Taking a one-eighty from the original movie, Part 2 of the A Nightmare on Elm Street series isn't really about Freddy Kreuger at all, although he is certainly in it. It's about Jesse, who's family has moved into the Elm Street house where Nancy and her family lived. Instead of Freddy trying to kill Jesse and his friends, he's trying to use Jesse to kill his friends.
After watching this one though, I could tell that something wasn't quite right about it. I basically had this: "what did I just watch?" reaction. Like I said, the story wasn't at all similar to the first one, and the acting wasn't as good. But I can't really say it was horrible, there was just something off about it. I later read that Wes Craven didn't really want there to be any sequels and he didn't have much to do with this film. I also read that the screenwriter put in a lot of homosexual subtext and cast an openly gay actor in Mark Patton on purpose. That sort of explains all his extremely female sounding screams and mannerisms. If nothing else this movie was bold and brave at the time and at least gives horror fans some memorable scenes like the pool party scene where a Freddy possessed Jesse goes berserk and kills a ton of teens.
It was a bit of train wreck, but I still found enjoyment in it and it helped push the story arc of the series a little further.
And this one gives us the immortal line, "You've got the body. I've got the brains."
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