Five years have passed since the original and Nancy's house on Elm street is now home to a new family and Jesse can't even get a single night's sleep in his new abode before Freddy is invading his dreams. With the help of his best girl, Lisa and new friend (the douchebag that wasn't Robert Downey Jr. in Weird Science), Jesse quickly learns that Freddy is trying to possess his body in order to satiate his bloodlust. Will Jesse be able to fight off the demon inside of him? By demon, do I mean Freddy or the homosexual undertones that are prevalent throughout the film? Also, where can I get a black leather comforter?
A much-maligned, but not terrible rushed sequel to the original, the main difference here is the possession story. Freddy is back and suddenly not all that interested in revenge (despite what the title may suggest) as none of these kids or their parents are linked to his murder (though I guess he's always just kind of held all of Springwood responsible). I find it odd that he is apparently powerless when 1428 Elm is vacant and now seems to need the body of a teenager to do his bidding for him.
Meanwhile, Jesse is clearly a little confused. He is thrust into a relationship with Lisa though he seems far more interested in his buddy Grady. Add to that, the PE coach who "gets his rocks off" working the boys out to exhaustion and spends his nights at S&M bars (where Jesse randomly shows up to one night under Freddy's will). Not to mention when Freddy interrupts his alone time with Lisa in the cabana and he runs crying...to Grady's house. But lo and behold, it is Lisa who he must turn to in the end to overcome Freddy's influence.
There are some outstanding effects throughout, most notably when Freddy literally tears through Jesse's body and some other not so great ones; why would Freddy's guard dogs have human baby heads? Wouldn't that make them less effective? The scenes with Freddy invading the big pool party are probably the highlight of the whole affair. He saunters in with that child killer swagger and slices his way through a few random teenagers (including one that tries to reason with him...great stuff). But then the ever relentless Lisa who follows Freddy back to his old digs and coaxes Jesse out of him...with a kiss? And before you can say "Christian conversion therapy," Jesse and Lisa are back in love. All in all, the whole possession angle did not bother me much though it is not handled very well and makes the final confrontation pretty anti-climatic.
Interestingly, director Jack Sholder made two fantastic movies prior to and right after NOES 2: Alone in the Dark (1982) and The Hidden (1987). Both of which I would recommend over this one, even with its positives.
6/10
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