History YMMV / ANightmareOnElmStreet4TheDreamMaster

** On a meta level, the shot of Freddy putting on a pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses. For many fans, it's the most spectacularly [[TheEighties '80s]] moment in the entire series and a symbol of the franchise at the height of its "imperial phase" when Freddy was on top of the world as a pop culture icon.

** Dr. Neil Gordon, one of the few survivors of the third movie, is never mentioned in this chapter depsite being the second main character of the previous film. You would imagine that Kristen would tell Alice of his existence so she could look for him and ask for his help against Freddy, including access to Hypnocil, or that Freddy would want to take revenge on him considering that he was primarily responsible for his defeat in the previous movie-to which this movie seemly ignores and plays off instead like Kristen defeated Freddy. However, he never appears again in the franchise and his fate is not revealed. This is especially irksome since he could have easily met the new teenagers at Kristen's funeral.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: As argued by [[http://www.1000misspenthours.com/reviews/reviewsn-z/nightmareonelmstreet4thedreammaster.htm 1000 Misspent Hours]] and ''many'' casual fans, the concept of Freddy being limited to just killing the children of his killers could have resulted in him keeping Kristen in a coma (as he did with Joey in ''Dream Warriors''), which would have been a good justification for the character to continue in the lead role. Instead, Kristen is unceremoniously killed and Alice becomes the new heroine.

* ContestedSequel: Over whether it marks the last of [[GoldenAge the good movies]] or the first of [[AudienceAlienatingEra the bad movies]]. Some consider it a worthy follow-up to ''Dream Warriors'' with a strong, compelling lead character in Alice, while others consider it an absurd, shallow SFX spectacle that pointlessly [[HappyEndingOverride overrode the previous film's ending]] and officially turned Freddy into a self-parody. And in the middle, there are those who consider it to be the most [[SoOkayItsAverage average]] entry in the series, feeling that it follows the previous film's template a little too closely, but otherwise doesn't commit any major mis-steps apart from killing off the previous film's survivors too quickly, and arguably amping up the humor around Freddy too much. Regardless of what this movie certainly has a better reputation then either of [[Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet5TheDreamChild the following]] [[Film/FreddysDeadTheFinalNightmare two sequels]]

* FridgeBrilliance: The 'dog peeing fire on Freddy's grave to resurrect him' is less of a BigLippedAlligatorMoment when you remember ''how'' Freddy was defeated in the last film: last rites being performed on his remains. He probably used Kincaid's dog to desecrate his grave. Or a stray animal took a leak on the burial site in the waking-world junkyard by pure chance, and Freddy incorporated the event (with added pyrotechnics) into Kincaid's dream just to fuck with him.
* FridgeHorror: Freddy needed Alice to pull in new victims. It would seem as if Freddy was holding either the IdiotBall or VillainBall for most of the movie by the way he was antagonizing Alice and seemingly intending to kill her. Of course, there are a lot of things Freddy could do to Alice that wouldn't necessarily kill her, but could keep her in a constant dream state with all the victims he could ever want at his disposal. Say, maybe a nicked brain stem or a concussion which could leave Alice comatose...

** Dr. Neil Gordon, one of the few survivors of the third movie, is never mentioned in this chapter. You would imagine that Kristen would warn Alice of his existence so she could look for him and ask for his help against Freddy, including access to Hypnocil, or that Freddy would want to take revenge on him considering that he was primarily responsible for his defeat in the previous movie. However, he never appears again in the franchise and his fate is not revealed. This is especially irksome since he could have easily met the new teenagers at Kristen's funeral.

* ContestedSequel: Over whether it marks the last of [[GoldenAge the good movies]] or the first of [[AudienceAlienatingEra the bad movies]]. Some consider it a worthy follow-up to ''Dream Warriors'' with a strong, compelling lead character in Alice, while others consider it an absurd, shallow SFX spectacle that pointlessly [[HappyEndingOverride overrode the previous film's ending]] and officially turned Freddy into a self-parody. And in the middle, there are those who consider it to be the most [[SoOkayItsAverage average]] entry in the series, feeling that it follows the previous film's template a little too closely, but otherwise doesn't commit any major mis-steps apart from killing off the previous film's survivors too quickly, and arguably amping up the humor around Freddy too much.

