Two years before Scream was packing in audiences and giving them a cheeky wink and a nudge, Craven attempted his own, more personal meta horror film with New Nightmare, a pseudo sequel to Craven's original Nightmare on Elm Street. Instead of focusing on dreams invading and influencing reality, New Nightmare looks at the impact that film has on reality, when 'movie character' Freddy Krueger begins to manifest himself into the daily lives of those involved with the Elm Street universe. Tired of the comical direction that Freddy had taken, Craven stepped in and made him scary again. This included an altered attitude (less one-liners) and an updated look, which was actually the original concept that Craven had for Krueger in the first Nightmare film. Regrettably, by the time it was released audiences were a little bit burned out on Freddy Krueger (this was the seventh Nightmare film in ten years) and it underperformed at the box-office, grossing $20 million on an $8 million budget. Critics enjoyed it, though, complimenting in particular the performances, script and Craven's direction. In a cute bit, Freddy Krueger is credited as 'himself.
