YMMV / A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors

• Ass Pull: In the third act, Freddy leaves the dream world and takes possession of his own skeleton in the real world. Neither of the previous two films, and not even this third, suggested that Freddy could do this (and even if we take into account Jesse's possession in the second movie, this raises a question: why didn’t Freddy take possession of his skeleton from the start instead of waiting five years until Jesse moved to Nancy's house?)
• Awesome Music:
  • Dokken's "Dream Warriors". It's the perfect song to end this movie.
  • Angelo Badalamenti brings the original Elm Street theme back in a slow, very gothic manner (though that may be Ken Harrison's music as he composed most of the score in the final film).
  • Dokken's "Into The Fire".
• Broken Base: Nancy's death. Many fans think it is a dignified death for the character, who despite being deceived by Freddy, still manages to have a chance to detain him long enough to cause his defeat. In addition, Nancy is clearly a supporting character in this film, with Kristen being the Supporting Protagonist. Meanwhile, many fans feel insulted, believing that it is an unfair and inglorious ending for the character after all that she suffered in the first film, and that Nancy would never have been so stupid as to fall into Freddy's trap.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Kincaid, Taryn, and Joey are all fairly secondary characters, but the amount of depth they convey in how haunted they are by Freddy and the effort they put into helping fight him in the final act make them tremendously well-liked.
• Even Better Sequel: There are some fans who believe this, and consider it even better than the original. That fact that it's widely regarded as the best of the entries that Wes Craven didn't direct helps. Even better considering that Craven wrote the film as well.
• Fanfic Fuel: The unseen, briefly mentioned former Westin Hills patient who cut off his eyelids to stay awake attracts a decent amount of speculation regarding his unclear ultimate fate and just what Freddy did to make him that scared of going to sleep.
• Fanon: Nancy not displaying dream powers is never explained so fans have attributed it to long-term Hypnocil usage.
• Fanon Discontinuity The death of Nancy, The Hero, in the climax is pretty unpopular (in contrast to just about everything else in the movie), and some fans try to disregard it.
  • The Innovation comics address this by making Nancy the antithesis of Freddy. Due to Kirsten's Dream Master power, Nancy becomes "a beautiful dream" and is able to create areas in the dream world that Freddy cannot enter.
• Franchise Original Sin: It's considered one of the best films in the franchise, but in hindsight, many of the problems that would ruin the later films first show up here. Freddy is much more comical than in his previous two appearances, the emphasis with the dream sequences is placed more on the special effects, and the film introduces more information about his past that diminishes the mysticism and mystery of the character. The difference is that here, the elements were new and still well-dosed. Freddy's sense of humor makes him a Faux Affably Evil sadist rather than a comedian, the beefed-up effects in the dream sequences emphasize just how powerful and dangerous Freddy is in the dream world, and "the bastard son of a hundred maniacs" is still a memorable line. With the following films, however, the directors and writers would be completely lost with these elements.
• He's Just Hiding:
  • Interestingly, this happens for an unseen character. While Nancy refers to the kids in Neil's therapy group as the last of the Elm Street children, some fans notice how the kid Neil mentions who cut his eyelids off is only mentioned as having been transferred to another hospital. They feel that he might be alive at the end of the movie and maybe even after the next one.
  • While her absence in the final scene and the amount of heroin Freddy injects into her make it unlikely, fans of Taryn might try to hope that she's only injured during Freddy's attack, given how the scene cuts away before she actually dies, unlike most of Freddy's other kills.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • This wouldn't be the only time Laurence Fishburne would deal with dreams that can kill you.
  • In this film, Laurence Fishburne is unaware of the Big Bad with a fire motif and killer claws. 14 years later, he got to play a Big Bad with a fire motif and killer claw.
  • The Tag Line of this film is "If you think you are ready for Freddy, think again."
  • Will as the Wizard Master looks an awful lot like Harry Potter. You have a young wizard with glasses fighting an evil magical being.
