The attempts to capitalize on the growing 3D trend of the 1980s wasn't a success for one A Nightmare on Elm Street sequel—Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare ended up becoming an abject failure because of it.

Released in 1991, Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare was the sixth movie in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise—well past its prime. Although several of the original movie's sequels were highly praised and well-regarded by critics and audiences alike, particularly part three, Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, there was a decline as the slasher craze of the 1980s saturated the horror market and every recurring installment in major franchises such as Halloween and Friday the 13th all suffered from plot decisions that were detrimental to the source material. In their sixth installments, Michael Myers was subjected to the ridiculous Curse of Thorn in Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees became a zombie in Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives. 

Related: Why Wes Craven Had Regrets About A Nightmare On Elm Street's Ending

The Final Nightmare introduced ten minutes of 3D "FreddyVision", which was brought to life in part by master special effects and make-up artist John Carl Buechler. However, not even Buechler's expertise could save what was already a lackluster movie with a finale that was more cheesy than the wise-cracking Freddy Krueger—who had already taken hits due to his becoming more comical than terrifying in later installments—could overcome.

Why Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare Was A Failure

Robert Englund Freddy's Dead Movie

Though certainly not solely to blame on The Final Nightmare's use of 3D, the film holds a 20% on Rotten Tomatoes and was generally panned by critics. Some even deigned to label it "the worst film of 1991". Box offices numbers weren't much kinder, though it did manage to gross $34.9 million on an approximate $9-11 million budget. Because of these numbers, it's the fifth highest-grossing installment in the franchise out of six movies. Marketing and promotion of the film seemed to reflect a lack of confidence in the sixth installment.

Freddy was given a funeral that was attended by many prominent cast and crew members of the movie at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. New Line Cinema also worked with the mayor of Los Angeles at the time to give Freddy his own holiday. While other horror movies have utilized some clever marketing in the past, such as the Saw franchise's massive blood drive events, this seemed over the top even for a character like Freddy Krueger.

Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare was New Line Cinema's first foray into 3D, and while the use of it was applied sparingly, it didn't ultimately add anything special to the final cut. The plot of the film—which introduced a daughter for Krueger, who ultimately kills him—is one of the franchise's weakest, though it did lead into the highly-anticipated Freddy vs. Jason in 2003. After The Final Nightmare, the franchise started to slow down. Robert Englund reprised his role as Freddy Krueger for the last time in Freddy vs. Jason, and A Nightmare on Elm Street was remade by Platinum Dunes in 2010. There haven't been any installments since, though with the late Wes Craven's estate being open to taking pitches, there's always a chance Freddy could see new life on the big screen again. Hopefully, any interest in 3D has waned for horror franchises in the 2020s.

Next: Why Many Classic Horror Movies Don't Need A Remake