History Film / WesCravensNewNightmare

* Foreshadowing: Heather reading Hansel and Gretel[[spoiler: echos how her and Dylan kill the demonic entity at the climax. Extra bonus if you look at the picture, you can see the witch in the drawing is wearing stripped clothing similar to Freddy.]]

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler:The movie leaves what happens to Robert Englund ambiguous. The last we see of him he seems to have become possessed by the Freddy Entity. It's unclear if Freddy ultimately [[DemonicPossession took
over his body]] to fight Nancy or not, and if he did, whether that means that Heather killed Robert.]]

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler:The movie leaves what happens to Robert Englund ambiguous. The last we see of him he seems to have become possessed by the Freddy Entity. It's unclear if Freddy ultimately [[DemonicPossession took over his body]] to fight Nancy or not, and if he did, whether that means that Heather killed Robert.]]

Despite being one of the better-received ''Elm Street'' films, the film [[AcclaimedFlop wasn't as big at the box office]], garnering 16 million dollars with its 8 million budget. It's self-aware tone and deconstruction of the horror genre is considered a precursor to ''Film/{{Scream 1996}}'', which Craven directed two years later, though while ''Scream'' went onto become a blockbuster film and genre touchstone, ''New Nightmare'' settled for more of a cult following. [[SequelGap 25 years later]], a fan-film continuation of the movie has been announced, with Miko Hughes (who played Heather's son Dylan) returning.

* CreepyChild: Dylan becomes one as the movie progresses.

-->'''Heather Langenkamp:''' [Dylan] doesn't need to be awake to be on his feet!

Despite being one of the better-received ''Elm Street'' films, the film [[AcclaimedFlop wasn't as big at the box office]], garnering 16 million dollars with its 8 million budget. It's self-aware tone and deconstruction of the horror genre is considered a precursor to ''Film/{{Scream 1996}}'', which Craven directed two years later, though while ''Scream'' went onto become a blockbuster film and genre touchstone, ''New Nightmare'' settled for more of a cult following.

* ItWontTurnOff: Heather's son keeps watching the original ''´Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet1984'', even after Heather pulls the plug on the TV.

* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: A real supernatural entity tries to use the belief in and popularity of Freddy Krueger to manifest in the real world, adopting Freddy's identity. Creator/WesCraven (playing himself) explains that stories, and people's belief in them, have always been the bridge between the real world and the supernatural.

* CallBack: Many to the first film and to the sequels. This includes the Freddy and Alice morphing head from ''[[Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet5TheDreamChild The Dream Child]]'' appearing as a prop at the beginning and Robert Englund quoting the "You are all my children now!" line from ''[[Film/ANightmareOnElmStreetPart2FreddysRevenge Freddy's Revenge]]''.

* AdultFear: Although Heather's troubles are being caused by Freddy, they're based on real-world fears that don't actually require a supernatural presence. The doctors can't tell what's wrong with her son, her son wanders off into traffic, she loses her husband in a car accident, she's got a stalker and an earthquake damages her house. Your young son climbing to the very top of a jungle gym will give any parent palpitations, much less him falling off.

** Nancy removing Freddy's power through belief is a call back to the climax of the first film. It could be argued that Craven was doing a TakeThat to the ExecutiveMeddling that changed the ending of the first film.

* MeanCharacterNiceActor: Robert Englund's fictional counterpart in this film is [[RealLife/MeanCharacterNiceActor much like the real-life guy]]; talkative and jovial, and genuinely enjoys the villainous role he's playing.

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_3997531020a_459.jpg]]

** Nancy removing Freddy's power through belief is a call back to the climax of the first film. It could be argued that Craven was doing a TakeThat to the ExecutiveMeddling and changed ending of the first film.

* TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou: This movie involved Freddy escaping into the "real world", so that a new movie had to be made to imprison him again.

* RealitySubtext: In the 1984 "Making Of..." documentary for the first ''Nightmare'' film, Langenkamp noted that the cast and crew of the film really started having nightmares about Fred Krueger.

->'''Wes Craven:''' ''I think the only way to stop him is to make another movie. Now I swear to you I'm gonna stay by this computer and keep writing until I finish the script, but... when the time comes, you're gonna have to make a choice.''
->'''Heather Langenkamp:''' ''Choice? What kind of choice?''
->'''Wes Craven:''' ''Whether or not you will be willing to play Nancy one last time.''

* DarkerAndEdgier: The film was a very conscious shift away from the {{camp}} of the later ''Nightmare'' sequels, and was probably the least humorous film in the series outside the original.

* {{Deconstruction}}: The theme of the film is the fact that, as one character says, “Every kid knows who Freddy is. He’s like SantaClaus, or Film/KingKong," and that people have a hard time judging reality from fiction, such as Heather being asked if she would trust her son around Robert Englund, just because he's an ''actor'' who happens to play Freddy. Of course, the concept goes meta when it works in not only Heather's real-life experiences with a stalker, but also the 1994 Northridge earthquake, which happened ''during filming''. In the end, Craven considers Freddy just a fairy-tale (as seen with the tie-in to ''HanselAndGretel'', and Heather reading the script as if it were a storybook to her son).

* BecomingTheMask: The Entity that was sealed as Freddy Krueger has been stuck as him for so long that he thinks he ''is'' Freddy, and by extension Heather is [[FinalGirl Nancy.]]

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler:The movie leaves it ambiguous what happens to Robert Englund. The last we see of him he seems to have become possessed by the Freddy Entity. It's unclear if Freddy ultimately [[DemonicPossession took over his body]] to fight Nancy or not, and if he did, whether that means that Heather killed Robert.]]

[[quoteright:348:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_3997531020a_459.jpg]]

'''''Wes Craven's New Nightmare''''' is the seventh ''Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet'' film, released in 1994, ten years after the original. It is the only film in the franchise besides the first to be directed by series creator and horror maestro Creator/WesCraven.

Despite being one of the better received ''Elm Street'' films, the film [[AcclaimedFlop wasn't as big at the box office]], garnering 16 million dollars with its 8 million budget. It's self-aware tone and deconstruction of the horror genre is considered a precursor to ''Film/{{Scream 1996}}'', which Craven directed two years later, though while ''Scream'' went onto become a blockbuster film and genre touchstone, ''New Nightmare'' settled for more of a cult following.

* SealedEvilInACan: Freddy Krueger himself, but he's not really "Freddy" so much as Evil Itself taking on the form of Freddy, and there needs to be a script made in order to contain it.