Given its title, Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare seemingly plunged the final nail into the coffin of Robert Englund’s infamous horror villain. And yet, it was ultimately Wes Craven — writer-director of the original A Nightmare on Elm Street — who gave Freddy Krueger a new lease on life.

Film professor and author Ryan L. Terry joins Franchise Detours to slash our way through 1994’s Wes Craven’s New Nightmare. We’ll discuss how the film celebrates the tenth anniversary of the original film, why it was a box office disappointment, and how it shaped the next phase of horror.

As the only installment not in continuity with the rest of the A Nightmare on Elm Street films, Wes Craven’s New Nightmare marks a true “franchise detour.” So curl up for a dark tale as we reunite with Craven, Englund, Heather Langenkamp, and John Saxon for a nightmare unlike any other.

In hindsight, it makes sense the diminishing returns of A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child might signal Freddy Krueger should quit while he was (at least relatively) ahead. So two years later, longtime creative collaborator Rachel Talalay took the director’s chair for the “final” entry.

Kev Smith of Suns and Shadows-Cast joins us to discuss 1991’s Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare. We’ll discuss how the film expands Freddy’s mythos, whether the full-tilt lean into comedy works, and whether Freddy’s supposed final bow serves as a satisfying end to Wes Craven’s creation.

Join us on the latest Franchise Detours as we dissect the dreamscapes of Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare. We’ll slice into the film’s horror elements, its ties to the overarching Elm Street mythology, and how it originally sought to lay Freddy to rest with a rare definitive end of an icon.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master introduced fans to a brand-new final girl in Lisa Wilcox’s Alice Johnson. So all its sequel had to do is build on that character and her story to keep that momentum going. But does A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child deliver a winner?

David Rosen of Piecing It Together joins us to discuss how the Stephen Hopkins-directed film taps into the primal fears of impending parenthood, whether its bleaker edge fits at this point in the franchise, and why this less-talked-about installment might hold the key to rebirthing the series.

Join us as we delve into A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child, examining how it breaks tradition regarding its tonal balance, character arcs and visual palette. So tuck in for a night of reflection as we contemplate how this fifth entry affected the longevity of this iconic series.