A Nightmare on Elm Street

For the most part I am absolutely no authority on horror movies. Horror movie fans are a very, very particular group, they like things a certain way, and I just can't tap the mentality of horror movie fans, not to mention to the subsections of horror: gore hounds, those who like psychological scares, etc.

I went to an early screening of the "A Nightmare on Elm Street" remake yesterday, and I was pleasantly surprised, for it was pretty entertaining. First though, lets get the negative out of the way. Some of the acting on the part of the "kids" in this movie got pretty very corny at times. Also, the movie is very, very fast so you hardly get a chance to feel for some of the characters should you happen to start rooting for one, though the pace makes sense considering it happens over a mere few days, but some will agree it could have been fleshed out a little better.

Some who are unfamiliar with the original will be confused as to why some characters the movie seems to want to make the main characters suddenly and mercilessly die very early into the movie. Another point is Freddy doesn't really make perfect sense in this movie. The original Freddy was even a scary, ruthless man while he was alive, this incarnation of Freddy is seen alive as a very meek person (though I will say you get a glimpse of his dark side and what he is capable of. Perhaps this will be explained more in sequels.

Now for the positive. Jackie Earle Haley is really damn scary. Nuff said. His voice is creepy and his portrayal of Freddy is just absolutely ruthless. When word got out that Freddy wouldn't have his usual humor in the remake, many cried foul, be aware that Freddy is not completely devoid of humor in this movie (example: "How's that for a wet dream?")

As for the rest of the cast, even though above I mention you don't really get a chance to connect with many of them, I'll say you definitely get a sense of how scared their characters are, most of them legitimately seem scared (not to be a downer, but the ones I thought were the best died early in the movie.)

The scares in this movie are legitimately, well, scary. The scares are not entirely reliant on loud music building up, and jump moments (though there are a fair number, a lot actually). Many will still be scared when you they Freddy coming from a mile away.

The plot is standard horror fare, with some leaps in logic required, and unanswered questions which will assuredly be answered in sequels. If you are familiar with the original keep an eye out for easter eggs, especially at the end.

Overall, I think this was not a bad movie at all, though I am sure horror fans will disagree with me. I found this movie entertaining and definitely a heart pumper.


"One, two, guess who's coming for you."