Though this reboot of the series and a near remake of the original film has some things going for it, A NIGHTMARE ELM STREET is just tepid and misdirected in its execution. Freddy, played by Jackie Earl Haley instead of a returning Robert Englund, is a believable menace, but the words and thoughts coming out of the character are simply a menace of bad script writing.
The film starts off with a teenager commiting suicide in front of a friend after having two disturbing dreams. Instead of hinting that Freddy is killing him and not show too much, director Samuel Bayer and the writers just show him like it didn't matter. Five minutes in, and Freddy Krueger has been introduced with no suspense. Sure, Krueger is an icon of the modern horror genre, but this is a reintroduction, thus a new great entrance for a new generation.
Once this prelude is done, the remaining teenagers then try to figure out what's going on and what has been happening to all of them. It all leads to a major discovery about their past that they somehow forgot to know about. Seriously, there is no logical reason for them to forgot about their past. The film may try to fool myself thinking it was due to it being traumatic but again the writers and director don't elaborate on it.
This discovery also has a major revamping of the Freddy Krueger character that left this major fan of him to be appalled. I like both versions of Freddy: the pure sadist and the vicious harlequin. This remade version, on the other hand, tries to bring the terror back to him by relying on a cheap exploitative characterization. To make this change even worse, his one-liners and actions after this revelation made myself feel dirty and disgusted in the wrong way for ever liking Freddy. It's not Haley's fault; He gets the job necessary to be done regardless of the stupidity coming out his mouth. He even gives Freddy a creepy habit of twitching his blades before sinking into the flesh of the boring teenagers.
Since my enjoyment factor dwindled as the film continued, it causes all the plot holes to expand more and more. Like in the original, one of the teens gets arrested for the supposed murder of his girlfriend. Instead of reading his Miranda rights, he gets told by the arresting officer to shut up. None of the parents are concerned when two of their children have been killed mysteriously close to each other. And, the biggest I noticed, involves the former place that connects the meatbags to Freddy. According to the parents, Freddy Krueger's death at their hands goes unreported and he is never mentioned again. And yet, somehow, the place is shut down and deserted by everyone despite not having bad press.
There was some hope for this film and some good ideas. The subtle notion that prescription and mood drugs have destroyed the well-being of our youth is surprisingly effective to include. I also liked Rooney Mara as the new Nancy is her own form and style. However, the cheap transformation of Freddy, the constantly repeating shock scares, and the dumb script dismantled this project. This film is forgettable while also being offensive to the tastes of a horror and Freddy fan.
FINAL REVIEW: 1 / 5
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