Alice (Lisa Wilcox) goes through the blood-stained looking glass in one of the best Freddy Krueger episodes, given a wonderfully different European art-horror feel by future blockbuster director Renny Harlin.
Alice takes on the talents of her deceased friends to become the Dream Master, the ancient guardian of positive scenarios, poised to counterattack Freddy’s negative nightmares in this beautifully photographed redefinition of the pop-culture formula.
As Freddy (Robert Englund) knocks off more offspring of the Elm Street parents who roasted him in part one of this apparently never-ending saga, connoisseurs of ghastly effects are in for many treats.
Consider one scene in which Freddy rips off the arms of young bodybuilder Debbie (Brooke Theiss), traps her in what looks like slime left over from The Blob and then turns the unfortunate victim into a cockroach trapped in a roach motel.
As usual, Freddy mixes many wisecracks with his hideous deeds such as when he drags Joey (Rodney Eastman) to his death in his waterbed and asks “how’s this for a wet dream?”
Harlin puts a fresh spin on the recurring nightmare cliché and there’s a marvellous scene where Alice is flung into the on-screen action from a cinema balcony.
Freddy Krueger
Robert Englund
Alice
Lisa Wilcox
Joey
Rodney Eastman
Dan
Danny Hassel
Rick
Andras Jones
Kristen Parker
Tuesday Knight
Sheila
Toy Newkirk
Kincaid
Ken Sagoes
Debbie
Brooke Theiss
Waterbed Bunny
Hope Marie Carlton
Johnson
Nicholas Mele
Elaine
Brooke Bundy
Jock
Duane Davis
Director
Renny Harlin