A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)

Yawn. A dumbed-down rehash of Part 3 where every nightmare is on the level of that film's goofy Wizard Master sequence -- slightly clever, interesting in its use of dream logic and not scary in the least bit. This is probably also the most devastatingly influential slasher film of the modern era, as it made it standard for the killer to make really lame wisecracks when committing murder. Most people pinpoint Part 3 as the beginning of The Taming of Freddy Kruger, but here he's so far away from his original purely malevolent self that the killings feel inspired by the jokes and not vice versa. It's long way from Part 3's "Welcome to prime time, bitch!" to this film's "How's this for a wet dream?" Gawd. (I did like Dumb Blonde Girl's Metamorphosis-inspired dream, though.)

Grade: C