Nightmare On Elm Street 2’s Bizarre NeverEnding Story In-Joke

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Late in Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge, the sequel features one of the franchise’s silliest in-jokes in a bizarre reference to The NeverEnding Story. Although the soft rock singer Limahl is mainly known only for his biggest hit, the title track of The NeverEnding Story, popular culture has seemingly conspired to ensure that this song will keep him relevant forever. In recent years, the season 3 finale of Netflix hit Stranger Things hinged, bizarrely, on a high-stakes sing-along to Limahl’s lone hit.

That scene went viral shortly after the show arrived on Netflix, but an earlier slasher movie also made a point of referencing Limahl’s work shortly after The Never-Ending Story's theme song hit the charts. Released in 1985, Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge was the first sequel to director Wes Craven’s acclaimed slasher classic. Unlike 1984’s original Nightmare On Elm Street, this comparatively humorless sequel earned largely bad reviews.

Related: Everything 2009’s Friday The 13th Reboot Got Right

However, despite taking itself seriously for much of its runtime, the sequel features one goofy, out-of-place in-joke that references Limahl’s big hit. In the final act of Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge, there is a tense scene set in the bedroom of Ron, the protagonist Jesse’s friend. Ron’s room has a prominently displayed Limahl poster, reminding viewers of the Never-Ending Story’s theme song which includes the Freddy-appropriate lyrics “dream a dream, and what you dream will be.” Although it’s a clever in-joke, it is a bizarre one to include in an otherwise dark, self-serious sequel with few moments of (intentional) comic relief outside of its over-the-top opening scene.

Indeed, shortly after