Ok so, Im a HUGE Freddy Kruegar fan… I have been since I was a teenager. I remember those days where Id bug my mom to rent them, coz a new one came out, and Id watch them over and over and over, til I had the entire dialogue memorized. Theres not a Freddy movie I havent seen to date, and I own ALL of them (except for Jason vs Freddy, sadly, which might be one of my faves)
So when the newest one came out, I knew Id have to see it. But Ill admit…. I was taken aback. No Robert Englund as Freddy? Bah…. that was already a precursor to a bad experience. So I automatically reserved it to waiting til it came out to rent…. I wouldn’t waste money on that factor, alone.
I finally decided to rent it. Didn’t read any reviews or anything of that sort, coz I didnt want other peoples opinions to kind of spoil the stew… so I went in without knowing the premise entirely. So what did I think? Uh…. well…. Ill go over below. If you haven’t seen it yet and don’t want it ruined, don’t read on.
Rerun: not long in, I started having deja vue…. to the point where I commented rhetorically, “gosh, I think this is just a remake of the old movies” Oh yes, its a total reboot. And after I watched it, I read the directors comments, and it said that they purposely took snippets of past Freddy movies and spliced it into one film. Part of A Nightmare on Elm Street’s charm was the many different and creative ways he would kill his victims…. so the new one lacked ingenuity for that very reason. Even the main characters were named the same way and they captured most of the deaths that were in the original movies. In that respect, I thot it was very lame. It was like watching the other movies, but with different actors. And well, if its a beloved movie from childhood for you, like it is me, this will leave you feeling…. bereft.
TOO fast: They wasted no time jumping right in…. they didnt much develop the plot, it just jumped right into the story line. It was a little confusing…. at the very beginning, youre not sure if its a diff storyline, a continuation, or the same damned thing. It was TOO fast paced… to the point where there was weak character development and you couldnt even feel empathy, or relate to them whatsoever, even though they caricatured the original characters. They just did it so very poorly, that while they were intended to be them, they totally fell short.
Lack of Wes Craven: Ohhh yeah, you could tell…. which also made it worse. It did not feel like a typical nightmare on elm street – it felt like someone switched my friggon coke with a pepsi and passed it off as a coke.
Lack of Robert Englund: Part of what makes Robert Englund the perfect Freddy, is his charisma. And yes, even his hokeyness. They way he toys with his victims…. indulging in a macabre sense of humor the entire time. The guy that played Freddy in this new one lacked that entirely (which reading the comments about the film, was on purpose, as they were trying to make it more terrifying) I will say, they did ramp up his scariness – this guy brought skeevy and terrifying to a new level. Also, this Freddy was portrayed as more of a child molester, than a child killer – which was also skeevier and gross. So on one hand, I think they managed to do what they intended- that being, make it a more terrifying flick as it was intended to be originally (well terrifying at least to some degree- I think final destination still ranks as scariest film ever for me) But, on the other hand, I think what makes Nightmare sooooooo popular and such a staple of that era, was the hokeyness and the charisma that Robert Englund exuded… mixing death and murder with jokes – theres just nothing like it. Without it, its just another friggon serial killer….. who just happens to stalk dreams.
Overall, Id say…. dont bother going out of your way to see it….. it was okay, if u have nothing better to do one nite, and feel like watching it. But will it replace the originals? Not a friggon chance.
