A Nightmare on Elm Street
Blu-ray Edition (1984)
Starring Heather Langenkamp, Johnny Depp, Robert Englund, John Saxon, Ronee Blakley
Directed by Wes Craven
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Release date: April 13, 2010

What gives the original 1984 A Nightmare on Elm Street such a potent effectiveness is its character Freddy Kruger. Director Wes Craven conjured up a character in Freddy who is unacquainted with reality, but has a sufficiently perceptive realization to a world where he is the embodiment of malignancy. He reigns supreme in the world of dreams, always constructing, devising, and manipulating situations that make it impossible for anything else that is not evil to prosper. Psychology may not seem like the appropriate term to equate Freddy with, but he knows his limitations, victims’ weaknesses and the little ways he has to seize his victims in order to satisfy his urges for human flesh. He is self-appointed to this world and this world only. The devilish delights he finds here come at the expense of those doing the dreaming. This is what makes Freddy the most plausible of all modern day horror characters; He endures in a world where anything goes, where humans become unconscious and succumb to the illogical sequences that dreams are known to possess. Freddy integrates himself into any dream in which he believes could further advance his infatuation with preying on the weak minded.

Jackie Earle Haley might not be a name you immediately recognize, but if you’ve seen Watchmen, Rorschach is burned into your skull. After hearing Haley discuss his approach to portraying Freddy Krueger at the A Nightmare on Elm Street panel at this year’s WonderCon, I’m convinced people will remember his name, or at the very least, give a whole new generation of children chronic insomnia.

Haley said initially he had consulted research materials for psychotic murderers to understand the motivation for the character. However, he eventually came to the conclusion that Freddy Krueger is a rare example of a monster within our modern culture.

“It was just such a different energy. I still wanted to embrace his human side [but] it was really an exercise in embracing this monster, this boogieman,” Haley said.

One source he didn’t consult in detail was Robert Englund’s original performance as Krueger, citing it as “daunting” to play a role that has only been done [and done successfully] by one man.

A brand new full trailer has been released for Platinum Dunes’ remake of the iconic horror franchise, A Nightmare on Elm Street.

The movie stars Jackie Earle Haley and tells the story of a man who is falsely accused of being a pedophile and burned alive by a mob of angry parents. Unfortunately for all of us, after his body is engulfed in accusing fires, his tormented soul remains and begins to kill children as they sleep and dream.

The new trailer gives us a much better look at the new Freddy Krueger and the trippy, hellish nightmare worlds that we can expect to see. It does appear that they’ve decided to use a lot of stuff from older movies instead of creating a completely unique new Nightmare world. That paired with the difficult-to-warm-up-to appearance change of Freddy himself has fans a little worried about how the final product will play; but for now, this is fans of the franchise’s best peek yet!

Click on over to the other side to check out the new trailer and click the image above to look at the new poster.

The remake of one of the most popular horror movies of all time, John Carpenter‘s The Thing, is moving forward, and it now has officially cast its two lead star in Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Joel Edgerton.

Winstead will be playing a “Ph.D. candidate” who joins the Norwegian team after they discover an alien craft frozen solid in the ice. Edgerton will be playing a mercenary helicopter pilot, which would be the Kurt Russell role of the remake. The duo will eventually join up when a strange creature breaks free and starts killing people.

The movie is directed by Matthijs Van Heijningen, a long-time producer making his directorial debut. The screenplay is where some strong excitement can be discovered; it was written by Battlestar Galactica and Caprica god Ronald D. Moore, as well as Eric Heisserer, who wrote the A Nightmare on Elm Street remake script.

On April 6, 2010, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will release the original A Nightmare on Elm Street on Blu-ray.

The Blu-ray edition will contain the 1984 Wes Craven-directed horror classic, which starred Robert Englund as the mass murderer Freddy Krueger, who invades the sleeping dreams of the teenagers of Elm Street.

Elm Street was also Johnny Depp‘s feature film debut, where he starred as Glen, the ill-fated boyfriend of the film’s heroine Nancy (Heather Langenkamp).

This Blu-ray edition, which is now available for pre-order, will include a Movie Money redeemable code worth $7.50 towards a ticket to see the Elm Street remake, which will be released in theaters on April 30, 2010 and stars Watchmen‘s Jackie Earle Haley as Freddy.

See below for more details on the Blu-ray edition bonus features.