A Nightmare on Elm Street «
R, 95m. 2010
Cast & Credits: Jackie Earle Haley (Freddy Krueger), Kyle Gallner (Quentin O’Grady), Rooney Mara (Nancy Holbrook), Katie Cassidy (Kris Fowles), Thomas Dekker (Jesse Braun), Kellan Lutz (Dean Russell), Clancy Brown (Alan Smith), Connie Britton (Dr. Gwen Holbrook), Lia D. Mortensen (Nora Fowles). Screenplay by Wesley Strick and Eric Heisserer based on characters by Wes Craven. Directed by Samuel Bayer.
There is only one reason why this most unnecessary remake of Wes Craven’s 1984 horror classic grossed over $32 million opening weekend making it number one at the box office. The answer has to do with Jackie Earle Haley, last seen as the faceless Rorschach in last Spring’s anti-hero epic, "Watchmen" (2009). Here Haley is practically unrecognizable with his burned, scarred face, the black and red striped sweater, hat, and four bladed metallic hand as a supernatural child serial murderer who haunts the dreams of high school teenagers on Elm Street.
I know in the minds of horror geeks were it not for the desire to see Haley as Freddy Krueger in a macabre role, first made famous by Robert Englund back in over a handful of follow-ups the past two decades, there would be no reason to see this retread of "A Nightmare on Elm Street."
Like so many remakes of twenty plus year old classics Hollywood seems intent on destroying all because they have run out of original ideas, this latest redo begs the question, “Why even bother when the original was practically flawless to begin with?” That depends on who you talk to, that is. I already know the answer. Like last year’s successful box office reboot of "Friday the 13th", whose sequel is now officially dead, or the redo of "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" (2003), the whole purpose of studios bringing these dormant horror franchises back to life is not just to lure a whole new generation of fans of such notorious movie psycho slashers as Jason, Leatherface, and Freddy Krueger, but to show how much better today’s filmmakers stupidly think their versions are when they have a larger budget to play with.
When will horror want-to-be movie makers learn the reason films like Craven’s original Nightmare was so effective in a fun, creepy way, and maybe even suspenseful, was because they were made on very low budgets. The original was by no means a classic, but the idea was clever in a grotesque way. It’s been over twenty years since I saw the first one, but I remember some of the horrific eye-popping visuals. I vaguely recall Johnny Depp, for example, in his first movie role as one of the victims whose innards and blood decorate an entire bedroom. I can’t remember if in the first one when one of the high school teens answers the phone in her dreams if Freddy’s bulging tongue comes out from the receiver to lick her face. I do remember one poor soul though turning into a cockroach but that was in a later installment.
This latest Elm Street reincarnation is literally a nightmare and not the kind where you are scared to go to sleep. It’s the kind where you are so bored watching what’s on screen, you are actually fighting to stay awake. There is no jump out of your seat surprises like in the predecessor as Freddy terrorizes his young victims with that metallic four bladed clawed hand of his wherever and whenever they are sleeping from classrooms and basements to bathrooms and bedrooms. Every shot of that deadly weapon whether it’s making an appearance inside a bathtub while a teenager is dozing off or having a doctor in the emergency room give a sedative that turns out to be a metallic hand instead has been shown in the trailer. In addition to those scenes of victims waking up to find themselves bloodily scared by that infamous metallic claw.
The only unexpected revelation the film offers is how Haley’s child molesting school janitor met his fiery fate at the hands of the parents who took justice into their hands years before upon learning what the guy is doing to their little kids behind closed doors. That was not exactly covered in graphic detail in Craven’s original but was explained by one of the adult characters.
You will note I haven’t mentioned any of the teenage characters here, a couple of whom survive Freddy Krueger’s vengeful wrath close to the end or who meet their grisly fates early on. I see no point in it. The ones who get knocked off early are only on screen for a few moments. The others who manage to last the entire film don’t give us any reason to root for their characters in hopes they can beat Freddy at his own game. That’s not their purpose here anyway. They’re just pawns for Freddy to terrorize and eventually mutilate.
