I'm not going to "review" the NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET uber-doc NEVER SLEEP AGAIN: THE ELM STREET LEGACY so much as just shovel heaps and heaps of gushy praise upon it. I don't think there's any way a better, more in depth investigation of the franchise is ever going to exist. In other words, if you are an ELM STREET fan and you are sitting on the fence about whether to purchase this DVD or not, allow me to push you off of that fence via wrecking ball. I had penciled myself in for the usual and what I got was so much more.
NEVER SLEEP AGAIN amazingly gathers nearly everybody ever involved in the series (most importantly JENNIFER RUBIN) and all the no-shows have been added to my shit-list. (Careful JOHNNY DEPP, counting ALICE IN WONDERLAND, that's two strikes against you this year. You are inching ever closer to the dartboard zone!) This fat blunt is four hours long but it never wears out its welcome. A second disc of equal length is included with outtakes and a smorgasbord of extras and mini-docs. There's sure to be some stuff you've heard before but there's plenty of eye opening new info too (Did you know that Kristen's mom in ELM STREET 3 is the real life mother of that hand jiving punkette from FRIDAY 5? I live for such info!) I have to hand it to directors DANIEL FARRANDS and ANDREW KASCH for not being afraid to steer their ship into atypical areas. Finally the nonstop gayness that is ELM STREET 2 has been officially recognized by its creators. I could have spent four hours hearing stories about that sequel alone.
Outside of the dream universe, NEVER SLEEP AGAIN stands as an interesting portrait/eulogy to NEW LINE CINEMA itself. You might even give the later installments of the franchise a bit more slack when you learn about their intense scattershot histories. It's all around handsomely put together with stop-motion animated inserts and title screens and you even get a peek at some special effects and gore left on the cutting room floor. If you're a horrible, superficial person like me you'll also get the chance to evaluate how well or poorly all the actors have aged. There are some real jaw droppers in both the yowza and yikes categories. The end credits, which spotlight the performers delivering their character's most famous lines is pure nostalgic gold.
Cliché as it may sound, NEVER SLEEP AGAIN is a dream come true for NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET fans, so much so that even talking about it makes me wish I had the time to watch it again. Good golly, it turns out 2010 is not such a bad year for Freddy fanatics after all!
I watched this over a couple of nights last week. Â Not realizing that it was four hours long I started it kind of late in the evening (for a work night), telling myself that I'd just get a taste and go to bed after they were done talking about Dream Warriors…That hour and 45 minutes flew by, I was shocked to look at the clock and realize it had been that long.
I really enjoyed seeing almost all of the cast members as they look today (Lisa Wilcox: MILF. Â Tuesday Knight and Lezlie Deane: WTF.) Â It was especially cool on (I think) the second disc where you see Mark Patton and Kim Myers tearfully reunited for the first time in many years. Â It was…Dare I say touching?! Â Am I that lame? Nightmare on Elm Street 2 is one of my favorite guilty pleasure movies…Perfect for throwing in after coming home tipsy late on a Saturday night.
The only problem — not that it's a problem — is that you can only find Never Sleep Again for sale online. Â I'm pretty sure I'd bought His Name Was Jason at Best Buy, so I kept stopping in there and asking about this one…They kept telling me to check back again later. Â Then I read somewhere that it didn't ship to stores at all…I don't really know why. Â Anyway, something for all interested parties to consider…
I got my discs in the mail not that long ago (autographed by several of the Elm Street cast members who did a signing in LA) but haven't watched it yet. But I feel like I have some bragging rights here, as I have a credit as one of the (many) transcribers! I am so excited to even have done that minor role for this doc and Dan and Andrew (friends of mine) truly worked hard to make this thing shine. I'm so pleased with it's reception!
I'm still making my way through this frigging amazing disc. After the disappointment of His Name Was Jason I was a little leery of this but man, did they knock it out of the park. It's so good! I'm coming away with admiration for some of the NOES installments that I used to be soft on and it's so cool to see so many old faces expressing their love for their time on Elm St. Is is just me, though, or did Bob Shaye look like he was on the verge of tears a few times during his interviews? If so, I can't blame him – it's bittersweet to relive the glory days of New Line and know that it's all just a part of history now. Anyhow, huge kudos to everyone who had a hand in this (Amanda – I'm jealous of your transcribing duties!). I just hope another horror doc from this team will happen one day – although Never Sleep Again may prove impossible to top!