Movie thoughts and fiction updates.
#23 in my ranking of Wes Craven's filmography. Wes Craven was at the point in his career when he should have been incapable of making movies this bad. Working regularly in and out of the studio system since the early 70s, almost twenty years, he has the technical skill and access to a craftsman talent… Continue reading Shocker
#5 in my ranking of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. Really, this is the fifth entry in a franchise centered around a dead guy who invades people's dream to kill them. Do we need to spend more than half of it with our main character trying to convince people around her to believe in… Continue reading A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child
#4 in my ranking of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. Wes Craven was done again with the series, and New Line producer Bob Shaye kept things going by hiring the young, Finnish filmmaker Renny Harlin to find a way to continue the series. It's an odd situation. The script by Ken and Jim Wheats,… Continue reading A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
#2 in my ranking of Wes Craven's filmography. Wes Craven went full Dario Argento's Suspiria, fully embracing the logic of dreams in this adaptation of a non-fiction work by Wade Davis, taking the greatest strengths of his previous work and stretching it out to feature length. That feeling is the movie's greatest strength, really giving… Continue reading The Serpent and the Rainbow
#3 in my ranking of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. Wes Craven was convinced to come back to the franchise he accidentally birthed after the second film, which he was completely uninvolved in, made enough money to entice New Line into making a third. He returned to develop the story and write some early… Continue reading A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: The Dream Warriors
David Vining, Author 