History Film / ANightmareOnElmStreet4TheDreamMaster

* AsTheGoodBookSays: We open with Job 4:13-14:

* {{Epigraph}}: The film opens on a quote from Literature/TheBible, specifically from Job IV, 13-14:

* SoulEating: Freddy is now harvesting the souls of his victims to power himself. Just to freak out Alice, he presents a pizza with screaming human faces on it, one of which (her dead brother) he promptly devours in front of her.

--->'''Alice:''' I ''saw'' it! It was my dream! ''[[spoiler:I pulled Shelia in!]]'' ''(realization sinks in)'' Oh, God... [[spoiler:I pulled Shelia in, like Kristen did with me]]...

--->'''Alice:''' ''(pulls away from him)'' No, don't! I ''gave'' [[spoiler:Shelia]] to him! And now ''[[spoiler:she's dead!]]'' ''(breaks down sobbing and runs off)''

-->'''Freddy:''' I believe in you. ''(pushes the barbell that Debbie is holding down to break her arms)'' No pain, no gain.

** Alice has this moment after [[spoiler:Shelia dies, realizing that Freddy used her to pull Shelia into her dream just like Kristen had done with her]].
-->'''Alice:''' I ''saw'' it! It was my dream! ''[[spoiler:I pulled Shelia in!]]'' ''(realization sinks in)'' Oh, God... [[spoiler:I pulled Shelia in, like Kristen did with me]]...
-->'''Rick:''' ''(tries to comfort Alice)'' C’mon…
-->'''Alice:''' ''(pulls away from him)'' No, don't! I ''gave'' [[spoiler:Shelia]] to him! And now ''[[spoiler:she's dead!]]'' ''(breaks down sobbing and runs off)''

-->'''Dennis:''' ''(stopping Alice from leaving the house)'' I lost [[spoiler:Rick]] because I didn't watch him. I don't want to lose ''you'', too.

* BalefulPolymorph: Freddy turns [[spoiler:Debbie]] into a giant, helpless cockroach and then crushes her.

* CreepyCockroach: [[spoiler:Debbie]], who hates roaches, [[BalefulPolymorph is turned into one]] in her nightmare and gets trapped in a roach motel.

** Alice has this moment after [[spoiler:Shelia dies, and realizes Freddy used her to pull Shelia into her dream just like Kristen had with her]].

-->'''Dennis:''' ''(stopping Alice from leaving the house)'' I lost [[spoiler:Rick]] because I didn't watch him. I don't want to lose ''you'' too.

* LastOfHisKind: Kristen, Kincaid and Joey are all that remain of the kids of the adults who killed Freddy. [[spoiler:Freddy kills all three and ensures he'll be able to reach new victims]].
* LecherousLicking: Freddy wags his tongue out to [[spoiler:Sheila]] shortly before he kills her.
* LighterAndSofter: Compared to the previous three ''Nightmare on Elm Street'' movies, this film is a lot more light. This is also the point where Freddy really starts to become more comical and silly as opposed to the scary menacing killer he used to be. Though ''make no mistake'', his kills are still very terrifying and cruel.

* MrImagination: Alice spent a lot of time in daydreams.

* NoBodyLeftBehind: [[spoiler:After Alice defeats Freddy he disappears, leaving behind only his clothes. Alice kicks away the glove for good measure]].
* NoSell: Alice begins the final fight by throwing everything she has on Freddy, but he just laughs it off.

* ParentalNeglect: Elaine Parker shrugs off Kristen's attitude to a lack of sleep, even though her daughter had just lost two close friends in one day, friends she only recently saw. Elaine's pretty much responsible for [[spoiler:Kristen's death, since she put sleeping pills in Kristen's lemonade at dinner, leaving her easy prey for Freddy]].

* QuicksandSucks: Kristen finds herself trapped in the beach dream when the sand beneath her turns into quicksand. Freddy places his foot on her head, and pushes her down.
* RelativeButton: Subverted. Freddy Krueger throws Alice into a BadFuture nightmare where she still works the same dead-end job until she's old and grey, before he shows her [[YourSoulIsMine how delicious he finds teenagers' souls]] by serving up a "soul pizza". Freddy eats Alice's [[spoiler:previously deceased brother Rick]] in front of her by devouring his soul purely to be a dick to Alice, but she's way too horrified to react with immediate rage.

