping hand on the self contained prosthetic chest. One of
the faces was made to look exactly like Alice. Instead of using cables to
control the whole thing, cable controls were standard at the time, they used
radio controls. Instead of about 24 cable animators who would be needed
they needed only 3 remote control operators. Also instead of having
Robert Englund have 24 cables being dragged behind him he had a
backpack housing the radio controls.
The Pizza of souls also featured radio controlled meatballs that
were made to look like the heads of Freddy's victims. For the closeup of
Rick's head they build a huge appliance that looked like a pizza and had a
hole for actor Andras Jones to stick his head through.
For the scene where Alice blasts a hole in Krueger's chest a full
sized fake torso was built, complete with beating heart and breathing
lungs. The shot was done with the fake torso, using a motion control
camera (a camera that is controlled by a computer and can make the exact
same movement over and over.) The shot was than done again with Robert
Englund standing where the fake torso was. The combined the two shots
to create the illusion of a gigantic hole in Freddy's chest.
Another unique effect was when Alice thinks that she is ramming a
truck into Krueger only for the truck to slam head on into what appears to
be nothing but affects the truck like she had hit a telephone pole. They
hollowed out the inside of a truck and put a large rod all of the way through
it. They tied the rod to cables that were anchored at the end of the street
behind the truck. They towed the truck to a high speed. When they ran out
of slack on the cables the rod pulled the front of the truck inward and
created the illusion that the truck had hit something invisible.
Joey is killed when he is pulled into his water bed by what at first
appears to be a naked model. The bed was really constructed on top of a
six foot deep tank.
When Kristen is thrown into the boiler it is really a swimming pool.
They put a propane firebar in front of the door to the boiler and put some
more in the pool. When viewed through the door all that can be seen is the
fire. A stuntwoman dove through the door and into the water, she had to
swim underwater until she was clear of the firebars.
In the Extreme closeup of the chest of souls when the chest is
collapsing and the souls look like they are trying to break free was
achieved with a 30 foot high chest piece. They had about 12 naked and
semi-naked people behind the latex acting like they are trying to break
free.
Was the most successful installment of the series, earning $49
million.
DEATHS:
Kincaid (Ken Sagoes): Claws to the Abdomen
Joey (Rodney Eastman): Pulled into his waterbed and is slashed by
Freddy
Kristen (Tuesday Knight): Thrown into the boiler
Sheila (Toy Newkirk): Given a fatal asthma attack by Freddy sucking
the life out of her
Rick (Andras Jones): Claw shot into the stomach
Debbie (Brooke Theiss): Turned into a cockroach, gets trapped in a
roach motel and squashed by Freddy
SEX/NUDITY:
Hope Marie Carlton shows her tits as the pinup girl who Joey
dreams is swiming naked inside of his waterbed.
In the expream closup of the chest of souls as it colapses one of
the souls shows her tits.