New Nightmare (1994) Starring Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp, Miko Hughes, David Newsom & John Saxon Written & Directed by Wes Craven

Many Nightmare fans are both outraged and excited about the series reboot. Think of it this way -- other film and TV series change actors over time (the James Bond films, the Dr. Who show, Bewitched) -- and this is just another example. It's been written that Robert Englund is honored to have Haley continue as Freddy in the new Nightmare.

Let's take a look back at "Wes Craven's New Nightmare". This came out 16 years ago in 1994, and it followed 1991's (what we thought was the last Nightmare) "Freddy's Dead: the Final Nightmare". Are you totally confused now?

"New Nightmare", part 7 in the Nightmare series, saw Wes Craven return to write and direct. The ingenious movie-within-a-movie story starts with Craven and his crew filming some special effects with Freddy's infamous mechanically-enhanced hand. As the crew finishes their work and begins discussing animatronics, the Freddy hand appears to come to life and starts attacking people.

The opening sequence, however, is just Heather Langenkamp (she played Nancy Thompson in the 1984 original) having a nightmare. Appearing in this movie as herself, Heather is living a supposedly serene family life with her husband and her young son Dylan. That's about to change. It was bad enough that she had this nightmare. When she wakes up, she finds that the family is experiencing an earthquake in their house. Her husband has blood on his hand, though that was caused by something falling in the house.

Trivia: While filming this movie, the real 1994 Northridge (California) earthquake happened and some real damage footage was incorporated into the movie.

When Heather appears on a talk show later, she is surprised by a special guest. Yes, Freddy Krueger! Robert Englund, without the Freddy makeup, talks to Heather after the show. She also sees a producer from New Line who tells her that there's a car waiting to take her to see Robert Shaye.

Shaye, appearing as himself, pitches Wes Craven's new idea to Heather. "We want to make the definitive Freddy movie"! He also tells Heather "The fans brought Freddy back. Kids love horror".

As the movie progresses, Dylan becomes creepier. He tells his mother in an unworldly voice "You'll never sleep again". Has Freddy's spirit entered Dylan's body? Are we in for another possessed child horror movie?

Heather's husband Chase is killed in a car accident and when she sees his body in the morgue, it has some unusual cuts. She suspects it was done by the famous clawed glove. At Chase's funeral, she "sees" Freddy trying to take Dylan away from her.

John Saxon, appearing as himself, shows up during the funeral scene and tells Heather that Dylan is okay and safe. Later he tries to comfort Heather that everything will be all right. As they talk, Dylan is playing in the park and then acts like he's possessed -- recalling Damien from "The Omen" or the kid on the roof in the "Amityville Horror" remake.

Robert Englund also tries to calm Heather down. He tells her something that Wes said to him at the funeral. Heather begins to freak out when what Robert tells her is exactly what Dylan was trying to do at the park.

Heather, understandably, is having trouble sleeping. In the meantime, Dylan's behavior becomes stranger. It now looks like we're watching an evil kiddie movie.

Dylan begins singing the "1, 2, Freddy's coming for you" song and Heather awakes to see Dylan walking in the dark with some knives attached to his fingers. This is another nightmare that Heather is having though. She then really wakes up and gets an eerie call from Freddy. By this point, Dylan needs to have medical treatment. The nurse assures Heather that Dylan will be fine if he gets some sleep.

Heather goes to see Wes. When Wes tells Heather what the script is about, she finds out that Freddy is an ancient evil entity that is trying to get out. Wes tells her now that the Nightmare films have ended, Freddy is trying to cross over into the real world.

After a close encounter with Freddy at home, Heather returns to see Dylan at the hospital. The suspicious nurse sees her cuts and treats them. The nurse scolds Heather for letting Dylan watch the Nightmare movies.

Heather falls asleep in the chair in Dylan's room. Nightmare time! Heather hallucinates that Dylan is sitting in the bed and then speaks in Freddy's voice and vomits on her. The nurse comes in, only to appear as Freddy to Heather, and is ready to cut the evil out of Dylan.

Julie, Dylan's babysitter, is visiting Dylan in the hospital when some other nurses give Dylan a shot to help him sleep. Bad idea! This is exactly what Freddy wants Dylan to do. In a scene that recalls the first Nightmare movie, Julie is Freddy's next victim, and Dylan is then kidnapped by Freddy.

"New Nightmare" is one of the better films in the Nightmare franchise. It's an interesting twist to show the grey limbo that Heather is in. Is she still Nancy? Have the nightmares really not ended for Heather/Nancy? Heather/Nancy's strength will help her finally defeat Freddy and get Dylan back. In the end, she picks up the "New Nightmare" script and starts reading to Dylan. "It's just a story".

Alice Cooper (who appeared as Freddy's stepfather in "Freddy's Dead") once sang "Welcome to my nightmare". Whether you watch "Wes Craven's New Nightmare" or the new 2010 "Nightmare", you are sure to have a lot of scares and bad dreams.

The new Nightmare series from Platinum Dunes will let fans learn more about Freddy's origin and be a much darker story. That's just great! We were finally able to get a restful night's sleep. Now we're going to have to stay awake for the rest of the spring, or else Freddy will come for us!