1987's A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors was, for a long time, considered the best of the franchise. It introduced a couple elements that influenced other films, like the group of institutionalised teens working together and people using the dream world to their advantage. This was also the first film to give Freddy Krueger more wisecracks, and at this point they're low key enough that they work. Of course, they're really sadistic. I like the "Where's the fucking bourbon" bit.
Patricia Arquette is good in the movie. She seems to have had a taste for horror. I also saw her recently in a 1990 episode of Tales from the Crypt, a fascinating vignette called "Four-Sided Triangle" in which she works on a farm for a dysfunctional married couple. The guy (Chelcie Ross) is always trying to schtup Arquette's character but she loses touch with reality and believes a scarecrow is her boyfriend.
Eventually the guy tries to impersonate the scarecrow. Both the Tales from the Crypt episode and Nightmare on Elm Street 3 feature surprise substitutions of a loved one for a reviled one. The beloved face is suddenly revealed to be a mask for the demon. In Nightmare on Elm Street 3, it's one of the things that keep reality in a constant state of instability and deprive the protagonists of a sense of safety. In "Four-sided Triangle," it functions more as a commentary on the arbitrary nature of reality, as Arquette's character doesn't learn that her beloved scarecrow was secretly invested with the body of the man she hated and feared. Not that it works out too well for the guy. Malleable reality has its advantages, but it can backfire. The rules are there to protect you as much as the people you might want to take advantage of. Making new rules can backfire, whether due to bad luck or to dealing with a demon, as in the case of Freddy Krueger, who's had a lot more practice at distorting reality.
I like the cheesy music video Dokken made for the movie.
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