Home Entertainment: ‘Never Sleep Again’ Blu-ray review

Originally made and released in 2010, Never Sleep Again has now arrived on Blu-Ray via 101 Film. Directed by Daniel Farrands and Andrew Kasch, Never Sleep Again is a four-hour documentary that charts the legacy of the original seven A Nightmare on Elm Street films as well as the crossover, Freddy Vs Jason. 

At four hours long, the documentary is a thorough deep-dive into the creation of the series that began in 1984. Hardly a stone is left unturned as over the course of the run-time, each film gets its time to shine. Featuring a mixture of new (at time of recording) and archived interviews, Never Sleep Again is packed with interesting nuggets of trivia. In a refreshing move, those that are interviewed are not always positive about their work. Hindsight has enabled several elements to be reassessed, and the interviewees are honest about their feelings. Nobody holds back and some unfiltered comments will cause an eyebrow raise or two. One of the series directors in particular comes across as somewhat of a sex pest, hopefully the intervening years have seen a reset of their behaviour. 

Also included on the release is a second disc full of special features. These extras range from trailers to mini featurettes on other aspects of the A Nightmare on Elm Street world. There is a collection of chats with the franchise’s various composers and songwriters, as well as a delve into Freddy’s life in comics, videogames, and a look into some of the most devoted fans of the dream stalker. Also included are yet more interviews with cast and crew. These are segments that didn’t make the final cut. None of them add new information of significance and therefore it is easy to see why they were lost. Navigating through them is a little tricky as they play one after the other with no identifying marker for what film they are discussing. They play in film chronological order, but with each film having a handful of extra material, it gets hard to identify when conversation has switched to the next film, which makes for a disorientating viewing experience. 

The biggest shame is that by being released in 2010, Never Sleep Again was just a few months shy of being a fully comprehensive look at the series. 2010 was of course the year that the remake was released, and even though it did not feature Robert Englund – the common thread between all the other films – it would be interesting to take a peek behind that curtain. Time for a follow-up perhaps? 

Never Sleep Again is available on Blu-Ray via 101 Films now.