Review of A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) by Ron B — 24 Feb 2013

I know I'm in the minority, but out of all the horror Remakes we've gotten, I thought this was one of the very few that was done right. Let me say first that, I am not much of a fan of the original Nightmare on Elm Street movies.

They are way too cheesy and cartoonish. Freddy Krueger himself just became a big joke as the sequels went on. So, that probably had a lot to do with me enjoying this remake. Now, I have seen the original Nightmare on Elm Street and saw it as both a kid and an adult, and I didn't even find the first movie that enjoyable at either age.

I'm not saying it's terrible, but it certaintly did not scare me or even entertain me that much. Infact, I was mainly bored. The pacing was just too slow and the characters didn't seem to care, or else didn't seem aware of the situation they were in.

The biggest issue people seem to have with this movie, that I could gather, is the fact that Robert Englund is not Freddy Krueger. I can honestly say I have not heard a single person say anything "bad" about the movie without focusing on the the fact that Freddy was different.

I enjoyed how Freddy Krueger was portrayed. He was actually scary and menacing. I wouldn't want to meet this version of Freddy in my dreams. Jackie Earle Haley was excellent in the role and he usually always does well with every role he's given.

Other complaints seemed to be Freddy's makeup, and that he was portrayed as a child molester. I don't know if anybody realizes this, but Wes Craven originally envisioned Freddy as a child molester.

However, due to many cases of child molestation happening during the 80s, Wes changed Freddy to a child murderer instead. So Freddy being a child molester in this movie, was actually a recycled idea from the original.

As for Freddy's makeup, have anybody actually looked at burn victims? They do not look like the Robert Englund Freddy. This Freddy looked closer to a real burn victim, which actually made him look scarier.

I also enjoyed the story a lot better. I liked how the teens that Freddy goes after, actually have a connection to each other and Freddy himself. Freddy actually has motivation for killing these kids, other than simply going after them as "revenge" on their parents in the original.

The teens also seem to be much more aware of the situation they are in, and try to figure out a way to stop Freddy. I also enjoyed the score. I hated those electronic scores from the 80s. The traditional orchestral scores always sounded better.

There are many homages and throwbacks to the original. The characters, while having different names, are similar to their original counterparts. All in all, I feel that this is just a better movie. The original had a great concept, but the execution was lacking, or at least I thought so.

This movie actually made Freddy feel like a serious threat. The people who hate this movie have too much nostalgia for the original series, and just can't get the original Robert Englund Freddy out of their heads.

It's completely understandable, though. If you are a huge fan of the original series, odds are that you will hate this movie. Pure and simple. However, if you are like me, and didn't really dig the originals, definitely give this a watch.

Recommended.