Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Graphic
- nightmarish
- campy
- visceral
- late night horror marathon
- 1980s slasher night
What critics said
Critics generally viewed this fifth installment as an exhausted and convoluted franchise entry, while acknowledging its energetic direction and elaborate special effects.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Freddy Krueger attacks Alice through the dreams of her unborn child and seeks physical rebirth.
Stopping Freddy requires discovering and invoking the spirit of his dead mother.
The film emphasizes fanciful makeup, matte work, stop-motion animation, optical effects, odd angles, and rapid cutting.
Freddy is presented as both a sadistic dream murderer and a wisecracking recurring figure.
Films like A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child, and why
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
supernatural slasher horror centered on a recurring killer who attacks vulnerable young people
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
stylized dream logic, elaborate practical effects, and a charismatic supernatural slasher villain
Dreamscape
nightmare imagery, teen protagonists, and surreal body-centered horror
The Omen
pregnancy-centered supernatural horror involving an endangered unborn child and a hostile otherworldly force
Movie Details
- Director
- Stephen Hopkins
- Release Date
- 1989-08-11
- Runtime
- 89 min
- Rating
- 5.4 / 10 (1487)
Cast
- Lisa Wilcox
- Robert Englund
- Erika Anderson
- Valorie Armstrong
- Michael Ashton
- Kelly Jo Minter
- Danny Hassel
- Nicholas Mele
- Joe Seely
- Burr DeBenning
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child about?
- Alice must defend her unborn child from Freddy Krueger when the killer invades the fetus’s dreams to force his return to the waking world.
- What is A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child as graphic.
- What did critics think of A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child?
- Critics generally viewed this fifth installment as an exhausted and convoluted franchise entry, while acknowledging its energetic direction and elaborate special effects.
- Which films are like A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child?
- Films with a similar feel include A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, Dreamscape, and The Omen.
- How long is A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child?
- A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child runs 89 minutes.
- Where can I watch A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child?
- In United States, A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home.
In Ember's collections
Movies like A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child
- A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master1988
- Black Phone 22025
- Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday1993
- Freddy vs. Jason2003
- Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare1991
- Child's Play 21990
- Poltergeist II: The Other Side1986
- Friday the 13th1980
- Wes Craven's New Nightmare1994
- A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge1985
