ART--->**
HEART->1/2
MIND-->*1/2
FUN--->*1/2
He’s back.
After 26 years and 8 movies, Freddy Krueger returns to theaters in the 2010 remake of A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET. This time he's played by Jackie Earle Haley, fresh off his creepy turns in LITTLE CHILDREN and WATCHMEN. Former music video director Samuel Bayer decided to make a clean break from the previous films, and the departure is evident.
Somewhat in spite of myself, I have always enjoyed the NIGHTMARE series, especially the original. Wes Craven mined the depths of ancient religion, classical literature and modern psychology to envision a supernatural bogeyman (Robert Englund) that can haunt your dreams. He created an unconventional warrior in Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp, in an iconic performance), and upped the street cred of horror films considerably.
Even though he changed into a pop culture caricature of his former self, the original Freddy Krueger was a larger than life, near-mythical character who represented the psychosis behind everyone’s bad dreams, no matter where they lived. That’s the genius of the concept. As Freddy famously said, “Every town has an Elm Street.”
Unfortunately, in this version Freddy is so grounded and local you could practically find him on Google Maps.
After a decent opening scene ending in a forced suicide (kudos for using a physically strong male actor instead of a helpless female), the film sinks into the disparate world of the four main teenagers, all of whom lead joyless, disconnected lives: Kris, Jesse, Quentin and Nancy (all completely new characters.) This Nancy is such a dour waif she looks like she couldn’t fight her way out of a wet paper bag.
In the original, Nancy gathered information about Freddy, formed a plan, and fought back hard through sheer force of will. In this NIGHTMARE, nearly every teenager is numb, submissive and reactionary. Where’s the fighting spirit? The one kid who looks like he could give it a go is dispatched with almost immediately.
But it really is all about Freddy I suppose, considering none of the other characters are fully realized human beings anyway. Still, in order to be effective, he needs to lurk around in the shadows. But he gets plenty of screen time. And he's not just a child murderer anymore, like Wes Craven envisioned. Now he's a sadist and a night stalker, akin to his character in the muddled, less worthy sequel FREDDY'S REVENGE. And a child molester, just to up the ick factor.
The signature moments in these films are the elaborate dreamscapes the filmmakers come up with. Cool or corny, they are always a visual treat. Director Bayer employs some fine digital artistry showcasing the clash between dreams and reality in the drugstore sequence. And the hallway trick is nicely realized. But there was so much more they could have done. Also, it would have held a lot more tension if the filmmakers didn't telegraph every moment the characters enter the dream world.
“Religion” gets a token nod in this remake, yet it was an integral part in the old series mythology. When Nancy mentions his Catholic necklace, Quentin says, “Yeah, well… you gotta believe in something, right?” What a statement of faith. Gee, with such strong convictions, I wonder if he’ll be easy pickings.
The characters eventually discover the truth about their past, and (sort of) confront Freddy about it. It's not much of a face off, but at this point I didn't expect it to be. When Nancy finally does utter her kill-strike line, it’s so out of character that it’s basically fed to her (unlike food, which she so desperately needs).
In the end, what strikes me the most about this film is the profound sense of sadness and inevitability. Everyone is such a drone they don't seem to have a life to take in the first place. And just like the isolated and introverted teens in this movie, we are passive observers as well, with no emotional stake in the story whatsoever.
So aside from a few clever visual tricks and the to-be-expected shock cut scares, regrettably this is a NIGHTMARE you can sleepwalk through.
NOT RECOMMENDED
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