Of all the Nightmare sequels it's safe to say this fourth entry has aged the worst.

Freddy is back going after the survivors of the previous entry and eventually moving onto their new friends when Kirsten (taken over from Patricia Arquette by Tuesday Knight) passes her dream powers on to Alice (Lisa Wilcox, who's making her obvious film debut).

This entry holds many firsts: it's the first time Robert Englund has been given above title crediting and it's also the first of the series to have a "hip" soundtrack album. This may have rubbed-off on the filmmakers as it also suffers from dialogue that's a little too "jokey", nightmare sequences that aren't as creative as other entries and characters that just aren't as engaging (all traits the third part did so well).

Tepid, in fact quite lame, stuff from director Harlin (who'd go on to make such Hollywood fare as Cliffhanger and Cutthroat Island) who tries to make the proceedings have style but is handed much too sloppy a script that's cluttered with dumb moments, weak nightmares and a pace that unfortunately plays like a standard teen "line 'em up - knock 'em down" slasher movie.

Freddy's demise is quite decent (the effects are very good) but it's cancelled out by such bad moments as the "roach motel" sequence. Check out the scene where Wilcox "equips" herself to go after Freddy in the dream world - it's a complete rip-off of the scene in Evil Dead II.

Co-writer Helgeland would later do the "taking liberties with history" action film A Knight's Tale.

Directed By: Renny Harlin.
Written By: Brian Helgeland, Scott Pierce.

Starring: Robert Englund, Tuesday Knight, Rodney Eastman, Danny Hassel.