* SeeYouInHell: When [[spoiler:Kincaid]]'s fatally stabbed by Freddy's glove, he says "I'll see you in hell!" Freddy, with his trademark dark humor, replies with "[[GiveMyRegardsInTheNextWorld Tell 'em Freddy sent you!]]"
* SequelNonEntity: Dr. Neil Gordon, who knew about Freddy and survived the last movie. Justified because [[spoiler:the characters he knew are quickly killed]] and the new characters never met him.
* ShackleSeatTrap: Alice's and Shiela's school desks sprout extra metal bars that trap them in their seats when Freddy attacks them during the physics test.
* SkywardScream: After Kincaid witnesses Freddy's resurrection in the car graveyard dream, he tries to escape but is then cornered. He screams towards the sky, trying to signal his friends that Freddy is back, as the camera pans out to reveal that the graveyard covers the whole planet.
* SoulEating: Freddy is now harvesting the souls of his victims to power himself. Just to freak out Alice, he presents a pizza with screaming human faces on it, one of which he promptly devours in front of her.

* TemptingFate: After kicking Freddy's glove off, [[spoiler:Rick]] tauntingly asks "How are you gonna get me without your weapon?". The glove then lifts itself off the floor and propels itself directly into [[spoiler:Rick]]'s stomach, killing [[spoiler:him]].

* UnwittingPawn: Alice doesn't immediately realize that Freddy is using her to get to new victims until after [[spoiler:he kills Shelia]].

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: [[spoiler:Elaine Parker. Not only was she responsible for the death of her own daughter, but thanks to that happening, it gave Freddy the opportunity he needed to successfully establish a link to the rest of Springwood's teen populace. So basically every death from this movie onward is because of her. [[SarcasmMode Nice job, Elaine]]]].

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Dr. Neil Gordon, one of the few survivors of the third movie, is never mentioned in this chapter. In fact, he never appears again in the franchise, and his fate is not revealed.

* HeroicSacrifice: Attempted. Kristen realizes that if she dies, Freddy won't have anyone left to victimize. [[spoiler:Which is why he makes her bring Alice into her dream, so he'll have a gateway to new victims]].

** Alice is a meek daydreamer who fantasizes about telling her alcoholic father off and asking hunky jock Dan Jordan out. By the movie's end, Alice has grown as a character and no longer relies on simply fantasizing about what she wants to do.
** Debbie, a punk girl with her own weight equipment who does bad in school... and also likes to watch ''Series/{{Dynasty|1981}}'', is terrified of cockroaches, and is friends with brainy girl Sheila and sticks up for her. When Sheila dies, you can tell from Debbie's voice she's trying her best not to break down.

-->'''Freddy:''' I believe in you. ''(pushes the barbells that Debbie is holding down to break her arms)'' No pain, no gain.

* ClimacticBattleResurrection: Freddy kills people. [[ItsALongStory He gets their souls, but Alice gets their powers]]. Alone, the victims were unable to defeat Freddy, but, with [[AllYourPowersCombined all their powers combined]], Alice is able to lay the [[Wrestling/{{WWE}} smackdown]] on Freddy to the point where all of the souls inside of him revolt and tear him apart.

* CreateYourOwnHero: Freddy's greed and gluttony for more souls after [[TheBadGuyWins killing the last of the Elm Street children]], not being content with his victory, leads to him using Alice as a gateway to reach more victims. With each new life he claims, she gains their strength and powers, and [[NiceJobFixingItVillain becomes powerful enough]] as the [[GoodCounterpart Dream Master]] to challenge, fight and defeat Freddy, freeing all the souls he claimed in the process to tear him apart.

* CreepyCockroach: [[spoiler:Debbie]], who hates roaches, [[BalefulPolymorph is turned into one]] in her nightmare and is then trapped in a roach motel.

* DaylightHorror: Freddy attacks Kristen in one of her dreams on a sunny beach. She actually tries to dream about a nice and bright place in the hopes that Freddy won't appear, but alas.

* DeathByIrony: In Debbie's first scene she's shown to hate cockroaches, and she squashes one under her boot. [[spoiler:Later on she gets turned into a cockroach by Freddy, who then crushes the roach motel she's trapped inside]].

* DisguisedInDrag: When Kristen falls asleep in the school nurse's office, Freddy disguises himself as the nurse to mess with her, before reverting back to his nightmare form.

* DoWithHimAsYouWill: [[spoiler:At the end Alice uses her powers to awaken all of Freddy's devoured souls, who rip him apart from within]].

* FinalGirl: Alice Johnson. Though this is more thanks to [[spoiler:Freddy's keeping her alive to bring him new victims than any power, since Alice never uses or displays any dream power until the very end]].

* GirlOfMyDreams: Variation. Joey has the hots for a pin-up model on his wall, then she appears to him inside his waterbed, fully nude. Of course, it's just Freddy messing with him ([[Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet3DreamWarriors again?]]) before going in for the kill.

