Fowler's Frights 2015: Friday the 13th Part 2

Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
Starring: Amy Steel, John Furey, Adrienne King
Directed by: Steve Miner


The first Friday the 13th film was a huge success, so it was naturally expanded into a franchise. One year later, fans were given Friday the 13th Part 2, a film that marks the debut of Jason being the main killer of the series. With only one year to put a sequel together, you're obviously pressed for time to make something that will honor fans of the original film, while also providing something different that also creates the universe of the franchise. How did Friday the 13th Part 2 do? You might honestly be surprised by my response. In many ways, it's better than the first. It still has some problems, but it's an overall easier film to sit through. So, yeah, I like the second film more than the first, but not by much. I've still got some gripes for it, but it's more nitpicking for humor's sake than anything else. Let's not waste any more time and get right to talking about Friday the 13th Part 2, starting with the man of the hour, the face of the franchise, the hockey mask wearing Jason Voorhees.

What the heck does he have on his face? A potato sack, really??!! Ugh, we're still just ONE film away from him getting the iconic look that we all know and love, so that makes his appearance in this film feel really distracting. It's almost like you have to keep reminding yourself that you're watching a Jason Voorhees movie. Seriously, this film could have been any other standalone horror film if it didn't have the Friday the 13th name slapped on it. Jason wears a hockey mask, and thankfully that's gonna become a reality in this series by the next review. I can't imagine people getting scared by that guy. Just look at him. I'll bet you're laughing instead. I would be too.

The excessive rules of the sequel are put into good effect here. No more boring scenes of them setting up camp. We don't have time for that. More characters are introduced so they can have sex, drink, do drugs, and get picked off one by one. I'm not sure if more happens here than in the first numerically, but it certainly feels that way due to the pacing. We even have a scene where they gather around a campfire to talk about the legend of Jason Voorhees and Camp Crystal Lake. Stuff like that is great to add to a film, as it paints the magnitude and relevance of the character as a villain, not just for this film, but for the remainder of the series.

While the pacing is a little better than the first one, I think Friday the 13th Part 2 suffers a bit from being too close to the first one. Particularly with the victims, I feel like I've seen all these characters in the first one. There are maybe one or two that are really memorable, but the first one is a way more iconic film that general viewers know about. I'll go on record to say that this film is an unsung gem of the early films. It's probably the one of the original string of films (meaning the first four) that goes talked about the least, and I think that's a shame. It has good qualities, isn't as boring as the first, and actually has Jason as the killer. Now all they need to do is get that stupid bag off his head.


Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars.

In many ways, Friday the 13th Part 2 is more entertaining and important to horror lore than the first one. It's the first film where Jason is the actual killer, there's a handful of memorable death scenes, and the pacing is a lot smoother than the first. We're getting closer to finding a definitively enjoyable film in the franchise, but for now, this one could be enjoyable for casual horror fans to check out at least once.

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Friday the 13th Part 2 and movie images are copyrighted by Paramount Pictures

Fowler's Frights 2015: Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th (1980)
Starring: Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Kevin Bacon
Directed by: Sean S. Cunningham


After my Nightmare on Elm Street series review came to an abysmal end, I decided to extend the Fowler's Frights season by including the Friday the 13th series. That's right, 11 days of reviewing the best of Jason Voorhees, concluding with a very special review on Friday the 13th later this month. Now, a film series like this doesn't have a charismatic villain like Freddy Krueger or a self-aware narrative like Scream. This film series is popular garbage. In no way am I saying I despise this series. Far from it. I can appreciate it for what it is, but I have to be in that mindset that what I'm watching is not groundbreaking cinema. It's gore, sex filled, exploitation churned out for the general masses. I'm sure nothing will receive a 5 star rating, and if it gets as low as 0.5 or 1, it'll most likely deserve it. That doesn't mean I can't have fun with it. For the most part, I won't be in pain or traumatized by what I'm watching as I already know what to expect. So let's get started with the film that introduced the horror community to Camp Crystal Lake and Jason Voorhies, Friday the 13th.

