1987 Directed by Chuck Russell
It's been many years since Freddy Krueger's first victim, Nancy, came face-to-face with Freddy and his sadistic, evil ways. Now, Nancy's all grown up; she's put her frightening nightmares behind her and is helping teens cope with their dreams. Too bad Freddy's decided to herald his return by invading the kids' dreams and scaring them into committing suicide.
Patricia Arquette Heather Langenkamp Craig Wasson Robert Englund Ken Sagoes Rodney Eastman Jennifer Rubin Bradley Gregg Ira Heiden Laurence Fishburne Penelope Sudrow John Saxon Priscilla Pointer Nan Martin Clayton Landey Brooke Bundy Kristen Clayton Sally Piper Rozlyn Sorrell Stacey Alden Dick Cavett Zsa Zsa Gabor Michael Rougas Jack Shea Paul Kent Mary Brown Melanie Doctors Donna Durham
Rick Barker Gary Littlejohn Debby Porter Tony Snegoff William R. Perry Joe Gilbride Gregg Dandridge Bob K. Cummings
Painajainen Elm Streetillä 3 – Unien soturit, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 - Dream Warriors, Rémálom az Elm utcában 3.: Álomharcosok, Freddy - Chapitre 3 - Les Griffes du cauchemar, Pesadilla en la Calle Elm 3 Guerrero de los Sueños, Nightmare on Elm Street 3 - Freddy Krüger Lebt, Freddy 3, Pesadilla en la Calle del Infierno 3, Pesadilla en Elm Street 3: Los guerreros del sueño, A Nightmare On Elm Street 3, Pesadilla 3, Freddy 3 - Les Griffes du cauchemar, エルム街の悪夢3 惨劇の館, エルム街の悪夢 3 惨劇の館, Nightmare III - Freddy Krüger lebt, Koszmar z Ulicy Wiązów 3: Wojownicy Snów, Nightmare III - Freddy Krueger lebt, Кошмар на улице Вязов 3: Воины сна, Les Griffes du cauchemar, Nightmare 3 - I guerrieri del sogno, Pesadilla En Elm Street 3: Los Guerreros Del Sueño, Pesadelo em Elm Street 3, Painajainen Elm Streetillä 3 - Unien soturit, Кошмари на Елм Стрийт 3, Terror på Elm Street 3 - Freddys återkomst, Rémálom az Elm utcában 3. - Álomharcosok, Страва у улици Брестова 3: Ратници снова, 猛鬼街3：梦之战, Noční můra v Elm Street 3: Bojovníci ze sna, エルム街の悪夢３ 惨劇の館, Morderisk mareridt 3, Εφιάλτης στο Δρόμο με τις Λεύκες 3: Πολεμιστές του Ονείρου, סיוט ברחוב אלם 3: לוחמי החלומות, A Hora do Pesadelo 3: Os Guerreiros dos Sonhos, Freddy 3 : Les Griffes du cauchemar, 나이트메어 3: 꿈의 전사, Un coșmar pe strada Elm 3: Războinicii viselor, Elm Sokağında Kabus 3: Rüya Savaşçıları, Кошмар на вулиці В’язів 3: Воїни снів, Terror på Elm Street 3 - Freddys tilbakekomst, 半夜鬼上床3：猛鬼逛街, Pesadilla en la calle del infierno 3, นิ้วเขมือบ 3, Nočná mora v Elm Street 3: Bojovníci zo sna, Strava u Ulici brijestova 3: Ratnici snova, Malson a Elm Street 3
USAR
France12
Spain
FinlandK-18
UK18
Germany18
Netherlands16
Brazil18
PortugalM/18
Netherlands16
Netherlands16
Brazil
Finland
France
Germany
Netherlands
Portugal
Spain
UK
USA
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'Nightmare on Elm Street 3: The Dream Warriors' is probably my overall favorite in the series, even more than the first and 'New Nightmare', which is really saying something. For me, this time it is personal, for real. I spent 1987-1988 more often than not incarcerated in private for-profit adolescent psychiatric hospitals which existed primarily to defraud the insurance programs of worried parents, the worry largely manufactured by the private for-profit adolescent psychiatric hospital industry. Maybe your child is using drugs, maybe your child is listening to heavy metal, maybe your child is engaged in self-mutilation, maybe your child is a satanist, maybe your child has a severe mental illness. What is awesome is that these were not mere scare…
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Psychokinetic warfare. Wonderful in that it combines terror and trauma within the dynamics of group therapy. You're in it with these kids for each moment. Every big name filmmaker is stealing from this now, but they don't have Russell's wit or audacity to merge Harryhausen and Dali and Forman together, or truly commit to the horror-fantasy genre. Forget its series connections, this is one of a kind.
Now THIS is MY Freddy Kreuger: an aggressively foul-mouthed, snide, shit-talking, cheeky bastard who creatively & individually tailors his kills and spouts iconic one-liners as he terrorizes a bunch of vulnerable, insecure kids. Every Freddy after this is just a more wackadoo version of the same thing, but to me this is the peak of the character, with the marionette kill probably being my favorite of the whole franchise. The plot itself is more deeply elevated here too, using the “boogeyman” as a parallel to depression, suicidal thoughts, and self-harm and making our characters feel like real people that we actually know and sometimes are. The “our weaknesses make us stronger” schtick has always been a little too silly and on-the-nose…
Definitely heading into the realm of Freddy as broad trash-talking weirdo which does mute some of the scariness but the premise of preying on personal anxieties/histories/fears through dream imagery is still incredibly strong and this still manages to take Craven's surreal exploration of adolescence's first exposure to the dark, rotting underbelly, the sickness lurking just beneath the surface of the American suburb and lean into the subtext about abuse and mental health in very effective ways. Not to mention Chuck Russell's impulse towards playfully absurd images and tangible, textured body horror made him about as perfect of a choice for this group-therapy-through-horror-fantasy-setpieces material as there likely was.
Either because of Claire's superlative review or perhaps just because we tend to see things similarly, it was inevitable that I would also make note of the oppressive language and behavior of the supposed caretakers in this film. Ultimately, what this film shows is the contrast between responses to survivors of abuse, illustrated in the reactions of the staff members, ranging from exploitative (furthering the abuse) to dismissive (calling suicide "cowardly") to misguided (sedation) to acceptance and belief (Nancy). The last is what I want to talk about, and the one crucial piece I think Claire didn't address (for good reasons, I think, in that she was taking on that role herself in her writing).
Nancy's role is that of…
Honestly probably my favorite film in the series. I’m not saying it’s technically better than the first, but I do enjoy it more overall. That might have something to with one of my earliest horror memories being of my parents visiting friends one Friday evening when this premiered on network TV. They had an older daughter who was watching it in her room and I snuck in and watched it with her and was terrified but also completely into it.
It has some really great atmosphere and I especially love how well it walks that fine line between serious and camp that none of the other movies in the series really did (or tried to do). The fight scene with Freddy’s skeleton looks so ridiculous that I actually love it every time I watch.
Plus I mean, Heather Langenkamp, Patricia Arquette, Laurence Fishburne, and a cameo by Zsa Zsa Gabor? Come in what’s not to love!
So much of what we know about Freddy comes from this film. What makes it stand apart from the others is how well developed and clearly defined the characters are. Each kid is a real person with real fears and pain. A product of their time and circumstances? There's a sadness in Dream Warriors. What could be worse than dying while vulnerable and afraid? Being violated in place where you're supposed to be safe. In an interview Wes Craven discussed being afraid to go to sleep because of recurring nightmares as a child, he begged his Mother to come with him and she said "That's the one place I can't go with you". Such a terrifying thought, to be truly…
