Freddy Goes Shark Jumping

After the critical and box office disappointment of Part 5, Freddy's Revenge The Final Nightmare was supposed to be the ending of the popular franchise on a crowd pleasing high note. Alas, all New Line could manage was a gigantic turd.

The intention was to give Freddy a big, spectacular send off. But some poor decisions, starting with the hiring of New Line exec Rachel Talahay to direct the film, created what is undoubtedly the worst entry in the franchie.

Virtually everything is bad. The direction looks like that of a blind student...and that goes for the lumbering editing too. The casting is terrible with a forgettable lead and his wooden teenage pals. Alien/Bond legend Yaphet Kotto is wasted in a small low key role while female lead, Lisa Zane is schizophrenic throughout. One minute she's pretty good, the next she's as wooden as wood. One minute she's attractive, the next she's manish. Tom Arnold, Rosanne Barr and Johnny Depp make forgettable cameo's leving the always excellent Robert England to do the heavy lifting.

After a promising start, the plot descends into farce. We're supposed to believe that Springwood has turned into an infamous town of childless zombie adults. The established rules of dreaming and Freddy's powers are utterly ignored meaning that most of the film doesn't make sense. Freddy can now just willfully appear in the real world, even if no one is dreaming. The ending, in which Freddy is finally killed for good (yeah, right) is weak, not measuring up to his far more imaginative demises in every other film of the franchise. Oh, and it's way too obvious that the last 10 minutes were meant to be viewed in 3D. There's way too many scenes of characters waving spears and baseball bats in front of the lens in an effort to impress a long vanished audience.

Worst of all, the tone is completely misjudged. Where previous directors were able to balance the film's horror elements with black humour, Talahay just goes for a silly, roadrunner vibe that sucks all suspense from the movie.

There is some good that lies deep within this mess.There is an attempt to add some history and mythology to the Freddy lore. So he we see his human life before being burned alive, beginning as an abused child (by step-father Alice Cooper!), as a troubled teen and as an abusive husband. He's also given an daughter. And finally, his dream powers are explained by some wishy washy, dream demon, possession, mumbo jumbo. It might be bullcrap, but at least they tried.

Thankfully, Wes Craven was on hand to wrap up the Freddy legacy in a more fitting manner.