A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: Dream Master

Much like the plot of A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 4: The Dream Master, the extra features included on this disc are rather slight. Like many of the features included in the boxset, they’re insightful and fascinating, but all too brief.

Besides the original theatrical trailer, Krueger, Freddy Kreuger provides a look at the various production stages of the film and has interviews with Al Shapiro, a distributor with New Line, who discusses the influence of producer Bob Shaye on the series; writers Ken and Jim Wheat and producer Rachel Talaley chat about the complicated screenwriting process; director Renny Harlin, who remembers how he landed the gig, how production coincided with a writers strike and his initial impression of Bob Shaye and the Nightmare films. He discusses how he viewed Freddy Krueger as a figure similar to James Bond or Rambo and how this influenced the style and tone of Dream Master.

Hopeless Chest is a four-minute look at some of the special effects of the film, specifically those used in the ‘pizza from Hell/soul food’ diner scene and the climax when various souls burst out of Freddy’s body. John Carl Buechler explains how the effects were put together. Let’s Makeup features make-up artist Howard Berger discussing his Freddy make-up and the process of applying it to actor Robert Englund, while The Finnish Line is a two minute interview with Harlin who talks about test screenings and the positive reaction of audiences to the film – which became the most successful entry prior to Freddy vs. Jason and the 2010 remake. He also reminisces about the going to the premiere with Bob Shaye and drinking lots of vodka in the back of a limo. Showbiz, eh?