The first half of Freddy's Dead may just be the most fun you'll have watching a Nightmare on Elm Street movie. Whereas the first installment is easily the best cinematically, this one does the best job of throwing all that to the wind and simply having a good time, complete with one of the more hackneyed (therefore, in this case, awesome) uses of 3D this reviewer has happily come across. The effects aren't as good as in the comfusing music video that is Dream Child and the characters aren't as well developed as in Freddy's Revenge or Dream Warriors but the pieces work together as a whole for the sake of sheer entertainment better than with any of the other sequels.Sure, this sixth film does introduce possibly the most cliched and predictable plot twist a slasher series in its autumn years can put forth but hey, what are ya gonna do? Every Freddy flick contradicts the last with some new facet of his existence revealed for the sake of continuing the franchise.
The cameos in this one make for some extra fun and while Kreuger leans further toward the comedian role with each installment, he takes the cake here and brings the laughs big time. If you dig Talalay's irreverent style that appreciates the so-cheesy-it's-goodness of 80's slashers, you'll likely dig this. It's unfortunate the follow up (Wes Craven's swan song for Freddy, New Nightmare) fails to meet its potential and proves to be the only Nightmare film completely devoid of value.
