It’s a shame that I’m writing one of these articles again. It seems that every time I come here to review a movie, it’s just another piece-of-garbage horror movie remake. Of course, they’re not all pieces of garbage. In the case of Nightmare on Elm Street, it’s clear that a competent horror remake can, indeed, be made. With the proper amount of blood, build-up-to-jump scares and a cast of preposterously beautiful teenagers, Samuel Bayer’s homage to the classic movie serves its purpose.
A series of bizarre deaths occurs on the titular street, leading Nancy Holbrook (played by Rooney Mara) and Quentin O’Grady (played by Kyle Gallner) to believe that supernatural forces are at work. Nancy and Quentin discover that they have both been experiencing a dream in which a man named Freddy Krueger (played by Jackie Earle Haley) is hunting them for reasons yet unknown. As each of their friends fall victim to the clawed man who stalks their nightmares, Nancy and Quentin begin to unravel the mystery surrounding the series of murders, and the secret could be even more chilling than Krueger himself.
The story of this remake is pretty much standard fare for a Freddy Krueger movie. Heads roll, blood quirts and limbs fly in every direction. There are a few elements that have been added to the remake that expand the simple story of the original. In the end, my real question is: were these extra elements actually necessary? The original relied on silly displays of horror, adding a dash of dark comedy that was generally unseen in the slasher films of the 1970s and 80s. However, the remake is dark, gritty, serious and mature. He’s no longer the plucky specter with a murderous appetite. Freddy is evil.
The acting isn’t going to win any awards, but it gets the job done. Jackie Earle Haley makes for a pretty scary Freddy Krueger. Rooney Mara and Kyle Gallner are supported by a cast of preppy scream queens. Genre favorites like Clancy Brown and Kellan Lutz play small but effective roles. The acting is basically average across the board.
A Nightmare on Elm Street doesn’t break any new ground. It’s not particularly special, but it is well-crafted with worthy effort by director Samuel Bayer. But honestly, I’d love to se an original horror movie for a change. Nightmare was fun, but it wasn’t the horror movie of my dreams (shameless pun).