In A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, teenager Kristen Parker is suffering from terrifying nightmares. Every night she dreams about a disfigured man who threatens her life, so spends her days drinking cola and eating spoonfuls of instant coffee to stay awake.
Kristen’s lack of sleep, as well as her recurring nightmares, has left her dazed, confused, and distraught. As a result, she ends up being committed to the Westin Hills Psychiatric Hospital, alongside a group of other teens who are experiencing similar problems.
While at the hospital, Kristen meets intern therapist, Nancy Thompson. Nancy has experience of bad dreams herself, and comes to realise Kristen and her fellow teens are the latest unwitting victims of Freddy Krueger.
Directed by Chuck Russell, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors stars Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp, Patricia Arquette, Laurence ‘Larry’ Fishburne, Rodney Eastman, Ken Sagoes, and John Saxon. The movie is the third entry in the Elm Street series and is also the fan-favourite instalment in the collection.
Dream Warriors is the fan-favourite because a.) it plays more like a direct sequel to 1984’s A Nightmare on Elm Street than 1985’s A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy’s Revenge does, and b.) it’s a damn good horror in its own right. You could watch this film without watching any of the other Elm Street movies and feel entirely satisfied.
Perhaps most important of all, if you want to work your way through the Elm Street movies hitting only the highlights, then Dream Warriors is one to watch. The film is loaded with dark material, is filled with great set pieces, and features a likeable central cast – the best cast in all the Elm Street films.
The eponymous Dream Warriors are a bunch of teens (Kristen, Taryn, Joey, etc) who appear throughout the movie. These Dream Warriors are residents at Westin Hills Psychiatric Hospital, and are initially victims of Freddy Krueger, before they eventually fight back.
This provides the movie with not only a superb antagonist in Krueger, but for the first time a credible group of protagonists in the Warriors themselves. The whole point of this movie is to demonstrate how the teens finally refuse to become victims to the boogeyman, and this gives the film an edge.
In fact, these characters work so well, the survivors of this film are carried over for the next movie in the series. They may not last long in Part 4, but they make the jump regardless.
Outside of the new cast members/characters, it’s great to have Heather Langenkamp back as Nancy; Robert Englund is once again on fine form as Freddy Krueger; and there is a brief but welcome appearance from John Saxon, reprising the role of Nancy’s dad, Donald. The movie also includes some memorable kills, and great lines, including the iconic Freddy quip, “welcome to prime time, bitch.”
Oh, and if that wasn’t enough, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 includes some additional back story for Krueger. The film establishes Freddy as the ‘bastard son of 100 maniacs’, providing some unsettling information about his existence.
Usually I’m firmly of the opinion it is best to know as little about the horror villain as possible, but on this occasion this little detail works for the film rather well. This third instalment was initially conceived as an end point, so it makes sense to reveal this info here, even if the Elm Street series did ultimately continue beyond Part 3.
As noted above, if you want to watch the best Elm Street movies then A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors has to be on your watchlist. It isn’t as strong as the original film, but it is easily one of the more appealing chapters in the franchise.
The core cast work well, Freddy is still an effective boogeyman (even if he is starting to camp things up a touch), and bringing Nancy back is the right direction for this series at this time. The film also benefits from having A Nightmare on Elm Street writer/director, Wes Craven back on board as co-writer.
Craven’s involvement swings the film back in the fan-pleasing direction and links the story up with the original in an effective way. All-in-all Dream Warriors is a solid instalment and a go-to picture for any Elm Street fan.
Should you wish to watch A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors the film is available on digital download. The movie is also available on DVD and Blu-ray as part of the Elm Street movie collection.
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