For horror buffs younger than twenty with little or no knowledge that there was an original "A Nightmare on Elm Street" decades before, they will probably be more than happy to accept Haley as their Freddy Krueger. For us old folks like me who tire of Hollywood revamping the old stuff, there is only ONE Freddy Kruger, and he was the nightmarish ghoul Robert Englund played.
This redo makes me want to say, “Goodnight Freddy and good riddance.”
©5/5/10
R, 95m. 2010
Cast & Credits: Jackie Earle Haley (Freddy Krueger), Kyle Gallner (Quentin O’Grady), Rooney Mara (Nancy Holbrook), Katie Cassidy (Kris Fowles), Thomas Dekker (Jesse Braun), Kellan Lutz (Dean Russell), Clancy Brown (Alan Smith), Connie Britton (Dr. Gwen Holbrook), Lia D. Mortensen (Nora Fowles). Screenplay by Wesley Strick and Eric Heisserer based on characters by Wes Craven. Directed by Samuel Bayer.
I know in the minds of horror geeks were it not for the desire to see Haley as Freddy Krueger in a macabre role, first made famous by Robert Englund back in over a handful of follow-ups the past two decades, there would be no reason to see this retread of "A Nightmare on Elm Street."
Like so many remakes of twenty plus year old classics Hollywood seems intent on destroying all because they have run out of original ideas, this latest redo begs the question, “Why even bother when the original was practically flawless to begin with?” That depends on who you talk to, that is. I already know the answer. Like last year’s successful box office reboot of "Friday the 13th", whose sequel is now officially dead, or the redo of "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" (2003), the whole purpose of studios bringing these dormant horror franchises back to life is not just to lure a whole new generation of fans of such notorious movie psycho slashers as Jason, Leatherface, and Freddy Krueger, but to show how much better today’s filmmakers stupidly think their versions are when they have a larger budget to play with.
When will horror want-to-be movie makers learn the reason films like Craven’s original Nightmare was so effective in a fun, creepy way, and maybe even suspenseful, was because they were made on very low budgets. The original was by no means a classic, but the idea was clever in a grotesque way. It’s been over twenty years since I saw the first one, but I remember some of the horrific eye-popping visuals. I vaguely recall Johnny Depp, for example, in his first movie role as one of the victims whose innards and blood decorate an entire bedroom. I can’t remember if in the first one when one of the high school teens answers the phone in her dreams if Freddy’s bulging tongue comes out from the receiver to lick her face. I do remember one poor soul though turning into a cockroach but that was in a later installment.
This latest Elm Street reincarnation is literally a nightmare and not the kind where you are scared to go to sleep. It’s the kind where you are so bored watching what’s on screen, you are actually fighting to stay awake. There is no jump out of your seat surprises like in the predecessor as Freddy terrorizes his young victims with that metallic four bladed clawed hand of his wherever and whenever they are sleeping from classrooms and basements to bathrooms and bedrooms. Every shot of that deadly weapon whether it’s making an appearance inside a bathtub while a teenager is dozing off or having a doctor in the emergency room give a sedative that turns out to be a metallic hand instead has been shown in the trailer. In addition to those scenes of victims waking up to find themselves bloodily scared by that infamous metallic claw.
The only unexpected revelation the film offers is how Haley’s child molesting school janitor met his fiery fate at the hands of the parents who took justice into their hands years before upon learning what the guy is doing to their little kids behind closed doors. That was not exactly covered in graphic detail in Craven’s original but was explained by one of the adult characters.
You will note I haven’t mentioned any of the teenage characters here, a couple of whom survive Freddy Krueger’s vengeful wrath close to the end or who meet their grisly fates early on. I see no point in it. The ones who get knocked off early are only on screen for a few moments. The others who manage to last the entire film don’t give us any reason to root for their characters in hopes they can beat Freddy at his own game. That’s not their purpose here anyway. They’re just pawns for Freddy to terrorize and eventually mutilate.
For horror buffs younger than twenty with little or no knowledge that there was an original "A Nightmare on Elm Street" decades before, they will probably be more than happy to accept Haley as their Freddy Krueger. For us old folks like me who tire of Hollywood revamping the old stuff, there is only ONE Freddy Kruger, and he was the nightmarish ghoul Robert Englund played.
This redo makes me want to say, “Goodnight Freddy and good riddance.”
©5/5/10