• Jerks Are Worse Than Villains:
  • Dr Simms manages to be way more unlikeable than Freddy because of her being useless at best and at worst actively hindering Nancy and Neil's plans to save the children, and it's a somewhat cathartic moment when Kristen lets her have it and says what the audience thinks by calling her a "stupid bitch".
  • There's also Lorenzo, the creepy orderly who tries to get Taryn hooked on drugs and sexually harasses her, he has zero redeeming or likable features and many fans are upset that he made it out of the film alive whereas Taryn the victim of his cruel bullshit didn't. Even Dr Sims was at least not actively cruel, Lorenzo might be the biggest Hate Sink in the entire series.
• Like You Would Really Do It: Despite Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome, the popularity of Nancy as the Final Girl, and the fact that it isn't until near the very end of the movie that Freddy kills Nancy (disguised as her father), it seemed very unlikely it would happen — so when it does, it's quite shocking. Having it Played for Drama as a Tear Jerker only emphasizes the subversion.
• Memetic Mutation: Sister Mary Helena (Amanda Krueger)'s line regarding Freddy's conception, "the bastard son of a hundred maniacs", is rather memorable.
• Moe: Cute Mute Joey and his Translator Buddy Jennifer (a shy aspiring actress) have a lot of endearing moments where they display vulnerability amidst Freddy's hauntings and loyalty and helpfulness to the other kids even before the Dream Warriors are formed.
• Narm: Just about everything with Will's fight with Freddy, from his goofy Count Chocula outfit to his cheesy line, "In the name of Lowric, prince of elves, demon be gone!" Also, despite using a ranged lightning attack, he rushes towards Freddy as if he was a melee fighter. Narm Charm may apply, though.
• Retroactive Recognition: While far from his first role, Laurence Fishburne (Max) would not really catch the public's attention until well after this film.
• Signature Scene:
  • Freddy turning poor Phillip into a puppet is one of the franchise's most unforgettable and disturbing scenes, and a perfect illustration of the frightening concept of the omnipotent dream killer.
  • Jennifer’s death, with Freddy delivering one of his most iconic Pre-Mortem One Liners : “Welcome to primetime, bitch!”
  • The death of original Final Girl of the Elm Street series, Nancy Thompson. Known for being such a Shocking Moment to kill off such an iconic character.
• Special Effects Failure:
  • During Kristen's first on-screen nightmare, as she's running down the hall carrying the little girl, it's pretty obvious she's actually carrying a doll or mannequin.
  • Freddy's stop-motion skeleton is a strong contender for the worst effect in the entire movie. Not only is it horribly matted into the live-action footage, but the animation is worse than what you'd see in low-budget Sword and Sorcery flicks.
  • When Freddy stabs Taryn with his needles, you can see him repositioning his fingers even though they're already supposed to be in her arm.
  • In his fight with Freddy, the wires holding Will up are plainly visible in further away shots.
• Squick: Joey is having a dream where he is making out with a hot nurse and then it turns out to be Freddy in disguise. Sweet dreams, everyone. It was going to be even worse originally: Freddy's head was going to be on the naked nurse's body.
• Surprisingly Improved Sequel: This film is considered a marked improvement over Freddy's Revenge, which, while not completely bad, deviated too much from the first film's plot.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
  • Jesse and Lisa, the two survivors of the second movie, are not even mentioned in this movie or the rest of the franchise. Both could perfectly well appear in the psychiatric hospital and reveal to Nancy more evidence of Freddy's return since the last time she defeated him.