When I said we are introduced to Camp Crystal Lake, I mean we are given every excruciating detail on how these victims (I mean characters) are putting the camp together. It isn't really compelling when you're expecting a dude in a hockey mask showing up and hacking everyone to death. We don't need to see them make coffee, kill a snake, or making awfully racist Native American impersonations. The moral of the film series is to not have sex, so when the characters finally start shacking up, you know they're screwed (in more than one way), and that's when the film starts to pick up some steam in the second half.

The visual effects were done by horror legend Tom Savini. These films are notoriously known for having the censors take way too much of the gore out, so it's refreshing to see so many of these effects put to good use and shown in pretty good detail. The fan favorite is the arrow going through Jack's neck. And yes, Jack is played by Kevin Bacon. It's great seeing him in this film to see where he got one of his earliest big breaks in movies. Anyways, on to what everyone wants me to talk about: Jason Voorhies in all his hockey mask wearing, machete wielding splendor.

Small *SPOILER* alert for all 2 of you that don't know the ending to the original movie. Jason is NOT the killer in this film. His mother, played by Betsy Palmer, is. Mrs. Voorhees isn't an awful horror villain. In fact, she gets quite a bit done in the course of this one film. But she's not why we're here to watch these movies. We want to see Jason do all the killings. We want to see the machete and the hockey mask. Instead, we're sitting there waiting during Friday the 13th wondering if he'll grace us with an appearance. That's why I can't say that the casual moviegoer NEEDS to watch this film. They'd probably do much better with most of the sequels since Jason is used in a much larger capacity. Although, stick around for the ending, as viewers get a VERY memorable debut from one of horror's greatest icons.


Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars.

While the first film in the iconic series, the casual moviegoer may want to skip Friday the 13th. There's hardly any Jason in it and not a lot happens throughout the film that's actually very interesting. If you wanna see how the franchise started, as well as some solid special effects and a young Kevin Bacon, you could go ahead with a rental. Although, most horror fans should definitely think of adding this to their collection on sheer principle for being the first film in a popular series.

Comment below to share your thoughts on the movie or to discuss a topic that I left out of my review

Friday the 13th and movie images are copyrighted by Paramount Pictures

Fowler's Frights 2015: A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)

A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)
Starring: Jackie Earle Haley, Rooney Mara, Kyle Gallner
Directed by: Samuel Bayer


Now would've been the time for my Happy Halloween review. But frankly, I didn't think this movie was worthy of that honor. After giving a great tribute to Wes Craven in my New Nightmare review, I really didn't want to follow up with the remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street. As a huge fan of the original series, I was skeptical when this film first came out. Wes Craven had no involvement and even Robert Englund didn't reprise his role as Freddy Krueger. The trailers made it look scary enough, so I was hoping things would be great. Then the reviews came out...and it was bad. I mean, BAD bad. Then I saw the film, and it was truly THAT BAD. I felt unclean to review this film on Halloween, one of my favorite nights of the year and the time of year when I celebrate one of my favorite film genres. This film was unworthy of ending things, but it is unfortunately the end of the Nightmare series thus far, so I have to close it out. Hopefully I can think of something else I can do to bring some proper balance and momentum to it all. But alas, let's talk about the horror remake abomination that is 2010's A Nightmare on Elm Street.

Jackie Earle Haley tries his hardest to make Freddy Krueger scary again, but all that means is making him sound like Batman or Rorschach (who was also played by Jackie Earle Haley in Watchmen). Simply put, he's not Robert Englund. Robert Englund will always be Freddy Krueger and there's no way around that. Any actor they would have chosen to play him here wouldn't have been received well. I will say I didn't actually mind majority of his makeup. It actually looked like how a burn victim would work. But that realism is a tad off-putting when the lines between horror and real life are blurred. The element of it not being real is what makes a character like Freddy fun. That effect is ruined when we see realistic makeup and are shoehorned with the less than subtle story of Freddy being a child molester in this film. Yeah, there's no subtext like hinted at with the earlier films. They flat out make it the main plot point. It just comes out of nowhere, and when it does it becomes the main focus. It takes all the fun out of what the film could've been, and just like that, my expectations deflated like a balloon and it was all downhill from there.

There's really no point in mentioning the main characters other than you'll find most of them having better times in better shows and movies. For me, that's how I feel with Rooney Mara playing Nancy. She's gone on record to say this filming experience made her almost quit acting. Shortly after, she appeared in one of my favorite movies The Social Network (seriously...my top 5 of all-time), and it's a film like that where I go "I swear she's a good actress." The only one who actually looks like they're trying is Kyle Gallner as Quentin, but that can't save the movie from what it is.

