Written by Josh Brewer, March 31, 2017, at 4:45 p.m. Tweet to: @theJWBrewer
Title: A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge
Director: Jack Sholder
Writer: David Chaskin
Release Date: November 1st, 1985
Cast: Mark Patton, Kim Myers, Robert Rusler, Marshall Bell, Robert Englund
Cliff’s Notes
A chronically confused teen moves into Nancy’s house and promptly gets possessed by Freddy. It’s up to his almost girlfriend to save him. Oh, and there’s a ton of homoerotic tension.
Lecture
With Wes Craven feuding with New Line, the Elm Street series fell to Jack Sholder, who promptly shot it in the foot, took it out to the desert, buried it, and left it for dead.
The high points are hard to come by. Englund rocks, as always, but he’s on his own with the rest of the cast struggling with the material. And sure, the effects rock, though I’m left wishing they 
were in a better film.
The entire artistic progression on this flick reeks of desperation. New Line had dollar signs in its evey and thought the commodity could stand without the artists behind it. Alas, without Craven, LangenKamp, or any of the spark that lifted the first film up, Freddy’s Revenge gets left behind as an empty husk of a film.
And then there’s the homoerotic subtext. While I’m all in for a film exploring truth within its characters, it’s done so poorly, and with such malice, that the film is essentially calling homosexuality a monster. Sure, Jessie finds solace with his new friend, but let’s looks at what happens. Jessie’s coming out – in this case, quite literally – is the release of a pedophile monster, who promptly terrorizes a bunch of teens. Not to mention that it’s the love of a good woman that saves him in the end. And let’s not forget about the SM loving coach who finds a student in a gay bar, isolates himself with him, and then orders him to shower. He’s viewed as a predator, just like Freddy, which is both incredibly inaccurate and also needlessly inflammatory.
Acting
Patton does what he can, but he’s being asked to carry a film that doesn’t want to like him or itself. Rusler does alright as the best friend while Myers tries everything she can to make her character not boring. The script doesn’t help. Bell is the scariest thing in here. Englund is always good and this is no exception.
Directing
At Sholder’s best, he’s Craven light. The film suffers through a lack of command, a sense of detachment, and a dearth of scares.
Script
Nothing to write home about. The characters are mostly bland and the dialogue is so wooden you could make a boat out of it. And the nasty homophobic subtext doesn’t help.
Effects
Wide range here, but a few pieces really stood out. My fave is the Freddy through the skin bit!
Highlights
Freddy Tongue equals greatness!
Lowlights
Sadomasochistic high School gym coach. Blerg.
Final Thoughts 
Freddy’s Revenge stands as an unimpressive sequel that desperately misses the series founder. One of the weaker entries in the ANOES series.