This is the pilot episode for the season series of "Freddy's Nightmares", an anthology styled television show that featured Freddy at the beginning of every episode, introducing each story in a role sort of like the Crypt Keeper from "Tales From the Crypt". I believe this aired in the fall of 1988, possibly around Halloween if memory serves me right, which meant it was riding the wave of Freddy Fever after the fourth film came out over the summer.

By summer /fall of 1988 all things Elm Street were flooding the marketplace with every piece of merchandise you could think of, from bubble gum to board games and back again. And, like any normal (well...) 10 year old, I was completely obsessed with all things Fred Krueger. I had the glove (which I kept in the garage by the hot water heater/my boiler room), the mask, the hat, Jesus Christ almighty...I WAS Freddy Krueger! I even used to get fully dressed up in my costume, go outside at night creeping around the house, all the while frustratingly trying to get those damn rubber blades to make screeching sounds on the gutters. So, amidst all my mania, imagine me seeing the commercial on television for the upcoming series. There's going to be an "Elm Street" television show? Oh, may the gods be praised! No longer would I have to wait a whole year to see a new movie to feature Freddy's exploits, now I would get it every single week!! I also recall the commercial featuring a shot of Freddy discovering his glove in the boiler room, putting it on and making those cool finger moves with the blades....I was in fucking heaven my friends, and as that commercial teasingly enticed me, about as close to an orgasm as a ten year old can get.

Looking back to the episode at hand, I don't really remember what I thought of it initially. I mean, I probably liked it, it featured Freddy doing the usual stuff like cracking funnies while offing people, and featured a cool back story to the movies, which was sorta neat. But, like a summer fling, the infatuation was not to last as the rest of the series just didn't cut it for me. Freddy never really was actually in the episodes, just at the beginning and end to quip wisecracks on the fools who had died in tonight's episode. The series basically was disappointing to me, and my interest waned.

So, in the spirit of said nostalgia, let's flash ahead 21 years as I dust off my old VHS copy of the first episode, Freddy's Nightmares: No More Mr. Nice Guy and see how this baby has stood the test of time.

What's intriguing here is the overall premise of the show. It's actually a "prequel" to the movie series, in the sense that it shows you what happened to Fred Krueger the night of his lynching and his eventual metamorphosis into a pizza faced dream demon. The narrative is slightly different than the films, but hey, it's no big deal.

Things open up with Freddy on trial for nearly murdering a pair of twins, and I assume, other "crimes against children", only to be released from court on a technicality after the arresting officer failed to read him his rights. You can tell this was definitely pre "Patriot Act" America, huh? Hungry for justice, the pissed off parents of Springwood are off to track him down, vigilante style. They corner Krueger in a boiler room of a power plant, with the police captain who caught Freddy with his twin daughters, and who screwed up the ensuing arrest, being the one to throw the match. Warning everyone that "he'll be back" Freddy goes up in flames and all is hunky dory once again in Springwood. Well...maybe not. Soon enough, one of the parents tied to the murder turns up dead, his chest slashed with some familiar looking cuts of the four bladed variety, and our titular police captain is having some rather bad nightmares, all the while his twins are warning him (how they know this I have no fucking clue), "you can't kill Freddy Daddy, you'll only make it worse'". Ah....no shit. Soon enough, Freddy is out to get the Captain and his daughters (more on them later), and from there on the rest of Springwood...or something like that.

To be honest, I liked this initial offering of "Freddy's Nightmares" when I first saw it, and, I still like it some 21 years later. Maybe I'm sorta biased by my childhood memories, but I think you would be hard pressed to find any Elm Street fan who would say they didn't enjoy this even just a wee bit. What's the good stuff here, you ask? Well, to my old childhood friend and fellow horror enthusiast from waaaay back, Mike Rieneckert, you're right old pal. The look and feel of this thing is perfect. It just feels like an Elm Street flick, in that sorta dreamy, druggy fashion that we know and love. I'd say the vibes of parts three and four are definitely evident, whether this was a conscious effort or not, I don't know. It's funny to think Tobe Hooper directed this, but in terms of it being a Hooper product, it just doesn't really feel like it. Then again, except for Chainsaw, I'm not really sure what a Hooper film is supposed to feel like, since he really hasn't done anything since....ah, c'mon, he had it coming!

Anyway, I DID like seeing Robert Englund sans burn make-up as Freddy, and, though we never really get a clear shot of his face (except for his teeth..ugh!) it's sorta cool in a novelty kind of way. The viewer is also treated to the occasional "Freddy-Vision" as we see through his eyes how he views, ah, "the world". For instance, in the opening court scene, we see via a foggy filter everyone dead and/or suffering except for his current obsession being the police captain's daughters. That was sorta neat, I suppose. I think it's safe to say that a positive viewpoint on the world, Freddy Krueger DOES not possess.

The best sequence, however, is exemplified in the sequence where a pre-demon Freddy returns, fresh out of court, home to his boiler room all pumped and jacked to go and exact his revenge. There was just something cool about seeing Fred stalking around his home turf, all amidst that swirling eighties fog and lighting that we all know and love. There's a nifty shot of Freddy outside the boiler room as he uncovers his ice cream truck while declaring "ah, together again, are you ready for Freddy?" Sure, I know it's rather cheesy and cliche' , but so what? There's also some neat shots of Krueger walking around the boiler room, talking to his various torture devices via "Freddy Vision", and there's an absolutely killer sequence where he becomes reacquainted with the one and only "glove" that will always stick out in my head. I remember thinking as a kid, "he keeps the glove on a dresser?" The ensuing shot of him slipping it on, click clacking the blades while muttering, 'Freddy's home...." was cool to me as a kid and still is now.

The ending is also pretty good, as **SPOILER** Freddy exacts his revenge on the captain as he falls asleep from the laughing gas during a dental visit. Dug the teeth hitting Kreuger in the face as he drills into the captain with a glove of power drills and such. The scene is also shot in a sort of sped up way, giving it a slightly off kilter feel, and the show ends with Freddy asking the audience..."who's next"? "You"? "Or maybe, one of you..." And we are off to the series.

The negatives, well, really, what do you think they would be. Bad acting? Sure. Overall cheesy vibe? Sure. Sure, sure, sure. You get all of this and more friends. But, hey...you know what? It's all good here. And hey, since you're all friends here, you know what my most guilty pleasure is about this? The Park twins. I'm talking about Hili and Gri Park, who play the twin sisters. Two sexy little blonds that have zero acting ability and apparently have vanished off the earth. I creepily searched the net for any info (see: "nude pics") on these broads and got nothing. Not even a myspace page proclaiming "I was in Freddy's Nightmares and lived to tell the tale". Zero, zilch, Nada. Actually, there is a sequel to this episode, starring the twins that would show up later in the series titled Sister's Keeper, it's on you-tube and is actually pretty good. So if any of you are needing a Park Twins fix, check it out.

In summary, I like this initial offering for the series. Truth be told, I'd like to see more episodes (where's the DVD Set?) and see what I think of em now in 2010 and not 1989. Highly worth tracking down an old VHS copy or watching on you-tube for fans of Freddy.