* ContestedSequel: Over whether it marks the last of [[GoldenAge the good movies]] or the first of [[AudienceAlienatingEra the bad movies]]. Some consider it a worthy follow-up to ''Dream Warriors'' with a strong, compelling lead character in Alice, while others consider it an absurd, shallow SFX spectacle that pointlessly [[HappyEndingOverride overrode the previous film's ending]] and officially turned Freddy into a self-parody.

** Speaking of background music, the downright ''epic'' [[http://youtu.be/9UjNxFF9e9s score]] during Alice's LockAndLoadMontage, an instrumental rock version of "Don't Be Afraid of Your Dreams" that hasn't been officially released. "Fuckin' A", ''indeed''.

** Music/GoWest's "Don't Be Afraid of Your Dreams". It's a beautiful power ballad that could very well serve as Alice's theme.

** Speaking of background music, the downright ''epic'' [[http://youtu.be/9UjNxFF9e9s score]] during Alice's LockAndLoadMontage, an instrumental version of "Don't Be Afraid of Your Dreams" that hasn't been officially released. "Fuckin' A", ''indeed''.

** Debbie's horrifying death scene, [[BalefulPolymorph transforming into a live cockroach]] as Freddy squishes her to death. Made even worse by Alice and Dan being absolutely helpless to stop it.

** Dr. Neil Gordon, one of the few survivors of the third movie, is never mentioned in this chapter. You would imagine that Kristen would warn Alice of his existence so she could look for him and ask for his help against Freddy, including access to Hypnocil, or that Freddy would want to take revenge on him, considering that he was primarily responsible for his defeat in the previous movie. But he never appears again in the franchise and his fate is not revealed. Especially irksome, since he could have easily met the new teenagers at Kristen's funeral.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic: [[spoiler: Alice tries to use the abilities she inherited from her friends to fight Krueger, but they don't do anything to actually harm him. It's only when she successfully recalls the full Dream Master rhyme and stands on her own that brings about Krueger's defeat. The power Alice received from her friends could only take her so far. They gave her the strength not just to fight Freddy, but to find the strength to fight him on her own.]]
* TheWoobie: Kristen, Shelia, Debbie, and Alice.
** Kristen for being [[spoiler: the actual last of the Elm Street kids, and knowing that Krueger is too strong for her to beat on her own so the only option she has is to let herself be killed to keep him from reaching the others. And it ''fails''.]]
** Shelia for being [[spoiler: the very first non-Elm Street victim Krueger claims.]]

** And finally, Alice for [[spoiler: being dragged into a fight with an undead monster she had absolutely no connection to, watching her friends die, watching her brother die, and realizing that the only reason Krueger could get to them was because of her.]]

** Kristen, Joey and Kincaid impress at the beginning in their roles as more confident and self-assured Dream Warriors.

* {{Moe}}: Alice, due to her endearingly introverted personality, her sense of grief about all of the deaths, [[spoiler:especially her brother's,]] and how she remained optimistic and caring even after she TookALevelInBadass.
* MoralEventHorizon: While Freddy was a ''horrible'' excuse for a human being before this, this is the movie that shows just how depraved he is: upon running out of the victims his DealWithTheDevil lets him at, rather than be content with his revenge, [[MotiveDecay Freddy chooses]] to do everything he can to reach out and get ''more'' people to sadistically murder. His monstrous appetite, personality and ambition only gets worse from here with the rest of the series, rising to the heights of becoming an OmnicidalManiac.

** On a meta level, the shot of Freddy putting on a pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses. For many fans, it's the most spectacularly [[TheEighties '80s]] moment in the entire series, and a symbol of the franchise at the height of its "imperial phase" when Freddy was on top of the world as a pop culture icon.

