A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child

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A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child

R

1989

1h 29m

Horror

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

32%

Tomatometer

37 Reviews

31%

Popcornmeter

100,000+ Ratings

The fifth installment of the popular franchise focuses on Alice (Lisa Wilcox), a survivor of the fourth, who believes Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) has been eliminated for good. She optimistically hopes to start a life with fellow survivor Dan (Danny Hassel). The nightmares begin soon enough, though, and Alice learns she is pregnant. When her friends start dying, Alice suspects that Freddy is using the fetus within her as a weapon. Can she fight the demon while protecting her unborn child?

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Critics Consensus

A Nightmare on Elm Street feels exhausted by this cheesy fifth entry, bogged down by a convoluted mythology while showing none of the chilling technique that kicked off the franchise.

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David Hughes

Empire Magazine

04/05/2010

2/5

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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Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

04/05/2010

The series here takes a depressing nosedive into zero-degree filmmaking.

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Variety Staff

Variety

03/26/2009

Fifth edition of the hit Nightmare series is a poorly constructed special effects showcase.

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Grant Watson

Fiction Machine

Oct 2

6/10

While stylish and broadly enjoyable, The Dream Child feels like a compromised work and does not quite make the impact that its immediate predecessor did.

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Brian Bisesi

Horror Movie Club Podcast

Sep 25

3/5

The Dream Child has good ideas, and is entertaining despite its flaws. Partly a victim of a rushed production, and partly of extensive MPAA cuts, the final product is a slapdash jumble of what could have been a far more compelling entry in the franchise.

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Joshua Mooney

Movieline

Sep 16

A pretty tired effort.

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Stanny R

@StannyMC Mar 9

The Dream Child is a poor instalment into the Elm Street franchise. Logic is out the window and the concept tiresome, not to mention Freddy is basically a walking punchline at this point. I cannot fault the special effects team, however this film is rubbish.

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Jacob D.

@jacobihy Mar 8

Really bad movie better off saving your money if you plan on buying this

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Darrin G.

@realwildchild76 Mar 8

After an exciting run of films including Dream Warriors and Dream Master, the Nightmare series starts to lose its steam with this fifth entry involving Freddy haunting the dreams of an unborn baby. Visually the film looks great but the storyline and characters are just bland. There is also an attempt to make Freddy scary again here and I think that fails because he’s the reason we watch these movies. A tv series and comic book existed by the time this film came out - Freddy was everywhere including rap song cameos and on lunchboxes - so he had wore out his welcome somewhat. The MPAA also butchered some of the kill scenes here. They made these movies so fast that they stopped trying at this point to make a decent story. They somehow did even worse with the next film.

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Steven A

@Steven0089 Mar 1

I honestly hated everything about this movie. The plot, the character and the kills. I was actually counting the minutes unil it was finally over. Easily the worst movie of the franchise.

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John B.

@rjcartoonist69 Nov 12

While it’s somewhat gothic tone makes it slightly better than it’s predecessor, it isn’t that much a high leap moving forward either..

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Obi-wan K

@Gordon_Freeman Oct 26

When will the guy get killed off already

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Stephen Hopkins

Director

Robert Englund

Freddy Krueger

Lisa Wilcox

Alice Johnson

Danny Hassel

Daniel 'Dan' Jordan

Kelly Jo Minter

Yvonne

Erika Anderson

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Synopsis

The fifth installment of the popular franchise focuses on Alice (Lisa Wilcox), a survivor of the fourth, who believes Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) has been eliminated for good. She optimistically hopes to start a life with fellow survivor Dan (Danny Hassel). The nightmares begin soon enough, though, and Alice learns she is pregnant. When her friends start dying, Alice suspects that Freddy is using the fetus within her as a weapon. Can she fight the demon while protecting her unborn child?

Director: Stephen Hopkins
Producer: Robert Shaye, Rupert Harvey
Distributor: New Line Cinema, Image Entertainment Inc., Media Home Entertainment
Production Co: New Line Cinema
Rating: R
Genre: Horror
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 11, 1989, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 1, 2010
Box Office (Gross USA): $22.2M
Runtime: 1h 29m
Sound Mix: Dolby SR, Surround
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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