The big problem with the film is that it takes itself WAY TOO SERIOUSLY. The original film, while serious in some moments, was only serious for the fear and knew when to add comedy to lighten the tension. Here, even when Freddy's not around, the teenagers are so melodramatic that it alienates the audience. It's boring. Plain and simple. The Nightmare on Elm Street reboot SUCKS. You can see why I thought this film was not worthy of reviewing on Halloween. It's such a sour note to end the horror month on, though. Wait....there's a Friday the 13th in November?!??! Screw it, I'm reviewing the Friday the 13th movies next.


Rating: 0.5 out of 5 stars.

Way too serious for its own good, the Nightmare on Elm Street remake is really hard to get into. It can range on boring, the actors don't look like they want to be there, and it feels like an overall disappointment to any fans of the original serious. Avoid this film like the plague.

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A Nightmare on Elm Street and movie images are copyrighted by Warner Bros.

Fowler's Frights 2015: Wes Craven's New Nightmare

Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994)
Starring: Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp, Wes Craven
Directed by: Wes Craven


When Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare didn't give the fans the proper sendoff they wanted for Freddy Krueger, studios were talking about the possibility of bringing him back. But how do you go about doing it? Two words: Wes Craven. The director of the groundbreaking first film returned to the series, severing ties with all the humorous sequels and bringing the series back to its horror roots. However, to keep it different, the film goes behind the scenes and looks at the heavily meta concept of how the world viewed Freddy Krueger and A Nightmare on Elm Street at the time, then brought an eviler and more powerful version of Freddy into the real world. The final result is the best sequel I've seen to this series since Dream Warriors. Calling a lot to the original film, while injecting enough mockumentary style footage and giving Freddy an updated look, New Nightmare shows the world that Freddy Krueger is best on the big screen when envisioned by the Master of Horror, Wes Craven.

Like I was saying, New Nightmare takes the Nightmare films and presents how the modern world views them. That opens the door to a lot of meta humor. For example, we aren't seeing Nancy and Freddy Krueger, but rather Heather Langenkamp and Robert Englund playing themselves after the success of the films. We are able to see how being the leading lady in a groundbreaking horror film isn't always the greatest thing in the world, as Heather lives with a natural fear of stalkers due to her fame. And we see that Robert Englund isn't the guy who haunted our nightmares for all those years, but is just an actor who loves his fans. This and a number of other elements, from touring New Line Cinema to actually watching the first film on television, really help add a realistic tone to the film before the man with the knife fingers show up to rip people apart.

Speaking of which, Freddy's given a fresh new look, complete with a more anatomically correct representation of his disfigured skin and sharper, sleeker knives attached to his fingers. Definite props go to Robert Englund (Why not? He's the man...) for playing the new Freddy, the campy and goofy Freddy that we are used to saying when he makes television appearances, and for playing himself as the man behind the makeup. It's an actor's performance that you aren't expecting for the seventh installment in a horror franchise, but of course Robert Englund is up to the challenge and absolutely flourishes with it. With recent talks that he may return as Freddy one more time, I'm excited to see him back as long as he can bring something new to Freddy, while maintaining what he does best in the role.

Earlier this year, Wes Craven tragically passed away, leaving behind one of the greatest horror movie legacies that any filmmaker has ever seen. This film marks a great turning point in his career, as it showed the world that the man can still scare people, while also knowing when to have enough fun with the horror genre. It's a film like New Nightmare that opened the door for him to make my favorite horror film Scream. If you really wanna look at it that way, I owe a lot to this movie. Wes also has a role New Nightmare as himself, playing it very melodramatic, but with enough warmth and charm that showed through in interviews and through the words of his colleagues. The horror world lost a big game changer this year, but thankfully we have films like New Nightmare to remind us why Wes Craven was one of the best horror directors of all time.


Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Sometimes dragging on a little too long, Wes Craven's New Nightmare was a much better way to bring the original Nightmare series to a close. It's a very unique approach to a horror film, keeping the tone very meta, but also the most serious and scary we've seen the concept of Freddy Krueger since the original Nightmare on Elm Street. Definitely worth checking out if you're looking for the best films in the franchise.

