The actor who played little Gage Creed, Miko Hughes, from the original Pet Sematary is all grown up and starring in a pretty good Nightmare on Elm Street fan film. It’s actually billed as an unofficial sequel to Wes Craven’s 1994 meta-upon-meta opus Freddy’s New Nightmare. Hughes returns to the role of Heather Lagencamp’s son, Dylan, from that film.
Written and directed by Cecil Laird, this new entry into the Nightmare universe is not only competent in its execution but serves as a great homage to both Craven and the original Freddy Krueger, Robert Englund. In fact, the actor who plays Freddy in this new chapter, Dave McRae, is so good at capturing the character, he should be cast (barring Englund’s return) as the creepy villain going forward in any major studio entries to the franchise. He has that perfect comedic beat that, until now, only Englund could serve.
Great detail has been put into the practical make-up effects. Artist Nora Hewitt and prosthetic sculpture artist, Mikey Rotella, must have worked late into the hours on some nights to get it right, and their attention to detail gives us an updated Freddy with more pronounced sunken-in features, but it feels fresh and apropos.
This one is on par, maybe better than a few of the big studio films.