This year marks the 3rd annual Women in Horror Recognition Month. Every February, horror fans around the world celebrate the feminine side of fear. All month long I will be highlighting various actresses, writers, icons, films, etc. that owe a debt to a woman in horror.
Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991) – Dir. Rachel Talalay
This was supposed to be the last Nightmare on Elm Street film, and it most certainly is the one that showcases Freddy’s decline from scary, creepy monster to wise-cracking, clownish pop icon. Yet the movie still holds up, thanks to director Rachel Talalay’s acceptance that she would be the only female to tackle the Freddy Krueger franchise, and would do so with tongue firmly planted in cheek. This movie knows it’s cheesy, embraces its camp, and revels in the fact that by the early ‘90’s a film starring the gloved one was assured to be at least a semi-hit.
The greatest thing about this film is that it gives us a lot of Krueger’s back story, including how he is the “bastard son of 100 maniacs” (the most contrived, convoluted origin for any horror icon), was bullied at school because of it (how did those elementary school kids know?), and later murdered his wife in front of their daughter. That same daughter – who had not been mentioned at all through the series – is the way Kruger expects to carry on his reign of nightmarish carnage, having killed off all the children of Elm Street. In the end, his daughter discovers the demonic source of Krueger’s powers and faces him in an epic battle.
This film is nothing spectacular, but it deserves a closer look based on the fact that Talalay remains the only woman to direct a film in a major horror franchise. She also directed Ghost in the Machine and Tank Girl, and went on to direct numerous television shows.
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