One of Craven's best ideas, but poorly executed...

Yeah?

I agree. It’s a lot better than I remember, however.

That's one way of putting it. This film is a mess.

Wes Craven has such a peculiar filmography, many of his contemporaries such as Tobe Hooper, George A. Romero, John Carpenter, Dario Argento etc, 'lost it' somewhere along the way. Their filmographies are strong and consistent till the wheels came off after which they released dud after dud.

Wes Craven's first film was good (The Last House on the Left) and his last film was good too (Scream 4) that spans 39 years, he seemed to climatize to modern filmmaking much better than his contemporaries, he never lost it however he was never as consistent as the others, he would release a great film followed by a few duds only to release another great film.

Thinking about it a lot of his films are cheesefests, that's almost his style that is best typified by films like Deadly Friend and Shocker. His first few were rough and edgy then it's pure cheese until the mid-90s (yes, A Nightmare on Elm Street is great however it too is a bit cheesy). That was when he peaked I'd say, The People Under the Stairs, New Nightmare, Scream and Scream 2. He peaked when many of his contemporaries were past it.