A title that certainly needs no introduction, the remake/reboot/re-imagining/re-envisioning of the horror classic A Nightmare on Elm Street is now here.
Just like with Friday the 13th back in February of 2009, Michael Bay and his Platinum Dunes production company is bringing the dark lord of your very worst dreams, Freddy Krueger, back to cinemas to try and terrify a whole new generation of young fans.
Despite the obvious visual updates to the character and world, horror purists are still having trouble warming up to this new Nightmare on Elm Street. But what did YOU think? Was it superior to the older movies? Was is a terrible remake? Is it fun, despite its lacking qualities?
This time around, the idea is to try and add a level of realism to the story, first with the appearance of Freddy Krueger, which is a gruesomely accurate depiction of a burn victim. Instead of bringing back fan-favorite Robert Englund (I’m still waiting for Freddy vs. Jason 2!), producers cast another current fan-favorite in Jackie Earle Haley, who dusts off his best Rorschach voice for the part.
Also, in the beginning, Freddy doesn’t start as a pure killer. He begins as a simple, nobody of a man who’s accused of unthinkable acts against the children of Elm Street and finds himself running from an angry mob of parents. But the parents’ final act of vengeance actually unleashes an unspeakable evil as the dream demon emerges years later, ready to have his revenge within the subconscious of many unsuspecting victims.
Wake up as soon as possible and run to the other side to read our spoiler-filled thoughts on the movie, and then vent and praise your own views! It’s time for SPOILER-TALK!
SPOILERS
WARNING: If you have not seen A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010), do NOT read any further. There will be SPOILERS below.
-Ok so we are obviously starting off by entering Dean Russell’s Kellan Lutz nightmare. My automatic question is with no one but a creepy waitress in sight, all the lights not working, and all the craziness obviously going on, how could you not already know to just get the hell out of that freaking diner?
-Alright my name is Dean and I am going to see that I just was physically injured by my dream and not tell a single soul. Great job guy! I’d be running around the diner screaming, “HOLY CRAP, I am pretty sure someone is trying to kill me in my dreams!”
-This diner seems to be fairly busy yet nobody else in the whole place sees this guy randomly stand up and hold a knife to his neck except for Kris Fowles Katie Cassidy? I mean you would think that at least one of the other 20 people would be shouting at him and saying why this crazy guy is holding a knife to his neck?
-Alright this Jesse Braun Thomas Dekker guy is the total package. I mean how could you not be begging to get back with the guy who insults you and your classmate Nancy Holbrook’s Rooney Mara sanity and telling you both that you don’t know what you saw because you’re just shaken up while you are at a funeral and telling you how you should react with no emotion.
-Ok so I understand most of the creepiness of the setting and mood in the nightmares, but I do not get why Freddy would come out of the wall like that. I really think his scariest feature is the claw. I mean, the wallpaper is atrocious so that might scare the crap out of Nancy but otherwise I am not sure what stretchy wallpaper can do to you.
-Yeah John Connor, that’s right I am going for The Terminator reference, can you stop being such a huge friggen stalker! I mean, if I were Kris I would probably start to think you were involved and possibly be more scared of you than Freddy.
-o Freddy cuts a huge chunk of your hair out and yet your hair is still perfectly styled and your make up is perfect as well. Of course that makes a ton of sense. Yet when any of the guys have dreams they are drenched in sweat and look horrible. Totally realistic!
-Yeah setting an alarm and gathering together so Freddy can kill you both at the same time is the perfect plan. Did anyone else notice that Jesse has a hole already in his shirt?
-My freaking lord Kris would have every bone in her body broken after that. The sheer force it would take to do that to her should be proof enough that wimpy scrawny Jesse couldn’t have done it. Oh yeah and by the way if you see someone with blood all over them and you think they could have murdered someone, the best thing to do is to scream at them that you are going to call the cops so that not only do they know to run and hide, but that they should probably come back and kill you as well.
-What the heck is Gigablast? Apparently it is a real search engine. At least the search engine doesn’t date the movie since no one has probably ever heard of it.
– I have never been to a bookstore where the staff would see someone passing out at their tables and just let them sleep. In fact, I don’t think I have been in any type of business that would be cool with you sleeping there.
-My main question is why the heck does nobody ever look for weapons of any kind? I mean pick up a chair or a piece of furniture or pipe or pretty much anything and fight back at least. Or at least try! I mean either run or try to fight instead of just seeing Freddy and acting like your best course of action is to stand still and scream.
-Okay now we get to see a good example of excellent parenting skills. If you know something that could help clear up the situation you definitely want to keep it secret from everyone especially your child’s doctors.
-Pied Piper is the best analogy you can come up with? You should definitely read more literature guy! Quantin O’Grady Kyle Gallner is definitely the brightest bulb in the box.