* HappierHomeMovie: After [[spoiler:Kirsten is killed]] Alice takes comfort by watching a video of them and their friends all together.
* HeelRealization: Alice's father, Dennis, in response to [[spoiler:Rick's death]]. Not much is made of it in ''this'' film, but ''Dream Child'' [[CharacterDevelopment shows that they managed to mend their relationship]].
-->"I don't want to lose you. We're all we have."

Critical reception was mixed, but it did so well on the box office it became the most successful SlasherMovie of the 80s. It was the most financially successful movie in the ''Nightmare'' series until ''Film/FreddyVsJason'' came out.

* AliceAllusion: Freddy welcomes Alice to the "wonderland" when they come face to face at the church.

* AndIMustScream: This film goes more into the idea that Freddy absorbs the souls of the teens he kills a bit. In a scene, we're shown that Freddy literally eats them, even comparing them to meatballs. Near the climax, we also see the souls screaming in hapless agony inside of his body. [[spoiler:This trope also ends up [[HoistByHisOwnPetard being his UNDOING]], because Alice uses a mirror to force evil to see itself, causing all the children to free themselves from inside him, physically tearing Freddy apart]].

-->"I... am... eternal."
* TheBadGuyWins: At first, until Freddy snatches defeat from the jaws of victory, and then it is subverted. Freddy finishes killing the last of the Elm Street children by killing Kristen, though he is not content with the achievement he originally set out to accomplish, desiring more souls, and his arrogance ends up [[CreateYourOwnHero empowering]] a new ArchEnemy in the form of [[GoodCounterpart Alice]] who [[HoistByHisOwnPetard ends up overpowering and destroying him]].

* BewareOfHitchhikingGhosts: Freddy himself does this, but it's a trick. The protagonist attempts to run him down, but he is revealed to be an illusion, and she crashes into a tree instead.
* BigNo: Alice lets out a heart-wrenching one that ''somehow'' [[GlassShatteringSound shatters the windows of her classroom]] after [[spoiler:her brother Rick is killed by Freddy]]. This makes sense if you consider that [[spoiler:Kristen was able to add Joey and Kincaid's powers/personality to Alice when her own power passed through Freddy's body, as Supersonic-Glass-Shattering-Scream was Joey's dream power, and Alice's sudden proficiency with nunchuks shows she's able to use dream powers in the real world]].
* BlackAndNerdy: Sheila, who is a very meek straight-A student. According to her actress, Toy Newkirk, director Creator/RennyHarlin thought she didn't sound "black" enough and told her to re-do her lines, which she refused.
* BlackDudeDiesFirst: [[spoiler:Kincaid witnesses Freddy's resurrection, and is the first one to die]].

* BodyHorror: [[spoiler:Freddy himself is ripped apart by his trapped souls bursting out of first, his chest, then his entire body. What keeps it from being completely horrifying is the [[HoistByHisOwnPetard sheer karmic satisfaction]] of seeing him killed this way]].

* AdultsAreUseless: Kristen's mother Elaine, whose uselessness [[spoiler:gets her daughter killed.]]
* AlcoholicParent: Alice's dad is a mean drunk. [[spoiler:He [[CharacterDevelopment gets better]] in ''The Dream Child''.]]

* AndIMustScream: This film goes more into the idea that Freddy absorbs the souls of the teens he kills a bit. In a scene, we're shown that Freddy literally eats them, even comparing them to meatballs. Near the climax, we also see the souls screaming in hapless agony inside of his body. [[spoiler:This trope also ends up [[HoistByHisOwnPetard being his UNDOING]], because Alice uses a mirror to force evil to see itself, causing all the children to free themselves from inside him, physically tearing Freddy apart.]]

* BigNo: Alice lets out a heart-wrenching one that ''somehow'' [[GlassShatteringSound shatters the windows of her classroom]] after [[spoiler: her brother Rick is killed by Freddy]]. This makes sense if you consider that [[spoiler: Kristen was able to add Joey and Kincaid's powers/personality to Alice when her own power passed through Freddy's body, as Supersonic-Glass-Shattering-Scream was Joey's dream power, and Alice's sudden proficiency with nunchuks shows she's able to use dream powers in the real world]].

* BodyHorror: [[spoiler:Freddy himself is ripped apart by his trapped souls bursting out of first, his chest, then his entire body. What keeps it from being completely horrifying is the [[HoistByHisOwnPetard sheer karmic satisfaction]] of seeing him killed this way.]]

-->"[[spoiler:No, Mother, you just murdered me. Take that to your goddamn therapy.]]"

