A Nightmare on Elmstreet Part II: Freddy's Revenge (1985)
12-month trend
12-month trend
Monthly article views
2025-09 to 2026-08
A teenager begins experiencing terrifying nightmares about a legendary killer after moving into a haunted house.
The story
Five years after Freddy Krueger's apparent defeat, the Walsh family moves into Nancy Thompson's former home. Their teenage son, Jesse, begins having recurring nightmares about Krueger. Jesse and his friend Lisa Webber discover Nancy's diary, which details nightmares strikingly similar to his own. As small fires break out around the house and the dreams intensify, Jesse struggles to stay awake. He eventually begins wandering the streets at night, leading to a series of dangerous encounters where Freddy begins to manifest in the real world, threatening Jesse's life and those around him.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Five years after Freddy Krueger's apparent defeat, the Walsh family moves into Nancy Thompson's former home. Their teenage son, Jesse, begins having nightmares about Freddy. Jesse and his friend Lisa Webber find Nancy's diary, which describes similar nightmares. Small fires occur, and the family's birds spontaneously combust. In a nightmare, Freddy tells Jesse to kill for him. Jesse tries to stay awake but eventually wanders the streets at night. He is caught by his gym teacher, Coach Schneider, in a gay bar and is punished with laps. In the gym showers, Freddy kills Schneider, and Jesse finds the glove on his hand. Jesse later confesses to killing Schneider to his friend Ron Grady. When Grady falls asleep, Freddy emerges from Jesse's body and kills him. Freddy then takes over Jesse's body, who flees to Lisa's house. Lisa realizes Jesse's terror gives Freddy strength. Freddy attacks Lisa but cannot harm her due to Jesse's influence, so he slaughters the partygoers instead. Lisa drives to the abandoned factory, confronts Freddy, and kisses him. Jesse begins to fight back, Freddy combusts into ash, and Jesse emerges. Later, on a bus, Freddy's clawed arm bursts through Lisa's friend Kerry's chest as the bus drives into a field.
- First release year
- 1985
- Runtime (minutes)
- 87
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Jack Sholder
- Writers
- David Chaskin · writer
- Cast and characters
- Mark Patton · Jesse Walsh; Kim Myers · Lisa Webber; Robert Englund · Freddy Krueger; Robert Rusler · Ron Grady; Clu Gulager · Ken Walsh; Hope Lange · Cheryl Walsh; Marshall Bell · Coach Schneider; Sydney Walsh · Kerry Hellman
- Genres
- supernatural slasher; horror
- Themes
- spirit possession; repressed sexual angst; homoerotic subtext
- Tone and mood
- supernatural; horror; mixed
- Premise and plot tags
- sequel; possession; slasher; teen horror
- Source material / true-story basis
- A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
- Franchise connections
- A Nightmare on Elm Street
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews upon release, with many comparing it unfavorably to its predecessor. However, it has since enjoyed success as a cult classic, particularly for its homoerotic themes.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 49% · review count: 37; Metacritic · score: 43 · scale: 100
- Production trivia
- The film was originally intended to use a rubber mask for Freddy instead of Robert Englund.; The pregnancy plot device was rejected by New Line because an executive was pregnant.; The film was once referred to as 'the gayest horror film ever'.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
Your lists
Loading your lists…