  • Nancy Thompson. Although everyone celebrates her return, some fans feel that the script doesn't seem to know exactly what to do with her. She does two important things for the plot: delivering exposition about who Freddy Krueger is to Dr. Neil and the children, and helping them to discover their skills in the dream world. But besides that, Nancy does nothing more to contribute to the plot, with the Supporting Protagonist Kristen having more screentime. Add to that the fact that Nancy is the only one who doesn't gain skills in the dream world, it is Dr. Neil who defeats Freddy in the end by burying his body in sacred soil, and her unexpected death at the end.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • The whole "special powers in your dreams" thing never amounted to much. At best, characters just briefly delayed their deaths by bombarding Freddy with attacks that were just minor annoyances, and in the end it's not the powers or teamwork that beat him, it's Neil shoving his bones into a hole and attacking it with holy water and a crucifix. Although the combination of powers and teamwork does allow several dreamers to save Joey and stay alive long enough for Neil to get the job done, giving this film's teens a better rate of survival than most entries in the franchise. Also, Nancy introducing the concept does pay off in the next movie. Although direct combat is still ineffective, Alice uses the Outside-the-Box Tactic of empowering the souls trapped within Freddy to wreak revenge on him, which succeeds in reducing him to a weakened state by The Dream Child.
    • Some aspects of this are further explored in Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash when the characters from this movie appear.
  • Some fans find it disappointing or, at the very least, strange, that the ghost of Amanda Krueger revealed her story and the way to defeat Freddy to Dr. Neil instead of Nancy or the other kids, considering he is the only hero of the film who has no nightmares with Freddy.
• Values Dissonance: Dr. Neil stating that Philip committed suicide because he was weak and gave up has aged very poorly for modern audiences. You might discount it considering that Philip is angry and later admits to feeling responsible for the patients' deaths, but the dialogue still leaves a bitter taste for the modern viewer.
• Vanilla Protagonist: Team Mom Nancy and Kristen (an Action Girl who can bring people into dreams) are both powerfully portrayed and formidable characters with dark and troubled pasts, but the other Elm Street children at Westin Hills can inspire just as much investment with their own depth and suffering while being at least a bit more colorful (Sour Outside, Sad Inside Kincaid, recovering addict Taryn, paraplegic fantasy fanboy Will, logical Phillip, and Elective Mute Joey and his Translator Buddy Jennifer), especially those of them who get dream powers like Kristen.
• Viewer Name Confusion: Because of Patricia Arquette's pronunciation, it's often hard to tell if her character's name is Kirsten or Kristen. Other characters' pronunciations clarify the issue.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: Aside from the few errors mentioned above, the rest of the effects on display are top notch, from Phillip’s veins using him as a puppet, to the Freddy TV, even the worm Freddy the tried to eat Kristin, it still hold up well after 30 plus years. Director Chuck Russell focused a lot of his efforts on the effects and it shows.
• The Woobie:
  • Via Cerebus Retcon, Dream Warriors made all of Freddy's previous victims this (except Coach Schneider), with the reveal that Freddy absorbs his victims' souls and internalizes them for power. This keeps them in a constant state of pain and anguish. Meaning Tina, Rod, Glen, and everybody else had never stopped suffering even after Freddy died.
  • The kids in the film itself count as well; being sent to an asylum due to being dismissed as crazy, and slowly being driven nuts by not being believed, as their torment continues.
    • Jennifer burns herself with cigarettes.
    • Joey's been left mute by the trauma. The fact that Joey was on the debate team before Freddy made him mute adds to his pitiableness.
    • Like everyone at Westin Hills, Will has been mentally tortured by Freddy, confined to an asylum, and told he's delusional. He is confined to a wheelchair due to what is heavily implied to either be a bungled suicide motivated by his horrific recurring nightmares or an unsuccessful attempt by Freddy to kill Will in the dream world. He mentions that when he has good dreams, they're about being able to walk again.
    • Kincaid is left desperately singing to himself to keep from falling asleep.
    • Recovered Addict Taryn is struggling not to fall off the wagon while being tempted with drugs by a pervy orderly.
    • Kristen is a Daddy's Girl whose father divorced her mother and doesn't seem to have any contact with her. Her mother treats her nightmares and mental trauma with scorn and derision. She stays up past one a.m. whenever she can, and the threat of sedation turns her into a screaming, flailing emotional wreck.

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