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Wes Craven's New Nightmare and movie images are copyrighted by New Line Cinema

Fowler's Frights 2015: Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare

Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)
Starring: Robert Englund, Lisa Zane, Shon Greenblatt
Directed by: Rachel Talalay


After 5 movies with our beloved Freddy Krueger, New Line Cinema decided that the sixth film would be the final one. At the time of its release, Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare was given a grandiose treatment, even going as far to having an actual funeral for Freddy Krueger. By now, we know better that this was NOT the last film to feature Freddy Krueger. Even more embarrassing is the tagline that they saved the best film for last and if you poll most Nightmare fans, they'll agree that Freddy's Dead is arguably the WORST film in the franchise. I won't go that far, but the film's still pretty bad. With a cheesy 3D gimmick attached to the film and enough jokes to consider this the point where Freddy finally "sold out" to the mainstream, this film feels like an absolute parody and the furthest Freddy has ever been removed from the tone of the original Nightmare on Elm Street film. Let's not wait any longer and dig right into the campy schlock that is Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare.

Robert Englund completely ditches any elements of horror for Freddy Krueger and play him as pure comedy. When we first see him, he's impersonating the Wicked Witch of the West. We also hear an amazing amount of bad puns, mannerisms that belong in a Road Runner cartoon, and possibly the greatest product placement for Nintendo I've ever seen on film. Sure, he's not the same Freddy we saw in the first film, or probably even the third film, but Englund still knows how to make him fun to watch.

The characters in the film are as transparent as you can imagine. We follow the adults a little more here than we have in previous installments, and the teenagers are pretty easy to understand. Relatable characters are fine as a concept, but you need to be able as an actor to bring more to the table in order to break out of your character's archetype. We don't get a lot of that here. Instead, they shove nothing but new characters down our throats and throw in a couple of interesting celebrity cameos from Roseanne, Tom Arnold, Alice Cooper, and Johnny Depp. That more than makes up for uninteresting main characters right?

The film's climax delves into Freddy's psyche and shows us his origin, while also cashing in on a cheap gimmick to put the final act of the film in 3D. I'm not sure what the effect looked like in theaters at the time, since I saw this on a standard Blu-ray disc at home, but I'm sure it wasn't the 3D spectacle that today's moviegoers are used to seeing. The origin is fine, but then we get possibly the weakest death that Freddy ever had, and it's the death that's supposed to keep him dead forever. Naturally, he doesn't stay dead, but I can imagine how pissed the diehard fans (or Fred Heads) were imagining that THAT was the way their iconic villain was finally killed off. But, as poor critical response proves, you can't keep a good character like Freddy dead for long, rendering Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare utterly pointless.


Rating: 1.5 out of 5 stars.

Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare definitely loses some points for not being the final Nightmare film, and also gets docked points for not being scary. Some death scenes are fun, and diving deeper into Freddy's origin is slightly compelling, but they belong in a better film. Only watch this film if you're curious of how they planned to kill off Freddy.

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Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare and movie images are copyrighted by New Line Cinema

Fowler's Frights 2015: A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child

A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989)
Starring: Robert Englund, Lisa Wilcox, Danny Hassel
Directed by: Stephen Hopkins


Now here's a Nightmare film that actually might be a bit hard to follow. A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child continues where The Dream Master left off. We have a new crop of supporting side characters, a couple of innovative death scenes, and Freddy doing what he does best. So what's hard to follow? The story. One of our characters is pregnant and Freddy uses the baby's dreams to collect souls and puts the souls he collects into the baby so the baby can be more like Freddy. Then our characters are seeing living versions of Freddy's mother and a grown up version of the baby, and a baby version of Freddy. WHAT THE CRAP IS GOING ON!?!?!? That's this movie in a nutshell. You have such a difficult time reminding yourself about the plot that it's hard to keep up. Of course anytime you get to a part 5 in a horror franchise, you're there for the body count and what you know best anyway, so maybe it's of no concern to you. For me, I like a good plot with my horror sequels, and this one's a bit too ambitious for me.

