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nightmare on elm street 2010 - Movie Review and Achievement


Movie Review

The new Freddy is played by Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen, Shutter Island, and Fox's Human Target). Haley gives Freddy's character a bit of an upgrade. He's not that goofy Freddy we saw in the later movies yet he's not the silent killer we remember from the original. Haley is a nice balance of the two -he kills and still finds time for a punchline or two.
Haley's Freddy is also a pedophile. Freddy's past was hinted at in the previous films, but he was always made out to be more of a child killer. I guess it was more of a sensitive issue back in the 80's.
The new Nightmare on Elm Street does pay homage to the original. A lot of those scary moments still work 26 years later. There are a few scenes from the original that will make any horror fan smile.
My grade: B- People always say, "It's never as good as the first time" and that's true in this case. The movie provided some chills and even made me jump a few times. I was happy to see an attempt to try and get the movie right. Nightmare on Elm Street is a nice reboot of the original � it's just not as scary.

The new film differs from its earlier version especially in use of modern special-effects technology. As far as its theme and story is concerned, it is the same piece of work. As well, the characters have some changes. However, some reviewers observe that the film appears like a Medieval Times waiter feeling scared with a cell phone in hand.
"Nightmare on Elm Street" majorly features Nancy (Rooney Mara) and Quentin (Kyle Gallner). First character is a pale-skinned waitress and the second is a swimmer and dead ringer for an emo band drummer. Theme of the film revolves around these two people as they try to track what in common with the buds Freddy already emptied in dreams.
Interestingly, instead of former "Nightmare's" mega villain, a kid killer played by Robert Englund the new "Nightmare" features Jackie Earle Haley. Of course, Haley is a leading actor, who even went on to be nominated for Academy Awards for his role in "Little Children." It is sure Haley is much suitable to become a real sexual deviant in the "Nightmare."

Directed by music video auteur Samuel Bayer, A Nightmare on Elm Street follows the same basic story as Wes Craven’s original. A group of high school kids try to avoid being killed in their dream by Freddy Krueger because it will result in their death in reality. Of course, it isn’t without a few minor changes. In the growing attempt to flesh out villains, Krueger has a slightly altered back story which supposedly gives him credible motivation. But does a man with a burnt face and gloves with knives really need that much motivation? Sometimes less is more. I mean, can you imagine a ten minute flashback where we found out why Jaws was such an angry shark? Of course not.
The most notable change in Nightmare is the absence of Robert Englund, the actor made famous playing Freddy Krueger. In his place is academy award nominee Jackie Earle Haley. I’m sure the thought process here was to give some gravity to Freddy’s character but Haley’s Krueger takes himself a little too seriously. Equipped with an artificially enhanced deep voice and more realistic burn victim makeup, Freddy Krueger doesn’t seem to have as much fun as his 1984 counterpart. There was something about Englund’s performance that was genuinely creepy even while cracking jokes.
In terms of fright, this film strives for nothing more than cheap thrills. Heavily relying on jump scare tactics, the same scene seems to take place throughout the entire film: kid fall asleep, it gets dark, we hear Freddy’s claws, and BAM!, something scary jumps out, scene. The film is very much a microcosm of today’s film environment. Watch, rinse, repeat.

It would appear that they were only waiting to see how many people could be suckered into seeing the first before green lighting the sequel. However, it appear that they had forgotten how dramatically the numbers dropped for their “Friday the 13th” remake after it’s opening weekend. Either way, another updated “Nightmare” film is not what we need here, and I can only hope that it dissolves like the reported “Friday the 13th” sequel did. “A Nightmare on Elm Street” is receiving slightly warmer reviews after it’s release than “Friday the 13th” had, but I still don’t think that it’s nearly as “great” as they’re billing it as.
There still haven’t been any details as to whether it will be a straight-up remake of the sequel to the original, or a follow up to the remake. As usual, I’ll keep you updated on this project.

Like a blind optometrist, Samuel Bayer's A Nightmare on Elm Street possesses the tools but has absolutely no idea how to use them. Amped up with a big budget, a sly premise, and some skillful art direction, Elm Street circa. 2010 is a nice looking, soulless project that has its heart set specifically on commerce and never on entertainment. Last year's horror remake from the 1980s, Friday the 13th, felt more like a cheap sequel than a fresh start, and the only thing Michael Bay's revisionists at his Plantinum Dunes production company were able to “reimagine” was how to sell the exact same concept to an optimistic (but usually deceived) mainstream slasher crowd. Nonetheless, Bay's company, never fully satisfied in the world of profitability, now has tried once again to pull the wool over our eyes, obtaining a new director, screenwriter, and a much discussed leading man in the fedora and Christmas-colored sweater. The Emperor has received new clothes, and yet he still looks ugly. As disposable as the cannon fodder teengers it depicts, Bayer's film plays like an expensive Youtube video remake. We've seen it all before, and pesky nostaglia only provokes us to want to see the original again.

Perhaps the reason the original "Nightmare" franchise got away with its mass marketing despite the fact that its mega villain was a kid killer (and toucher) is because it had plenty of camp to go along with its slash-and-burn homicides. Horror icon Robert Englund's brought some true showmanship to the role of Freddy – he could kill on a comedy stage or in a preschool. Jackie Earle Haley, who took over the role, is famous for going from creepy child star to creepy limo driver to creepy Oscar nominee for his role as another sexual deviant in "Little Children." But he's a bit too brooding here (Plus, he's really short). And it's not until the film's final duel that he Haley has the chops to match his, well, chops.
"Nightmare on Elm Street" shows a few flashes of imagination, but loses out to its predecessor in every way: Storytelling, creative kill shots, and villain charisma. If the movie was going to change so much, maybe the title should have been tweaked as well. Considering the sleep deprivation theme and sloppy story-telling, I'm going with "Nocturnal Omissions." Can you do better, Freddy?

Box Office Achievement Journal

The remake of the horror film “A Nightmare on Elm Street” topped all films at the box office this weekend, according to early estimates from Hollywood.com. The Warner Bros. film grossed $32.2 million in its opening weekend.
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