The definitive story of the entire Elm Street series. A must have for any fan. – Will
Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy is a documentary that covers every aspect you could imagine about the entire Nightmare series.
Directed by – Daniel Farrands, Andrew Kasch
Written by – Thommy Hutson
Starring – Robert Englund, Wes Craven, Heather Langenkamp, Alice Cooper, Bob Shaye, David Chaskin, Clu Gulager, Renny Harlin, Kane Hodder, Mark Patton
I’m stopping right there with the people featured in this film because the list is endless. This is easily the most informative documentary on a film series I’ve ever seen packing as much information as the Blade Runner documentary, Dangerous Days. Here we’re getting info on 7 Nightmare films, Freddy vs. Jason and the short lived television series, Dangerous Days only had to worry about one film. I can’t believe the amount of pictures, backstage footage, interviews and stories Never Sleep Again gives you. I’m pretty sure that almost everybody involved in every Nightmare film is interviewed and the entire package runs almost 8 hours. I still haven’t gotten through the bonus interviews.
Robert Englund and Chuck Russell (Director of Nightmare 3)
It’s very hard to review a documentary. There’s no plotline to cover, no acting that can be good or bad, there’s no effects or CGI on display. It’s really all about the subject matter and whether you’re interested in it or not and Nightmare on Elm Street is a subject I want to know everything about. If information is the scale used to judge a documentary then this one scores 11 out of 10 for me. It wasn’t long ago that I watched the entire series, immersing myself in the world of Elm Street. I also made sure to watch the previous documentary that had been made for the box set I had. Never Sleep Again may relate some of those same stories again but there is plenty more to be learned here.
There’s a big part about the Nightmare television series which was very interesting because it’s not something you ever really hear about. I saw all kinds of pictures I hadn’t seen before, video taken during filming of some of the movies (including a slightly pissed off Englund voicing his displeasure during a certain scene) and lots of stories involving tension on the set, the road to getting the movies made and some of the less than enjoyable business aspects. I honestly couldn’t have asked for more from the actual documentary but I still haven’t gotten to the other 4 hours of bonus features. I was checking a few of them out today and there was even more that I didn’t know or hadn’t heard before so I’m excited to get to watch those as well.
Mark Patton and Heather Langenkamp.
Each film in the series is given a very in depth section of the documentary with interviews from almost everyone involved from the bigger roles to the smallest ones. Heather Langenkamp narrates the doc and each section is introduced by a little stop motion sequence involving Freddy which I thought was very cool. Not only is the doc informative but it’s also pretty funny. (Look for a Jason Mewes cameo. Can you call it a cameo in a documentary?) Probably the most fun part involves Nightmare part 2. I never noticed how homosexual in nature the film was as a kid but rewatching it now I could see it. Here they finally admit that that was the point. David Chaskin, the writer of the film, says that it was supposed to have a gay subtext but that during filming the scenes took the subtext and seemed to bring it right to the front. I think I’d have to agree on that point now!
Even Kane Hodder makes an appearance. A scary appearance!
This is an easy buy for anyone with an interest in the series. It is jammed with everything you could possibly want to know and then some. In fact, any fan of Nightmare on Elm Street that doesn’t pick this up should be tarred and feathered. I would suggest picking it up on the official site and try to get your hands on the autographed poster that comes with it. I think they were limited to 1,000 and it will run you a bit extra but the cost is worth it. I don’t think I could’ve imagined a better documentary for the series.
Under the marquee – Will
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