Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy (2010)

Studio: CAV/1428 Films

DVD Release: May 4, 2010

Not Rated

Review by James Klein

In 2009, directors Daniel Ferrands and Andrew Kasch presented to the public the documentary on the Friday the 13th series called His Name Was Jason, a mess of a documentary that had no focus and jumped around from various segments giving the viewer more of a headache than insight on the Friday the 13th films. It even contained these goofy intro's by make up effects master Tom Savini which was borderline embarrassing to watch. Well, Ferrands and Kasch have come back to try their hands with the much beloved A Nightmare on Elm Street series and this time, they have hit a home run. Clocking in at 240 minutes, this detailed and well edited documentary is a no holds barred look at the 1984 classic and all it's sequels and even its TV show, Freddy's Nightmares.

The documentary starts off with the concept of A Nightmare on Elm Street and goes through each film individually, interviewing cast and crew members which none of the interviewee's seem to hold back their true feelings. We get to hear some of the dirt behind the scenes and that provides this documentary a fresh and honest look at the slasher series. Which cast member didn't get along, which director's had trouble with producer Robert Shaye, numerous script changes and revisions, it's all here.

Much has been said regarding the original Elm Street movie and we all know about Wes Craven's early work and New Line president Robert Shaye's rise thanks to A Nightmare on Elm Street. But the sequels haven't had much press and now we get to see interviews from directors, screenwriters, producers, cast members, make up artists, and even musicians who have all worked on these films. We get informative insight on the homoerotic A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge, we hear about the troubled production of the series favorite A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, we learn about the writer's strike and how it affected the 4th film, the disappointment of the 5th film at the box office, the last entry entitled Freddy's Dead and why it was shot in 3-D, the Tales From the Crypt inspired TV show, the ambitious but not successful Wes Craven's New Nightmare and the long awaited Freddy vs. Jason which took years to be brought to the screen, becoming a box office hit.

Aside from Johnny Depp (Nightmare 1 and Freddy's Dead) Patricia Arquette (Nightmare 3) and Laurence Fishburne (Nightmare 3), everyone is interviewed. We get to hear from Girl #2 from A Nightmare on Elm Street 2, the many make up artists that worked on all of the films, even 1980's hard rock group Dokken speaks about their music video for A Nightmare on Elm Street 3. Some of the interviews are funny such as the gay subtext in Nightmare 2 or director Renny Harlin's confused interpretation on how American kids act with one another. Some interviews are sad such as talk about certain people who are now no longer with us and Robert Shaye's tear-jerking goodbye to the series. What shocked me was how good or bad some of these actors have aged over the years. Some look beautiful like Kim Myers (Nightmare 2) to downright scary like Lezlie Deane (Freddy's Dead).

The documentary is never boring and just a lot of fun but I will say Never Sleep Again is only for the fans of the Nightmare on Elm Street series or for fans of movie making in general. All others may find it boring. Being a huge fan of the series (I will argue the original film is a true masterpiece and one of the greatest horror films of all time) I was captivated and completely glued to Never Sleep Again. The DVD even contains deleted scenes with longer interviews, a filmmaker commentary and numerous little featurettes. This two disc DVD set is a must have for fans of the series and I promise that those of you who do check out this wonderful documentary won't be disappointed. So lock your doors, grab a crucifix, stay up late and pop in your DVD of  Never Sleep Again.