-Okay so Freddy’s arm is coming out of the bathtub at a very awkward angle. Where is the rest of his body? What is that coming out of where I think it is coming out of? AHHHHHH!!!
-I love the fact that Nancy looks like she still hasn’t figured out that it is a nightmare by the subtle hint of snow in her bedroom. I mean, that would be my first clue.
– So mom, not only do you lie to your kids about knowing Freddy and what had originally happened, but you also can’t figure out that below a dresser drawer wouldn’t be the safest place to stick the evidence.
-How the heck is burning yourself with a cigarette lighter going to keep you from falling asleep even though the micro naps are inevitable and unstoppable. So now not only will you possibly die in your dream, but your also in pain enough that you will probably concentrate on your pain and die right off the bat.
-I love how in movie land you don’t even have to pay attention to the road, Oops scratch that, apparently you do or you will almost crash straight into Freddy.
-So let me get this straight, school for them was in a warehouse in the middle of nowhere? I mean that looks more like a trailer park daycare center!
– When Nancy and Quentin go back to the now-condemned building where the preschool once was, there’s a kerosene lamp there! Krueger lived at the school at around 2000, there’s no way he’d have a kerosene lamp in his room. If Nancy and Quentin spent any more time in there maybe they would have found a chamber pot underneath the bed as well! (Thanks to Empress Eve for this observation.)
-What the heck was Freddy’s job title? Guy who is creepy with kids? I mean, seriously, it is not like you see him doing very much work around this so called “school.”
-Ok seriously? They were just falling asleep every five seconds not even a minute ago and now all of a sudden the micro naps just reside and they are okay?
-Worst idea ever! How could you not see that you would fall asleep at the same time she did! Oh thank god she was at least smart enough to not run up the stairs. Never mind I spoke too soon.
-Holy crap she goes straight for the hand. I wish it would have fallen to the ground and then just started crawling towards Nancy and grabbed her ankle.
-Ok two best lines of the entire movie Freddy, “How is this for a wet dream?”, and Nancy “Your in my world now, bitch!”.
-Sweet cliffhanger ending and I love how the mirror breaks and comes right back together with the blood spatter from her mom getting killed in a mili-second.
Your turn… What did you think of A Nightmare on Elm Street? Better or worse than the original? Which of the originals was your favorite? Are you like The Movie God and just want to know where your Freddy Vs. Jason 2 is?
I have no wish to see the new Nightmare, I grew up on the original and I’m quite happy letting Robert Englund be my Freddy for the rest of my life. I like your recap however! I might have to check it out on cable just to laugh.
That all aside, I’m waiting for Freddy vs. Jason 2 as well. The bloody comics weren’t enough–the movie was just down and out FUN (even if it didn’t make sense in any sort of way). And that’s what horror movies should be. I really would have loved a Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash movie, but Bruce Campbell is not the svelte man he once was (I still love him). Maybe they could do it like My Name is Bruce with Bruce being a complete mockery of himself?
I second the comments about Freddy vs. Jason 2! The original was tons of fun, bringing together two baddies that I really didn’t care much about individually. Together though? Just. Plain. Fun! Bring on a sequel!
I thought it was ok… A “C” at most. The only good part of the entire movie was the body bag part, it took the movie from an “F-” to a “C” it was a well-executed scene. Although, hard to believe a clear body bag would ever be used in real life.
I definitely liked the ending of the new one more than the original. The original ending was kind of stupid. (It was all a dream, or was it?OH NO! CRAZY CAR!) I almost feel a little let down by Micheal Bay. There was an obvious lack of explosions. (not even one!) I would have liked to see the blender bed scene from the original redone. (After Nancy tells Glen not to go to sleep, then he does and gets sucked into his bed and then comes the blood geyser.) Obviously no one cane live up to Robert Englund, but Jackie Earle Haley does good enough that I could stand to see him in other movies as Freddy. That said, yes a Freddy Vs. Jason 2 would be loads of fun as long as no one takes it too seriously.
I went to see this movie yesterday with my fiance. and I was sooo excited. It was pretty good. But at the end when Nancy’s mom gets killed, was there a mistake made? the fact that they bout him into the real world just exposed him to more people…well over all I’ll give it a B…
I was curious as to why everyone can realize they’re in a dream and they should be afraid, but no one can realize that they’re in a DREAM and can do ANYTHING THEY WANT.
