This isn't the set up to a joke, I'm genuinely not sure I understand it. This question actually applies to people before the age where we looked back at movies and yea'd or nay'd them. Apparently, this film was derided even when it originally came out...and I'm honestly not really sure why.
I know people will refer to this as "The Gay One" due to the homosexual overtones that seem to follow the main character, Jesse (Mark Patton)...and that's not unwarranted, given that the screen writer of this one, David Chaskin, admitted in 2010 that he did this because he wanted to make the film that much scarier to teenage boys.
...stay classy, Chaskin.
Worse than that, Mark Patton himself came out within a few years of this film's release, having been closeted before and felt very betrayed when he realized what had happened.
Really, just...absolutely classy.
That bit of egregious homophobia aside, this is actually a very solidly put together film that I'm not going to judge on the merits of its writer being a completely tone-deaf asshole. Indeed, a lot more goes into a film than just the writing and - subtext aside - Freddy's Revenge makes for a really, really scary time.
All the necessary elements are here - namely the teenagers (and others) to be picked off, and Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) to do the picking off. What's missing? Oh, right, the snarky jokes and puns that Freddy is so known for...starting in the next movie, Dream Warriors. I've said it before, and I'll say it again - people are too caught up on how Freddy is after this movie. In the original and this one, Freddy is a very dark and sinister being, even more so in this one than in the original.
That's right, I went there.
Really, what is more frightening? Stalking a bunch of teenagers in their dreams and killing them off one by one or hijacking the body of an unwilling individual, whether they're asleep or awake, and having them do it for you? That to me is significantly more frightening that Freddy cracking one-liners, but then I'm just one of those crazy people I guess.
But, nevertheless, that is the situation that our protagonist Jesse finds himself in as he moves into the house once lived in by Nancy Thompson. Five years after the first movie (with an unclear ending to boot, and no revelations about the fate of Nancy or her friends), Jesse and his family have moved to Springwood and he begins to have dreams where Freddy commands him to kill...
Thus, it is a battle for Jesse's very soul as Freddy pressures him and pressures him until he is finally able to fully take over...or is he? Jesse's love interest Lisa (Kim Myers) must find a way to free Jesse from Freddy's corruptive influence before its too late...
That point alone makes this film rather unique, flipping the trope of the damsel in distress from the slasher film villain, it now being a male in that place. Uncommon, but not unheard of even today. Mark Patton's Jesse, however, was the first male Scream Queen. That alone makes this film noteworthy.
However, that doesn't mean that the film is good by that alone. Yes, the homophobic overtones are there (many who have worked on the film besides Mark Patton and David Chaskin did confirm it was deliberate). Yes, the scenes with the S&M bar don't really serve any purpose besides getting two characters to form a friendship. But overall, this film is no worse than any other entry into the Nightmare franchise and is, in fact, better than almost all of them. Mark Patton's acting as Jesse is excellent as he's driven into the depths of insanity, and Robert Englund as Freddy is as menacing as ever when he's allowed to be (the makeup is also, in my opinion, better than in the original and some of the later films).
It's doesn't have Freddy giving off his quips with each kill, and it's legitimately horrifying. You want to see Freddy defeated in this and Jesse saved, perhaps even more here than Nancy's struggle in the original. To me, it's really what a sequel should be, if they were going to do any at all. Nightmare, sad to say, has not had it great in the sequels department and maybe we'll get to that another time. For now, however, give this film a try. If you've already done so, give it a second look. It's definitely worth it!
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge is now available from New Line Cinema.
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