Robert Englund is back as creepy old Mr Pizza Face in this slightly weaker but welcome sequel that's at least skilfully directed by chiller expert Jack Sholder - after original helmer Wes Craven jumped ship. This time, five years on from the original horrors, it's a teenage boy (Mark Patton) who is having nightmares, in which Freddy Krueger (Englund) is trying to take over his body to go on another killing spree. Clu Gulager and Hope Lange are players too good merely to be watching on the sidelines as Patton's parents, but Kim Myers and Robert Rusler have the right touch as his girlfriend and best mate respectively. Patton is surprisingly good in the main role and so are the special effects (especially the exploding stomach). Englund consolidates his position as one of the screen's great monsters, and both score and photography are excellent.

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