A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

After the somewhat disappointing part 2 this, the second Elm St sequel, steps the franchise up to a new level. The sets and special effects are awesome, plentiful, inventive and fun. In particular I liked a scene with a fighting skeleton, certainly a nod to Ray Harryhausen. Great to see Heather Langenkamp & John Saxon return, plus it marked the debut of Patricia Arquette, and Lawrence Fishburne can also be seen. Dream Warriors marked the point where Freddy became humorous, something which I felt got taken too far in further sequels, but thankfully here he balances that with still being a scary, bad ass. This, in my opinion, is the second best entry in the series, the first being numero uno. I can remember first watching this when it came out on VHS as a teen and thinking how lucky Joey was when the sexy blonde nurse hit on him. All these years later I still think the same! Great film, great sequel.

The last of the Elm Street kids are in a psychiatric hospital. Good visuals, but the story is fragments of ideas put together. The eeriness of the original is gone.

I didn't watch these movies as a kid when all my friends were. Even though I had never seen it before, watching NES III gave me a nostalgic feeling. The look and feel are so EIGHTIES that it's almost like watching back something I'd forgotten I had seen. That said, I thought the movie was way more complicated than it needed to be. Freddy became an icon, and part of it was because he started using sarcastic one liners beginning with this film. But even though it was a success at the time, I disagree with everyone who found this a satisfying sequel. Not being a fan of "kills," or Freddy in general, I was looking more for a well told story. The movie built fairly well, but the final sequences were over complicated. It tried to pack too many twists and revelations into the ending, so that it just became a mess. I'm also deducting points because of how some of the characters end up--I wanted it to turn out differently. And it should have--the narrative was heading in the right the direction, but then changed focus in a way that made me loose interest. 6/10.

As a horror fanatic and huge fan of the "Elm Street" franchise, I honestly think Dream Warriors is one of the greatest sequels of all- time. It has everything - great atmosphere, fun characters and Freddy Krueger at his absolute best!!! The story takes place in a mental institution and the patients' dreams while the line between reality and dreamland is blurred and we are not always sure which one we are in. Freddy himself is used sparingly, which I believe was a good idea since he is so effective when he does appear. The cinematography is brilliant and along with the haunting score creates such a nightmarish atmosphere that feels genuinely scary. I was always impressed with how dreamlike the film can be at times. The special effects were done especially well when it came to the gore and dream sequences. The part where Freddy comes out of the ground as a giant snake-like creature and starts swallowing the girl whole looked freaky as hell! But one of the most memorable scenes has to be where the guy is used as a puppet and sleepwalks to his death. All of the sets looked great and helped create much of the film's haunting feel. The cast did very well also, especially Patricia Arquette in the lead role. Heather Langenkamp returns as Nancy from the first film and even if her acting is sub-par, her presence helps bridge a connection to the original Nightmare On Elm Street film. Of course, the true star has to be Robert Englund, who is really the only man who should ever play Freddy Krueger. He brings a wicked sense of humor to the role and provides much of the films comic relief without losing the scary. This is an accomplishment in itself since most horror- comedies tend to lean more towards the comedy side no matter how hard they try. What makes "Dream Warriors" great is that it doesn't have to try. It knows what it is and has all the necessary ingredients to succeed. This is a great standalone horror movie and should not go overlooked by fans of the original Elm Street film.