Critic Reviews
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Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
The series here takes a depressing nosedive into zero-degree filmmaking.
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Variety Staff, Variety
Fifth edition of the hit Nightmare series is a poorly constructed special effects showcase.
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, Time Out
A flimsily plotted but visually impressive addition to the endless Freddy Krueger saga.
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Caryn James, New York Times
A genre film that won't totally insult your intelligence or your eyes.
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Richard Harrington, Washington Post
As for Englund, he still looks as if he's been working at Domino's too long, and he still sounds as if he's stealing his material from Don Rickles.
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Felix Vasquez Jr., Cinema Crazed
At the end of the day while it does little to progress the mythos, it's still an enjoyable entry in to the series that entertains consistently.
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David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews
The progressively convoluted nature of its storyline ultimately stands as A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child's most egregious failing...
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, TV Guide's Movie Guide
Director Stephen Hopkins does an imaginative job in visualizing the bizarre, freely associative nightmares and produces some memorably surrealistic scenes.
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David Hughes, Empire Magazine
Despite an impressive bag of special effects tricks, old Fred is starting to resemble one of those dead horses that studio execs insist on flogging.
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Brian Orndorf, BrianOrndorf.com
Because nothing says giggly slasher escapism quite like child endangerment and abortion discussions. Please pass the popcorn.
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Dustin Putman, DustinPutman.com
Freddy Krueger is now a full-blown cartoonish caricature of his initially dread-induced former self.
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Stefan Birgir Stefansson, sbs.is
kinda gothic freddy
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Wesley Lovell, Cinema Sight
Neither an improvement nor a failure over the previous film, this movie begins stretching the credibility of its victims' deaths.
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Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy
When a movie gives up before the one-minute mark, you know you're in for a long haul.
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Widgett Walls, Needcoffee.com
Ugh. My eyelashes hurt just thinking about this flick.
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Clint Morris, Moviehole
Another solid outing for Freddy...
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Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com
Probably the worst of the Nightmare on Elm Street flicks.
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Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
Better than average series entry, but nothing great.
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David Keyes, Cinemaphile.org
Something is terribly wrong here.
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Chris Hicks, Deseret News, Salt Lake City
Even horror movies need some kind of rules to go by -- but Nightmare 5 is all over the map, little more than a bizarre free-for-all. It is confusing and dumb.
Read all 20 critic reviews
Featured Audience Ratings
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The Dream Child is my least favorite in the whole series. Stephen Hopkins is a horrible director. I was so disappointed with part 5. Good performances, good effects, but bad script and bad story. Freddy's jokes are even funny this time. Everything in this movie is just so… More
The Dream Child is my least favorite in the whole series. Stephen Hopkins is a horrible director. I was so disappointed with part 5. Good performances, good effects, but bad script and bad story. Freddy's jokes are even funny this time. Everything in this movie is just so backwards, awkward and weird (even the death scenes are way too awkward). It doesn't fit the series too well. Part 5 is like Freddy Krueger's own nightmare when he's on acid. But not all acid trips are good and most nightmares don't make much sense. You put those two together you have a pretty lame perception. Stephen Hopkins should have been banned from this series. Not bloody (just weird), not funny (just weird), not scary (just weird)...but slightly entertaining. Still, that just isn't enough. 2 stars for effects and good performances (only if they had a better script).
<a href="http://s294.photobucket.com/albums/mm89/JDHallowEEn/HorrorQf/?action=view¤t=ElmStreet5.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm89/JDHallowEEn/HorrorQf/ElmStreet5.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
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Even though every Nightmare film has tried something new in the past, this one really doesn't offer anything much. However this film does have great moments and is still very enjoyable, but compared to Dream Warriors and The Dream Master, this is one of the weaker one, still… More
Even though every Nightmare film has tried something new in the past, this one really doesn't offer anything much. However this film does have great moments and is still very enjoyable, but compared to Dream Warriors and The Dream Master, this is one of the weaker one, still enjoyable however. But it really doesn't anything new or creative. There's still a lot of originality present in the film with the death and dream sequences, but there's a little something lacking to make this film truly special, and memorable. Freddy seems a bit bored this time around, and so do the characters. Overall Nightmare On Elm Street: The Dream Child is a good little film to watch, but with nothing really new to add to the series.
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Not too bad. Some of the better death scenes in the series. Freddy also got a bigger role, which is never a bad thing. I think that the series tended to get a little bland after part 2, but still fun.
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i saw the 1st i think then thought these are so crap so boring and just poor not even scary
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Its like they scooped up all the good ideas from the other Freddy movies and stuck them all together. It didn't work though, this one sucked! I quite liked the Direction though and the use of animation.
