Series: “The Horrors of Renny Harlin (1987 – 2004)”

   Rabies and germs, welcome to Nickelbib.com, my name is Nick, and, for this series, we will be delving into the work of film director Renny Harlin.

   Previously on The ‘Bib, I started my deep dive into the career of Wes Craven, sharing my opinion on The Last House on the Left, The Hills Have Eyes, Deadly Blessing, and Swamp Thing, the first four films in the illustrious director’s filmography. I fully intend to delve deeper into his career soon on The ‘Bib, but, before that, I thought it would be interesting if I could shine the spotlight on a filmmaker who is, perhaps, maybe not as revered or prolific as Wes Craven, but has still had a respectable career in the horror genre.

   In general, the structure of how I conduct reviews on The ‘Bib also allows me to catalog writers, actors, and even cinematographers and celebrate their contribution to the genre that we all know and love.

   Renny Harlin is a director whose name I wasn’t particularly familiar with before I decided to make him the subject of a new series, but a director whose work I had already been acquainted with.

   Fittingly, his sophomore effort in the horror genre was actually as the director of A Nightmare on Elm Street 4, which works in tandem to my previous on director Wes Craven.

   He is also a director who will be put to the test in a very ambitious and prolific way soon as he was a director for the upcoming Strangers trilogy, a trio of films that were made back-to-back-to-back and will reportedly all be released in 2024. If the stars align for Harlin the way I believe they have the potential to, there is a chance that this round of movies will mark his biggest contribution to the horror genre altogether, a contribution I look forward to discussing at a later date, but, before that, I will be looking at the first four horror or horror-adjacent films in his filmography.

   Beyond horror, Renny Harlin has also directed other noteworthy movies, such as Die Hard II, Skiptrace, or The Legend of Hercules, to name a few, but, for this exercise, I will only be focusing on films that are either horror or adjacent enough that I believe they warrant my consideration.

   Thus, for this series, I will be sharing my opinion on the 1987 film Prison, the 1988 film A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, the 1999 film Deep Blue Sea, and the 2004 film Mindhunters.

   The reviews can be appreciated by themselves for the most part, but I do try to create an ongoing journey / exploration that I think can best be enjoyed by reading them in order. Hidy ho! 

• Prison (1987)

• A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 (1988)

• Deep Blue Sea (1999)

• Mindhunters (2004)