The Final Nightmare Introduced Freddy Krueger’s Most Horrifying Power

Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare is far from the best Nightmare On Elm Street movie, but it did introduce one of Freddy Krueger’s most horrifying powers. Following his debut in Wes Craven’s original movie, Freddy went on to become a pop culture phenomenon during the ’80s. He gradually morphed from a shadowy dream stalker to a comical prankster who loved to deliver bad puns while offing victims. By the time Nightmare On Elm Street 5 – which was heavily cut – arrived in 1989, it was clear from its tepid reception and box office the character had worn out his welcome. Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare thus arrived in 1991, with the intent of closing out the series.

Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare uncovered the origin of Krueger’s powers – which were bestowed by dream demons – and explored his backstory. The sequel also revealed Freddy had a daughter named Katherine (Liza Zane), who is ultimately the one to destroy him. Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare is one of the weaker films in the series, and is an ill-fitting blend of Twin Peaks-style quirky humor and dull slasher. Its finale was also staged in 3D, though the effects added little to the story overall.

Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare still has moments, though, with Carlos’ demise being a creative setpiece that is also Robert Englund’s favorite death from the movies. The plot sees Freddy using his daughter to spread beyond Springwood, and he becomes so powerful during Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare he develops more of his most uniquely horrifying powers. After killing teenagers Carlos, Spencer and John, their friends Tracy and Katherine discover that Freddy was somehow able to erase all memory of the deceased trio from existence in the aftermath.

So not only did they die miserable deaths, Krueger made it so that nobody would remember or mourn them either. It’s one of the dream slasher’s most existentially disturbing abilities, though Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare doesn’t quite develop this idea to its fullest potential. It does add an extra dimension when Tracy reveals that other kids in the shelter are dreaming of Carlos and the others – even though they can’t recall who they were.

Had Wes Craven – who had several rejected Nightmare pitches – helmed this installment, he likely would have dove deeper in the implications of it, but as it stands, it’s still one of Freddy’s most unnerving powers. Being killed by him is one thing, but having Freddy delete people from even their loved ones’ memories is something else entirely. Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare has many flaws, but it still boasts one of Freddy Krueger’s most horrifying powers.

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Padraig Cotter
(3499 Articles Published)

It’s pronounced Paw-rick, not Pad-raig. Now that’s out of the way, a brief introduction. Padraig has been writing about film online since 2012, when a friend asked if he’d like to contribute the occasional review or feature to their site.

A part-time hobby soon blossomed into a career when he discovered he really loved writing about movies, TV and video games – he even (arguably) had a little bit of talent for it. He has written words for Den of Geek, Collider, The Irish Times and Screen Rant over the years, and can discuss anything from the MCU – where Hawkeye is clearly the best character – to the most obscure cult b-movie gem, and his hot takes often require heat resistant gloves to handle.

He’s super modern too, so his favorite movies include Jaws, Die Hard, The Thing, Ghostbusters and Batman. He can be found as i_Padds on Twitter making bad puns.

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