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I like Nightmare on Elm Street parts 2, 3, and 4. "A Nightmare on Elm Street 5 - The Dream Child" isn't the worst movie of the series, but it's far from being the best. In this one, Alice (Lisa Wilcox), finds out that she is pregnant. Freddy Krueger speaks to her… More
I like Nightmare on Elm Street parts 2, 3, and 4. "A Nightmare on Elm Street 5 - The Dream Child" isn't the worst movie of the series, but it's far from being the best. In this one, Alice (Lisa Wilcox), finds out that she is pregnant. Freddy Krueger speaks to her through her unborn child, Jacob. Alice must find a way to communicate with Jacob in order to find out how she must get rid of Freddy this time around.
"A Nightmare on Elm Street 5" has some good special effects, but the storyline suffers. At times, it's hard to understand it. However, if you're a die hard Nightmare on Elm Street fan, you might like it. NOTE: That was my Amazon review from the year 2000. One of the worst films in the series.
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The much praised motorcycle scene is one of the lamest NOES kills, in my opinion. I'm not too crazy about Freddy turning into machinery - it just doesn't work for me. Also, why was baby Freddy deformed? He seems fine to me when he's an adult (physically, I mean).
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This one I think was okay, they all run together.
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More modern than its predecessors with more special effects and gimmicks, which make it seem less real and more fantastic overall.
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Not saying this is a bad movie like most people say, but if you look at it real closely; you will see this installment has the most drama than the others. Besides PART 7. Director Stephen Hopkins and (female) writer Leslie Bohem provide a great dramatic story with perfect comic timing… More
Not saying this is a bad movie like most people say, but if you look at it real closely; you will see this installment has the most drama than the others. Besides PART 7. Director Stephen Hopkins and (female) writer Leslie Bohem provide a great dramatic story with perfect comic timing by FREDDY KRUGER(Robert Englund).
Alice(Lisa Wilcox) and Dan(Danny Hassell) have been living like king and queen since the battle with FREDDY. All of that is about to change, because FREDDY is using their unborn baby, Jacob(Whitby Hertford), dreams to kill those close to her. The only person who can help her is the rest of her remaining friends and FREDDY's mother, who body has been missing since the birth of FREDDY.
Now the plot sounds like an average horror movie, but it's not. What most people complain about is how slow moving it is and not few people are killed like the other installment. This movie not about that at all, it's more on the human side than horror. Of course, you have those excellent one liners from FREDDY. So watch if your in for a horror/drama.
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Elm Street 5 was less gloss and more of an independant horror film in feel. The survivors from Elm Street IV team up with new friends. Alice and Dan find out they are going to have a baby. Freddy, the Elm Street monster, somehow finds a way to get through to the real world through the… More
Elm Street 5 was less gloss and more of an independant horror film in feel. The survivors from Elm Street IV team up with new friends. Alice and Dan find out they are going to have a baby. Freddy, the Elm Street monster, somehow finds a way to get through to the real world through the dreams of Alice's unborn baby, which didn't entirely make sense; wouldn't anybody's dreams be a valid channel for him to return - why a baby? The dream death sequences is disappointing reduced to only a few, but they were very well done. I loved the comic book dream where Freddy becomes "Super Freddy!" I loved the Escher-esque design with the staircases and bridges going off in every direction during the final battle in Freddy's domain. I would rank this one as low as Elm Street 2, as it seemed poorly marketed; nobody I know wanted to go see it. Freddy was somewhat scary again. But the hasty production it was showing signs that the Elm Street franchise was getting tired.
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This fifth installment in the series is a wild ride filled with gruesome makeup effects and mind-blowing visuals. Never mind that Freddy's return is not explained. (He was supposedly killed in part 4.) This time he enters the dreams of the heroine's unborn child, attempting… More
This fifth installment in the series is a wild ride filled with gruesome makeup effects and mind-blowing visuals. Never mind that Freddy's return is not explained. (He was supposedly killed in part 4.) This time he enters the dreams of the heroine's unborn child, attempting to place the souls of those he kills into the fetus.
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arent they all sort of the same
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Getting pretty corny at this point.
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Is anyone still scared of Freddy?
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This was where the franchise kind of slipped. Freddy was made into more of a clown than a menacing figure; they dwelled on jokes instead of scares. The visuals were less impressive and the characters were less likeable. The whole baby scenario was a bit too much of a stretch.
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The true Downfall of Freddy movies.
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A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child takes the series to new lows, and lacks all of the charisma and cleverness that made the series so popular. In this ridiculous tale, Freddy Krueger is able to resurrect himself and return to his killing spree by using the dream state of an… More
A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child takes the series to new lows, and lacks all of the charisma and cleverness that made the series so popular. In this ridiculous tale, Freddy Krueger is able to resurrect himself and return to his killing spree by using the dream state of an unborn child, who he corrupts with the souls of his victims. The plot is atrocious, and isn't helped any by the pathetic performances. The special effects are also pitiful, and don't carry any sense of menace or terror. Cartoonish and formulaic, A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child is an insult to fans and to the horror genre itself.
Read all 20 featured audience ratings
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