After 1985’s A Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge became a disappointing sequel to the surprisingly successful original film, the series clearly required a jolt. 1987's A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors provided exactly the kick needed to jumpstart the franchise and it remains one of the better films in the series.

Warriors picks up where Revenge probably should have started: with the further adventures of the first film's protagonist, Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp). Actually, the story doesn't truly focus on her, as she doesn't enter the tale until it's already well underway. However, Nancy becomes a prime participant in the activities and her engagement is crucial for the movie, whereas Revenge almost seemed to function in its own special universe.

This sense of continuity adds a connection lacking in Revenge and it immediately makes Warriors a more compelling and stimulating film. This is the true follow-up to the original after the preceding aberration, and though it's not a truly great picture, it remains one of the very best of the series.

Warriors starts in a manner similar to the first two: teenage girl Kristen (Patricia Arquette) becomes terrorized in her dreams by our old buddy Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund). When Kristen’s injuries are mistaken for a suicide attempt, her uninvolved mother Elaine (Brooke Bundy) checks her in to a mental hospital where she's grouped with other teens who have serious sleep disturbances.

Since the staff at the hospital seem unable to figure what's happening to the kids, eventually grad student Nancy enters the picture and gets down to business. Inevitably, the specter of Freddy haunts the lot, and they strive to fight back against the nocturnal threat.

Warriors succeeds because it doesn't attempt to replicate the exact formula of the first film. Revenge came across too much like a weak remake of the original, and its attempts to deviate from the "rules" seemed misguided at best.

Unlike that picture, Warriors clearly functions within the same universe as the first movie. It also makes a strong name for itself on its own.

Actually, I think a valid comparison between the two films views Nightmare as similar to Alien while Warriors expands the plot ala Aliens. The first projects in both series stayed with a fairly small, claustrophobic focus, but the sequels in question broaden the horizons and take the stories into new realms.

While Warriors doesn't deviate to the degree seen in Aliens, it does incorporate some similar themes. That feels especially true since this movie casts Nancy as a scarred survivor who becomes a mother/protector to others.

Not in a million years do I think Warriors is one-tenth as good as Aliens, but it works well for part of its series. Actually, I used to be very fond of the film but my passion has cooled quite a bit to the point where I still like it but not to an extreme.

Part of that stems from the fact it seems awfully dated. The movie’s corny music and outfits have not aged well.

Despite that factor, Warriors remains a fun and splashy entry in the series, and director Chuck Russell manages to keep the action light and engaging. Notably, this film marks the first appearance of the glib, wise-cracking Freddy who would become so famous.

In the first two movies, he felt much more blunt and serious, but now he's the Henny Youngman of the slasher set. It's tempting to knock this aspect of the film because of the excessively comic tone that would appear in later efforts, but I shouldn't fault an original due to problems with its imitators. Within this environment, the comedy works well and adds spice to the affair.

Although I don't consider A Nightmare On Elm Street 3 to be a great film, it remains light and frothy fun. The movie goes for a more action-oriented feel than the first two pictures and it largely succeeds in that realm. Despite some flaws, it offers a generally compelling experience and makes for one of the better horror flicks of the 1980s.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors appears in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This was a decent transfer but not one that excelled.

Sharpness was usually adequate. While the movie lacked great definition, it showed reasonable accuracy and didn’t suffer from problematic instances of softness.

Grain seemed natural, and I saw no print flaws. I witnessed no issues with moiré effects or jaggies, and edge haloes remained absent.

> Colors were decent but reflected the issues that affected some of the era’s film stocks. This meant hues that seemed a but mushy, but the Blu-ray mostly displayed acceptable to good tones.

Blacks were also a little inky at times, but they seemed fine as a whole, and shadows showed reasonably solid clarity. Nothing here stood out as great but the image was acceptable.

For most of the film, the remixed DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Warriors appeared to be the least active of the first three pictures. Had the soundfield not come alive during the film's third act, I probably would have given it a lower rating than I did.

Happily, the remix made much better use of the surrounds at that time and created a more satisfying sound experience. For the most part, spatial use felt limited, but the final third formed a nice soundstage.

This even delivered some effective use of split surrounds during scenes like the one in which Freddy rips up the padded room. I would prefer that the whole track sounded that good, but at least the audio came through in the end.

The track's quality appeared stronger than those of the first two films, so it's clear a budget increase helped out in this department. Dialogue showed the most improvement, as lines sounded consistently natural and clear, with little of the flatness that dogged the first two movies.

Effects were more of a mixed bag, but they also showed increased fidelity and crispness. The music sounded about the same, which isn't surprising since it's a similar synthesizer score.

At least the low end improved in this film, as it came across as more taut and deep. The track provided a pretty good experience given its age and budget.

How did the Blu-ray compare to the original DVD version? The lossless audio added clarity and range, while visuals seemed better defined and more vivid. Though still a product of its era, the Blu-ray turned into the more satisfying rendition.

Under Behind the Story, we get seven featurettes. This domain includes "Fan Mail” (0:45), “Onward Christian Soldiers” (9:01), “Snakes and Ladders” (6:04), “Trading 8’s” (4:09), “That’s Show Biz” (2:00), “Burn Out” (3:38), and “The House That Freddy Built” (0:38).

Across these, we hear from screenwriters Wes Craven, Frank Darabont and Bruce Wagner, line producer Rachel Talalay, director Chuck Russell, Elm Street 2 director Jack Sholder and actors Dick Cavett, Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp and John Saxon.

The segments look at development and story/characters, effects, cast and performances, and various scene specifics. We get a good array of notes here.

In addition to the film’s trailer, we get a music video for Dokken's “Dream Warriors”. It mainly mixes movie shots with band material, though it does so in a more creative than usual manner – and tosses in a short Freddy cameo unique to the video at the end.

Among the Nightmare on Elm Street sequels, Dream Warriors remains one of the best. While dated and cheesy at times, it still manages to become a fun horror adventure. The Blu-ray brings decent picture and audio along with minor supplements. Though not an impressive disc, the movie remains enjoyable.

Note that this version of Warriors comes paired with 1987’s A Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge as a two-movie package. It also can be found as part of a bargain priced seven-movie set with the whole collection of Nightmare flicks from 1984 through 1994.