Review of A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) by Justin M — 21 Aug 2016

Don't listen... completely to the critics. It's better than any of the 3 of the sequels to Dream Warriors. New Nightmare is certainly more original than this if you want a new take on the series the 1994 film is a good bet an imperfect bet but that's a whole other review.

Back to this film Freddy is Dark again YAY! For people like me who hated seeing Krueger turned into a clown and have his backstory raped (part 6) this is completely refreshing. The thing is yes the SPOILER ALERT child rapist aspect to Freddy's character( that Wes did write Freddy as originally) is completely ramped up. Freddy was fairly creepy in the original film and the 2010 version may focus on that aspect of his character to a fault making what makes him scary to the kids far too specific. The suspense in the movie does suck as there are far too many jump scares in places that don't make sense I blame Platinum Dunes for this.

There were more interesting scenes shot for the movie but it seems like Platinum Dunes took those out but we do get a idea that makes far more sense than Day Dreaming. Micro Naps! Where you sleep for a few seconds (sure it's not enough time for REM sleep but Daydreamers are less likely to get rapid eye movement than micro sleepers) and Freddy shows up somewhere between that making for some interesting sequences but admittedly not enough.

The teens are well acted unfortunately most interesting aspects of their characters seem to have been cut no wonder people hate this movie but I think it's decent.

Ultimately the important information gets shared to the audience. The movie sticks to it's plot and moves toward a goal. For all the film's weaknesses and overbearing call outs it gives us what many of the sequels failed to. That is a Freddy that becomes more terrifying than we have seen in recent Memory.

Sure Wes Craven's New Nightmare has it's share of Dark and sinister moments. In many respects I prefer it's more original direction but this Freddy in comparison is a ruthless evil man. I love that and I missed that for so long. I love how he's tells jokes for his pleasure alone and he doesn't care what the audience thinks of him. No more turning his character into something more child friendly for the sake of ticket sales.

If children should be afraid of Freddy then this is what he should act like. The movie is a murder mystery and an okay one at that. Is Freddy innocent of the crimes or did he do it? Did the children say anything? The reason Wes didn't take the Molester angle in 1984 is because there were real life trails going on and the kids did say anything because the parents told them the kids were raped.

It would be great if we got a directors cut of this movie I think it deserves it.