* ClimacticBattleResurrection: Freddy kills people. [[ItsALongStory He gets their souls, but Alice gets their powers.]] Alone, the victims were unable to defeat Freddy, but, with [[AllYourPowersCombined all their powers combined]], Alice is able to lay the [[Wrestling/{{WWE}} smackdown]] on Freddy to the point where all of the souls inside of him revolt and tear him apart.

* DeathByIrony: In Debbie's first scene she's shown to hate cockroaches, and she squashes one under her boot. [[spoiler: Later on she gets turned into a cockroach by Freddy, who then crushes the roach motel she's trapped inside.]]

* DoWithHimAsYouWill: [[spoiler:At the end Alice uses her powers to awaken all of Freddy's devoured souls, who rip him apart from within.]]

* TheEndOrIsIt: [[spoiler:Alice sees a reflection of Freddy on a fountain waving at her before the surface is disturbed.]]

* HeelRealization: Alice's father, Dennis, in response to [[spoiler:Rick's death]].

* HeroicSacrifice: Attempted. Kristen realizes that if she dies, Freddy won't have anyone left to victimize. [[spoiler: Which is why he makes her bring Alice into her dream, so he'll have a gateway to new victims.]]

** Debbie, a punk girl with her own weight equipment who does bad in school...and also likes to watch ''Series/{{Dynasty|1981}}'', is terrified of cockroaches, and is friends with brainy girl Sheila and sticks up for her. When Sheila dies, you can tell from Debbie's voice she's trying her best not to break down.

* ImagineSpot: Alice has a habit of daydreaming. [[spoiler: She decides to stop after Rick is killed.]]

* ItsAllMyFault: Alice has this moment after [[spoiler: Shelia dies, and realizes Freddy used her to pull Shelia into her dream just like Kristen had with her.]]

* NoBodyLeftBehind: [[spoiler:After Alice defeats Freddy he disappears, leaving behind only his clothes. Alice kicks away the glove for good measure.]]

* PainfulTransformation: How does Freddy transform [[spoiler: Debbie]] into a cockroach? By breaking off her arms and then [[TearOffYourFace forcing her to rip her face]] off to reveal the insect parts underneath.
* ParentalNeglect: Elaine Parker shrugs off Kristen's attitude to a lack of sleep, even though her daughter had just lost two close friends in one day, friends she only recently saw. Elaine's pretty much responsible for [[spoiler:Kristen's death, since she put sleeping pills in Kristen's lemonade at dinner, leaving her easy prey for Freddy.]]

* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: [[spoiler:Kincaid, Joey, and Kristen all die within the first 30 minutes of this movie after narrowly surviving the previous one.]]

* UnwittingPawn: Alice doesn't immediately realize that Freddy is using her to get to new victims until after [[spoiler: he kills Shelia.]]

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: [[spoiler:Elaine Parker. Not only was she responsible for the death of her own daughter, but thanks to that happening, it gave Freddy the opportunity he needed to successfully establish a link to the rest of Springwood's teen populace. So basically every death from this movie onward is because of her. [[SarcasmMode Nice job, Elaine.]]]]

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Freddy can teleport people within the dream world, as he does to [[spoiler:Alice when she brings Debbie to him]]. With that in mind, quite ''why'' Freddy feels the need to [[spoiler:fight Alice at the end instead of just teleporting her away is a complete mystery. If he loses, it's all over for him, and if he wins, there'll be no one to bring him any more victims]].

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Arrogantly empowering Alice in order to reach fresh victims ends of being Freddy's undoing in the end.

* TheEndOrIsIt: [[spoiler:Alice sees a reflection of Freddy on a fountain before the surface is disturbed.]]

* AdultsAreUseless: Example being Kristen's mother Elaine, whose uselessness [[spoiler:gets her daughter killed.]]

* BigNo: Alice lets out a heart-wrenching one that ''somehow'' shatters the windows of her classroom after [[spoiler: her brother Rick is killed by Freddy]]. This makes sense if you consider that [[spoiler: Kristen was able to add Joey and Kincaid's powers/personality to Alice when her own power passed through Freddy's body, as Supersonic-Glass-Shattering-Scream was Joey's dream power, and Alice's sudden proficiency with nunchuks shows she's able to use dream powers in the real world]].

** Debbie, a punk girl with her own weight equipment who does bad in school...and also likes to watch ''Series/{{Dynasty}}'', is terrified of cockroaches, and is friends with brainy girl Sheila and sticks up for her. When Sheila dies, you can tell from Debbie's voice she's trying her best not to break down.