** Kristen, Joey and Kincaid, the three survivors of ''Dream Warriors'', are quickly and brutally murdered at the end of the first act, with forty minutes left before the movie ends. Many fans consider this an insult and feel it makes their entire journey in ''Dream Warriors'' a waste of time. It would have been much more interesting to see them trying to find a way to defeat Freddy, only this time without the help of their mentor Nancy.
** Dr. Neil Gordon, one of the few survivors of the third movie, is never mentioned in this chapter. You would imagine that Kristen would warn Alice of his existence so she could look for him and ask for his help against Freddy, including access to Hypnocil. Or that Freddy would want to take revenge on him, considering that he was primarily responsible for his defeat in the previous movie. But he never appears again in the franchise and his fate is not revealed. Especially irksome, since he could have easily met the new teenagers at Kristen's funeral.

* {{Squick}}: Freddy disguising himself as a human-like nurse. A make up-free Creator/RobertEnglund in drag is suprisingly more disgusting than any violent act Freddy could dish out.

* SigntureScene:

* SignatureScene:
** Debbie's horrifying death scene, [[BalefulPolymorph transforming into a live cockroach]] as Freddy squishes her to death. Made even worse by Freddy and Dan being absolutely helpless to stop it.

* SigntureScene:

* ContestedSequel: Over whether it marks the last of [[GoldenAge the good movies]] or the first of [[DorkAge the bad movies]]. Some consider it a worthy follow-up to ''Dream Warriors'' with a strong, compelling lead character in Alice, while others consider it an absurd, shallow SFX spectacle that pointlessly [[HappyEndingOverride overrode the previous film's ending]] and officially turned Freddy into a self-parody.

** Debbie and Shiela get a decent amount of respect from fans, who enjoy their OddFriendship and find the two entertaining and likable.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: As argued by [[http://www.1000misspenthours.com/reviews/reviewsn-z/nightmareonelmstreet4thedreammaster.htm 1000 Misspent Hours]], the concept of Freddy being limited to just killing the children of his killers could have resulted in him keeping Kristen in a coma (as he did with Joey in ''Dream Warriors''), which would have been a good justification for the character to continue in the lead role. Instead, Kristen is unceremoniously killed and Alice becomes the new heroine.

** Dr. Neil Gordon, one of the few survivors of the third movie, is never mentioned in this chapter. You would imagine that Kristen would warn Alice of his existence so she could look for him and ask for his help against Freddy. Or that Freddy would want to take revenge on him, considering that he was primarily responsible for his defeat in the previous movie. But he never appears again in the franchise and his fate is not revealed.

* MoralEventHorizon: While Freddy was a ''horrible'' excuse for a human being before this, this is the movie that shows just how depraved he is: upon running out of the victims his DealWithTheDevil lets him at, rather than be content with his revenge, Freddy chooses to do everything he can to reach out and get ''more'' people to sadistically murder.

* FranchiseOriginalSin: This was the point where Freddy's motive was [[MotiveDecay no longer]] to get RevengeByProxy on [[SinsOfOurFathers the parents who murdered him]], but just killing for the sake of it now that he'd already finished that job, leaving the plot unmoored and little more than an excuse to get to the kills and dream sequences. This would be the undoing of the next two films, which had to come up with new motives for Freddy to keep killing that merely fed into existing problems concerning his increasingly convoluted backstory. Here, however, the film went with a simpler and more sensible motive: [[ForTheEvulz Freddy is evil and he likes killing people]].

* FranchiseOriginalSin: This was the point where Freddy's motive was [[MotiveDecay no longer]] to get RevengeByProxy on [[SinsOfOurFathers the parents who murdered him]], but just killing for the sake of it now that he'd already finished that job, leaving the plot unmoored and little more than an excuse to get to the kills and dream sequences. This would be the undoing of the next two films, which had to come up with new motives for Freddy to keep killing that merely fed into existing problems concerning his increasingly convoluted backstory. Here, however, the film went with a simpler motive: [[ForTheEvulz Freddy is evil and he likes killing people]].