10 Horror Movie Sequels That Had No Right To Be This Good

9. Wes Craven's New Nightmare

Final Destination 5
New Line Cinema

By 1994, the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise was believed to finally be dead after a run of three pretty dreadful movies in The Dream Master, The Dream Child, and Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare.

Franchise fatigue had long set in with this series, and the chilling terror of Wes Craven's first Elm Street picture had long been replaced by slapstick humour. Sure, there was always a mischievous dark humour to Robert Englund's Freddy Krueger as far back as that 1984 original outing, but that was massively outweighed by the utter dread Krueger brought to the screen.

Truth be told, '91's Final Nightmare was a mercy kill.

Having become a shell of its former self, the Elm Street franchise was put out of its misery with that sixth picture. So much so, New Line even held a public funeral for Freddy and the series. What made Krueger special had been lost, the nerve-shredding kills had been replaced by all-out comedy, and Freddy was now in on the joke.

So, when The Final Nightmare proved not so final and Wes Craven's New Nightmare arrived in '94, interest was at an all-time low. To make the film sound just as gimmicky as its predecessors, the premise of Freddy as a presence in the real world of the franchise's actors looked dreadful on paper.

New Nightmare threatened to yet again jump the shark for the Elm Street IP, yet the end result was a welcome return to the terrifying roots of what made this franchise so special in the first place.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.