THE VIDEO Dokken, "Dream Warriors," Back for the Attack, 1987, Elektra
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SAMPLE LYRIC "We're the dream warriors (dream warriorrrs) / don't wanna dream no more! / we're the dream warriors (dream warriorrrs) / and maybe tonight, maybe tonight you'll be gone"
THE VERDICT It's always tough to decide what video to cover each week, so any time some outside event prompts me to have an inspiration, I take it. Such is the case with this week's video, prompted by last week's release of a new remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street. Why they had to make a new version of this, I don't know, given that they've kept the plot almost exactly the same (and that the original was so critically acclaimed).
Anyway, it's much, much easier to just remake an old movie than to come up with anything new, so maybe I should save this post for the inevitable remake of The Dream Warrior. But given that it's more likely they'll either a) give up on remaking this series or b) take it in a completely different direction, let's just look back on this one. (Which, now that I'm thinking about it, seems to be the most well-regarded of the sequels, which probably means it will get remade. Sigh.)
The gist of ANOES3: The Dream Warrior is that Patricia Arquette has the power to bring other people into her dreams, allowing the characters (under the tutelage of the heroine of the first movie, who is now a therapist at the hospital where they have all been committed) to team up to fight Freddy.
This was Patricia Arquette's first movie, but heck, her career has kind of come full circle, right? From Dream Warrior to Medium: She might not have reprised her Elm Street role in The Dream Master, but to this very day she's still playing women with creepy dreams.
The video kicks off with Patricia Arquette making a sort of little craft dollhouse out of what appears to be a popsicle sticks and some old copies of Circus magazine. It comes out half looking like the creepy dollhouse thing that's actually in the movie, and half like the creepy dollhouse thing from Quiet Riot's "Twilight Hotel" video.
Some of the next scenes in the video more or less mimic a lot of the first scenes of the movie -- Patricia Arquette dreams about seeing a little girl go into a rundown house, follows her in there, next thing they're in a boiler room, next thing "Freddy's home!" and they need to GTFO. A point of difference, however: In the video, Mick Brown is somehow drumming inside the chamber that heats the boiler!
I should clarify that unlike nearly all other videos from movie soundtracks, "Dream Warriors" does not feature scenes from the movie intercut with scenes of the band performing. Instead, it has actual sequences that appear to have been filmed just for the video intercut with scenes of the band performing. Yes, this video relies heavily on reaction shots: Cut to George Lynch. Cut to Patricia Arquette looking repulsed. Cut to George Lynch. Cut to Patricia Arquette smiling. And so on and so forth.
While most of the action takes place in the abandoned house, Dokken appear to be playing in some kind of papier-mache cave. The closest we see to a genuine interaction where Nightmare characters appear to come into contact with the band is when Freddy's arm drags George Lynch backward through the wall. Freddy is so obscured in this though it's hard to say if it's actually Robert Englund or just someone in a felt hat and claw glove. Never the less, it's more love than the Vinnie Vincent Invasion ever got.
And as per always, Dokken are killing it. Okay technically Don is looking pretty old and tired. But Jeff Pilson has teased his hair to new heights, and makes really intense faces as he does the backup vocals. George as per always is my favorite. He has his Mr. Scary guitar, and his sleeveless tee is making him look extra lanky (pre-body builder George is sooo much hotter than post).
Long story short, I totally don't get the remake thing. They're all "we're reinventing it for a new generation." Umm, as far as I can tell from everything I've read, the main thing they're changing is that the teens in the movie were all molested by Freddy as children, which while adding an upsetting undertone isn't exactly a game-changer. I'm also assuming that the new "more serious" Freddy won't be rapping with the Fat Boys anytime soon.
And I know, I know, blablabla CGI blablabla, but isn't it kind of cooler being like "damn they did that with pancake batter" or even just like, tons of red dye and corn syrup than just "oh yeah that's computers." It's making buckets of money, sure, but critics sure seem to hate it. But you know, buckets of money, so. They've already contracted a bunch of the actors for one or both of two planned sequels. Let's just hope they bring Dokken back for the third one.