Wes Craven's New Nightmare

Hit Factory

An impromptu decision to do something "Halloween-y" led us to 1994 meta-slasher Wes Craven's New Nightmare, the seventh installment in the long-running A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, which sees Craven returning to the director's chair for the first time since the original installment and OG Nightmare final girl Heather Langenkamp returning, playing a semi-fictionalized version of herself. Several layers more complex than the premise initially suggests, New Nightmare brings the franchise back to its roots, examining childhood trauma and ideation and offering thoughtful considerations about Craven's legacy as a storyteller and how his films have affected those who participate in bringing his nightmarish visions to life - a full two years before Craven's smash hit Scream would go on to mine similar thematic territory with its meta explorations of genre.

We discuss the film's self-reflexive look at the Nightmare franchise, and how Craven attempts to ellicit new fears from purposefully identifiable rehashes of his work. Then, we discuss the film's surprisingly intricate exploration of Langenkamp as performer and icon - how the film reckons with audience expectations and seeks atonement for turning its star into curio for our own catharsis. Finally, we discuss reference, reflexivity, and homage and consider why Craven's self-quoting offers more than the empty nostaligia-laden iconography of so many current films.

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Our theme song is "Mirror" by Chris Fish.