Month of Horror 2010: Nightmare on Elm Street

A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)

So I am always hesitant about remakes of movies that I think were great in their day.  The original A Nightmare on Elm Street holds a great spot in my childhood.  I think I was pretty unique with most kids that I knew, in the fact that I was able to watch horror movies at a younger age.

The original A Nightmare on Elm Street is one of those movies I look back on and love, but when I watch it I realize it is in bad need of an update.  The only problem with updating something that people hold so dear is that if it is not done right (and some people may think it is, while some group will always think it isn't) people will hate it.

I went into the new version very optimistic because I had heard good things.  This is a tough review because there were definitely things I liked.  The tone seemed more in line with newer horror movies, dark and ominous.  They also did some things that were new to the story that were really good as well.  The back story of Freddy Krueger in the 2010 version is done better than the original.  The movie also does not feel as 80s as the original, which in most cases is a good thing, but I am not so sure on this one.  The new makeup used for Freddy looks good, until he tries to talk.  It is very gruesome looking but it takes away the feeling of humanity that gave the original Freddy a chilling realism.  However, the acting of Freddy is obviously limited by the mask, which is very bad for the movie.  If they used the original makeup for Freddy, I think this movie would have been better than the original.  The good thing about this movie is it made me realize how much I enjoyed the other, and more specifically, what made the original movie great: Robert Englund.  His over-the-top acting is what made Freddy so unforgettable, and what made him so scary.

I think for people who have not seen the original they will find a movie that they like and that is altogether creepy.  However, I do not believe this movie will resonate with kids of this generation like the original did for kids of my generation.  It was definitely worth watching; I can even say that I enjoyed it, but it just does not stand up to the original.