I thought it was a good remake. I like the new story a bit more than the story in the original movies. Freddy was originally supposed to be a child molester but they made him a child murderer in order to avoid being accused of exploiting the highly publicized child molestation cases in California around the time A Nightmare on Elm Street went into production. I also liked Jackie Earle Haley as Freddy. I wasn’t sure about it when I saw the trailer but after seeing the movie (twice so far) I think he made Freddy creepier than Englund could. I thought the graphics were alright and I like the more realistic look of Freddy. I’m not saying it was the best movie ever and I am not saying I think it is better than the first NOES but I do think that it was a good remake that added seriousness to a series of relatively humorous films.
OK, first of all, I can’t let the obvious lack of recognition of homage to the original slide. In other words, the face in the wall scene, and the hand in bathtub scene WERE FROM THE ORIGINAL; as far as I’m concerned, you’re not allowed to complain about those.
I’m assuming Nancy falling out of the ceiling was a throwback to Johnny’s famous, unforgettable the-only-explanation-for-all-that-blood-is-his-dream-power-is-he’s-a-vampire death scene; it was a cool use of new-age special effects, I guess I’m not sure exactly how I feel about it.
Also, can I say that the opening credits blew the other 7 Nightmare credits combined out of the water? Freddy vs. Jason did a way better job for it’s time, but these new ones were definitely a nice change.
As far as Freddy himself: first of all, don’t get me wrong, no one can replace Robert Englund, ever. After my 8 movie marathon of all things Freddy, I was sad to see him go, but honestly, that was a different time, and he was a different Freddy, so I don’t know that it’s fair to come down on Jackie (not that anyone here has yet)
The thing about Jackie’s Freddy was that he was just bat-shit insane! Robert’s Freddy was silly and awesome and just generally angry at what happened. But Jackie’s Freddy was already a demented freak (“Freddy’s Dead” notwithstanding), and killing him was basically the equivalent of giving a mental patient an AK-47 and looking the other way for about… 5 years. I just think Jackie breathed new life into him and it was a very good direction to take.
Shawn I think you misinterpreted my disdain for those scenes. I did recognize them from the original and even enjoyed them in the original but you think with the technology of today it would look better and really I preferred the originals when the kids would like come out of his stomach rather than just a random body coming from the wall. Just my opinion though. I like your insights and I definitely agree that Jackie breathed a new life into the Freddy character.
I loved the original Nightmare, but I have to say that I wasn’t too impressed with the remake. Ditto on every single comment posted, Guy_Jen! I watched the huge fight between Nancy and Freddy at the end and thought, “I have that rug!” I also noticed that when Nancy’s mom sets her keys down in the split second before Freddy blinds her, that I have the same keychain, too. When you’re noticing things like that, it’s kind of a hint.
On the other hand, one of my friends who also loved the original loves the remake, too. So, it’s all a matter of personal opinion.
For a remake it was less insulting then most. I like the homage but if they had Wes Craven on board and followed the original a little bit more (such as Kristi death being more like Tina’s) it would have been even better. I accept Robert hanging up the glove so I can accept Jack (especialy since Robert accepted him). To bad Robert couldn’t have been there to give him advice. Originaly Freddy Krueger was more angry and more seriouse while in the sequels he becomes more funny. I beleive Jack tried to make this character his own. Here we have a angry not to mention insane Freddy Krueger who molested children. The original concept of Freddy was a child molester and now most people just accept that Freddy murdered and molested children. So this doesn’t bother me. I think they could have done a better job at casting the teenage characters.
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I have no wish to see the new Nightmare, I grew up on the original and I’m quite happy letting Robert Englund be my Freddy for the rest of my life. I like your recap however! I might have to check it out on cable just to laugh.
That all aside, I’m waiting for Freddy vs. Jason 2 as well. The bloody comics weren’t enough–the movie was just down and out FUN (even if it didn’t make sense in any sort of way). And that’s what horror movies should be. I really would have loved a Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash movie, but Bruce Campbell is not the svelte man he once was (I still love him). Maybe they could do it like My Name is Bruce with Bruce being a complete mockery of himself?
Comment by Lexie C. — May 2, 2010 @ 12:38 pm
I second the comments about Freddy vs. Jason 2! The original was tons of fun, bringing together two baddies that I really didn’t care much about individually. Together though? Just. Plain. Fun! Bring on a sequel!
Comment by Paul — May 2, 2010 @ 1:16 pm
I thought it was ok… A “C” at most. The only good part of the entire movie was the body bag part, it took the movie from an “F-” to a “C” it was a well-executed scene. Although, hard to believe a clear body bag would ever be used in real life.
Comment by Amparito — May 2, 2010 @ 6:17 pm
I definitely liked the ending of the new one more than the original. The original ending was kind of stupid. (It was all a dream, or was it?OH NO! CRAZY CAR!) I almost feel a little let down by Micheal Bay. There was an obvious lack of explosions. (not even one!) I would have liked to see the blender bed scene from the original redone. (After Nancy tells Glen not to go to sleep, then he does and gets sucked into his bed and then comes the blood geyser.) Obviously no one cane live up to Robert Englund, but Jackie Earle Haley does good enough that I could stand to see him in other movies as Freddy. That said, yes a Freddy Vs. Jason 2 would be loads of fun as long as no one takes it too seriously.
