Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)

1, 2, Freddy’s coming for you! Well, yes. We’ve known this since 1984 when the original came out. So what’s new? Not much.

I don’t feel like any plot explanation is needed for this film so I’ll jump right in and say that A Nightmare on Elm Street will probably fall flat to anyone who is a fan of the original. It isn’t all that scary because you know what’s going to happen, and the scary scenes are lacking in anything to cause feelings of fright and awe. I mean, we all know who Freddy is and what he does, so a lot of it just feels like going over material that the audience already knows. There were a few scary moments that made me jump but nothing to write home to mom about. The action was barely existent, and consisted of some kills that were over very quickly. It’s a horror film so I guess I can let the lack of action slide.

Anyone who hasn’t seen the original films might enjoy this one, since they won’t have the original to compare it to. I hope this reaches the younger generations and inspires them to go back and watch the original film.

Rooney Mara plays a darker, more of an outcast version of the heroine Nancy which was alright. However, Jackie Earle Haley did an excellent job as Freddy. He brought a powerful presence to the screen as Kreuger and was a true menace every time he was on screen.

Spoilers from here on out! A Nightmare on Elm Street did deviate from the original plot somewhat. It went more into the history of Freddy’s wrongdoings to the kids and his special history with Nancy. In the original film, Freddy had no connection to the teens he was haunting except that their parents killed him. In this film, he is haunting the teens he actually molested while they were kids. He came back to kill them because they told on him and out of all of the kids Nancy was his favorite. Eww! So now they have fallen victim to Freddy not once but twice, which really makes the film a lot less fun when ya think about it. Sure the kids have a greater motivation for killing Freddy but they don’t succeed. So Freddy wins?

Time Until Initial Scare: ~ 4 minutes.

Baddies: Fred Krueger

Best (aka worst) Line: “If you die in your dream, you die for real!”

Best Kill: Dean (Kellan Lutz) is dreaming, of course, and Freddy pops up behind him. Dean is holding a steak knife and Freddy grabs his arm and is trying to force Dean to stab himself in the throat, and lo and behold, Freddy is successful! The camera cuts to “real life” and it shows Dean minus Freddy stabbing himself in the jugular. Then he (being forced by Freddy) slowly cuts his own throat. It’s juicy and makes you grimace. Exactly what a kill in a film should do!

Best Explosion: The one and only explosion I can remember would be the explosion that gave us the “Freddy” that we all know and love. The angry parents chased Fred into the old warehouse and then lit a gas can and threw it in. It caught Fred on fire and then the whole warehouse exploded. It wasn’t spectacular but it was a nice addition.

Action Rating: 1 Finger Utensil, out of 5