Lisa Wilcox and Danny Hassel return as Alice and Dan. They're just about as good as they were in the last one, so not much to write about. My favorite new character was Mark, played by Joe Seely. He's a huge fan of comic books and superheroes. Need I say more? He's also featured into one of the film's only highlights when he is pulled into a comic-like dream world. He becomes a superhero he's been drawing to combat Freddy and gets the upper hand, until Freddy becomes an over the top super villain (Super Freddy). Just having a character like this shows the potential of creativity these movies have for the unique dream sequences.

Freddy Krueger, played by Robert Englund, does what he does best. There's no point in highlighting how great he is in every film. He was born to play the role. Even the dumbest Krueger movies featuring Robert Englund are entertaining because of his performance. I will say something looked off about the makeup for Freddy in this film. Not in every scene, but the first half of the film had his face looking like it was made of pure rubber. It's a tad off putting, but once you get passed that, you can enjoy Freddy for what he is.

Based on that plot description I mentioned in the intro, are you surprised the film doesn't have the strongest following? Unless you're pregnant yourself when watching it, A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child shouldn't be that scary to watch. The humor is hit and miss in many places, and even a lot of the blood and gore was cut down by the censors. The film has way too much going on for its own good, particularly in the climax. It comes, it leaves, and you're left sitting there going "What just happened?" The answer is simple, you've just witnessed one of the weaker films in the Nightmare series.


Rating: 2 out of 5 stars.

A little too convoluted for my taste, A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child has a lot going on for it, but not in the best way. One or two dream sequences may be good to watch, but it's one of the Nightmare films you can easily avoid.

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A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child and movie images are copyrighted by New Line Cinema

Fowler's Frights 2015: A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)
Starring: Robert Englund, Lisa Wilcox, Danny Hassel
Directed by: Renny Harlin


I initially said that I would review 3 of my favorite horror series this month, but after hitting a creative wall, I'm bringing it back down to 2. 3 just was adding a lot of spare time that I don't have and with the 2 franchises I've been doing, there's a greater amount of continuity in my choices. With that in mind, let's talk about the success of Nightmare 3. Bringing in tons of revenue and solidifying Freddy Krueger into a pop culture icon, New Line Cinema went into full force on the Krueger brand and production began for A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master. Tying to the events in Dream Warriors, the fourth film in the series continued with some of the core cast members from the previous film, while introducing a fresh batch of characters, all tied together with the dream-like atmosphere that Freddy flourishes in. It's in this film that Freddy crosses over to the anti-hero role, becoming a recognizable mascot of the franchise as opposed to a truly horrifying villain.

Director Renny Harlin wanted Robert Englund to play Freddy Krueger as if he was the James Bond of the horror genre, and you can really see that in Englund's performance. He's much more laid back and humorous in his delivery, while still being menacing. He's the thing we're here for at this point, and the rest of the characters become a body count for him. Freddy shows up, kills his victims, says a punchline, and his fans erupt in applause. It's a great formula to use when it comes to making these movies.

The characters that Freddy stalks are generic, but still likable. Each has their own unique character feature that makes them stand out, like one having asthma, one linking martial arts, one hating bugs, and so on. We see Kristen return, but she's played by Tuesday Knight this time. She's nowhere near as good as Patricia Arquette was, and she's thankfully not the main focus. The main heroine status has been passed on to Alice, played by Lisa Wilcox. She's pleasant enough of a character, but could stand for some acting lessons on how to properly emote. Then again, she's not why we're there. We care about Freddy Krueger and the dream world.

The dream stuff is pretty unique in this movie. They are very elaborate (except for Rick's, but that was due to budget constraints) and can range anywhere from comedic to complete gross out. There's a scene involving turning a character into a cockroach. If you hate bugs, you'll absolutely cringe. A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master also approaches the concept of Alice inheriting the major traits of her friends after they've been killed in their dreams. She takes them with her as she battles Freddy in the finale. It's a concept like this that makes you question the title. Who is The Dream Master? Is it Freddy Krueger? Or is it Alice? Watch for yourself and decide.


Rating: 3 out of 5 stars.

If you like the elaborate dream sequences and Freddy Krueger's comedy, then this one is a fun watch. A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master is the start of Freddy's descent to pure comedy, but the highlights (the cockroach scene specifically) outweigh the gripes.

Comment below to share your thoughts on the movie or to discuss a topic that I left out of my review

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master and movie images are copyrighted by New Line Cinema