If the A Nightmare On Elm Street series seemed to course-correct itself with Dream Warriors, things were soon back to the expected mediocrity with the fourth and fifth entries, before the sixth film, Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare, seemed to be the final nail in the franchise's coffin. With a desperate 3D gimmick and a forgettable plot, the film was critically reviled though performed better financially than the previous film, likely because of the title suggesting it was to be the last one. Taking a three-year hiatus, the series returned in 1994 with Wes Craven's first contribution to the franchise since Dream Warriors, writing and directing an exceptionally clever meta-fiction horror flick that sees Freddy terrorising the cast and crew behind the films. Wes Craven even appears as himself, making this a wild ride that would no doubt inform his later foray into meta-horror with the Scream franchise. Without question New Nightmare is the best sequel since the first, and incredulously, this is the only franchise in which the seventh film can stake that claim. Clever, sinister, and superbly acted, New Nightmare is a cult horror gem.