Comment by Rich — May 2, 2010 @ 8:52 pm
I went to see this movie yesterday with my fiance. and I was sooo excited. It was pretty good. But at the end when Nancy’s mom gets killed, was there a mistake made? the fact that they bout him into the real world just exposed him to more people…well over all I’ll give it a B…
Comment by Iesha — May 3, 2010 @ 9:02 am
I was curious as to why everyone can realize they’re in a dream and they should be afraid, but no one can realize that they’re in a DREAM and can do ANYTHING THEY WANT.
Comment by Guy — May 3, 2010 @ 4:39 pm
I thought it was a good remake. I like the new story a bit more than the story in the original movies. Freddy was originally supposed to be a child molester but they made him a child murderer in order to avoid being accused of exploiting the highly publicized child molestation cases in California around the time A Nightmare on Elm Street went into production. I also liked Jackie Earle Haley as Freddy. I wasn’t sure about it when I saw the trailer but after seeing the movie (twice so far) I think he made Freddy creepier than Englund could. I thought the graphics were alright and I like the more realistic look of Freddy. I’m not saying it was the best movie ever and I am not saying I think it is better than the first NOES but I do think that it was a good remake that added seriousness to a series of relatively humorous films.
Comment by Tori — May 4, 2010 @ 3:02 pm
OK, first of all, I can’t let the obvious lack of recognition of homage to the original slide. In other words, the face in the wall scene, and the hand in bathtub scene WERE FROM THE ORIGINAL; as far as I’m concerned, you’re not allowed to complain about those.
I’m assuming Nancy falling out of the ceiling was a throwback to Johnny’s famous, unforgettable the-only-explanation-for-all-that-blood-is-his-dream-power-is-he’s-a-vampire death scene; it was a cool use of new-age special effects, I guess I’m not sure exactly how I feel about it.
Also, can I say that the opening credits blew the other 7 Nightmare credits combined out of the water? Freddy vs. Jason did a way better job for it’s time, but these new ones were definitely a nice change.
As far as Freddy himself: first of all, don’t get me wrong, no one can replace Robert Englund, ever. After my 8 movie marathon of all things Freddy, I was sad to see him go, but honestly, that was a different time, and he was a different Freddy, so I don’t know that it’s fair to come down on Jackie (not that anyone here has yet)
The thing about Jackie’s Freddy was that he was just bat-shit insane! Robert’s Freddy was silly and awesome and just generally angry at what happened. But Jackie’s Freddy was already a demented freak (“Freddy’s Dead” notwithstanding), and killing him was basically the equivalent of giving a mental patient an AK-47 and looking the other way for about… 5 years. I just think Jackie breathed new life into him and it was a very good direction to take.
Comment by Shawn — May 11, 2010 @ 7:40 pm
Shawn I think you misinterpreted my disdain for those scenes. I did recognize them from the original and even enjoyed them in the original but you think with the technology of today it would look better and really I preferred the originals when the kids would like come out of his stomach rather than just a random body coming from the wall. Just my opinion though. I like your insights and I definitely agree that Jackie breathed a new life into the Freddy character.
Comment by Guy_Jen — May 12, 2010 @ 1:54 am
I loved the original Nightmare, but I have to say that I wasn’t too impressed with the remake. Ditto on every single comment posted, Guy_Jen! I watched the huge fight between Nancy and Freddy at the end and thought, “I have that rug!” I also noticed that when Nancy’s mom sets her keys down in the split second before Freddy blinds her, that I have the same keychain, too. When you’re noticing things like that, it’s kind of a hint.
On the other hand, one of my friends who also loved the original loves the remake, too. So, it’s all a matter of personal opinion.
Comment by Gina — May 21, 2010 @ 9:37 pm
For a remake it was less insulting then most. I like the homage but if they had Wes Craven on board and followed the original a little bit more (such as Kristi death being more like Tina’s) it would have been even better. I accept Robert hanging up the glove so I can accept Jack (especialy since Robert accepted him). To bad Robert couldn’t have been there to give him advice. Originaly Freddy Krueger was more angry and more seriouse while in the sequels he becomes more funny. I beleive Jack tried to make this character his own. Here we have a angry not to mention insane Freddy Krueger who molested children. The original concept of Freddy was a child molester and now most people just accept that Freddy murdered and molested children. So this doesn’t bother me. I think they could have done a better job at casting the teenage characters.
Comment by Alice — May 24, 2010 @ 1:21 am