Jason KingA Nightmare on Elm Street (3/10)
May 20th 2010 06:09
:
Hailey Just Isn't Freddy
Category: No Category
A Nightmare on Elm Street (3/10)
It just wasn't good. It's not horrendous but it's not fabulous and this film needed to be fabulous.
I really tried to like this film, especially for my Elm Street obsessed friend Mitch, he basically knew every piece of this information as it was announced and has been sleeplessly waiting months for its release. I texted him at the end to say sorry but I didn't like it and he is in denial - he will not listen to a film reviewer named Jason as basically I am supposed to be biased to Friday the 13th and my namesake
This is a re-imagining of the original story but it is too close to the original and frankly quite boring and without anything scary. It was predictable and surprisingly all the good characters you expected to follow through the film get killed at the start and the ones you assumed would be the off cuts stay on as the "surprising" leads.
But for me the biggest letdown in this film is Freddy himself. I think Jackie Earle Hailey is a great actor - he was superb in The Watchmen and is on a great comeback trajectory but Freddy's involvement in this is quite limited and for me too limited. Hailey does nothing exciting and besides his makeup he just delivers lines. I also thought he would bring so much to this but I was totally disappointed and really missed the old Freddy, Robert Englund. He was and shall always be Freddy Krueger. The voice was wrong, the terrible but brilliant one liners were delivered wrong and even the pitch of Hailey's voice annoyed me, Englund's Freddy scared the shit out of me and Hailey's just made me want to bitchslap him. And the face was crap - surely they could have at least made him look the same - he looked more like a melted alien from The X Files in this one. Booooooooooooooo
For once this story needed to ditch worrying about being a serious story on Freddy and just give us kills. What has always made the "Nightmare" films exciting and brilliant for me was the imagination behind the deaths in people's dreams. In this it was lacking. Sure there was some great upside down shots, a stupid hand between the legs in the bath and a great "wet dream" sequence in a bloody submerged hallway but we have all seen most of this before and this film needed edge to make a huge comeback and it did nothing. Three teenagers in front of me actually walked out 30mins in and this would ideally be the target audience as most of them would not have been introduced to the series as yet and hence why it needed a HUGE GREAT comeback and not this half assed saccharine attempt. None of us enter a theatre to watch Freddy have a well written explanation to his back story - we only give a crap about how he is going to kill them all.
And for a re-imagining I wanted to see the people reconstructing their own dreams to battle Freddy and not the way they did it.
And another surprising thing. Kellan Lutz is probably the biggest thing in the film for this generation, behind Hailey - if this is the case - why on earth did he only perform a Drew Barrymore lame attempt at a Scream opening? And now for me to be extremely shallow, which no doubt explains why I am constantly single, but this is Hollywood - why kill all the beautiful people and leave us with the rest?? No teenage girl is going to give two hoots about the remaining male lead and the remaining female - while I found attractive is more Emo goth and not something the teenage boys are going to lust after - this leads me to believe that all you want is everyone dead so we can go home.
The director, Samual Bayer has come from rock video clips and the imagery in this was extremely lacking, I would have expected much more from him in this. But don't worry as he is already in pre-production on the second instalment - LAME. Another thing that annoyed me - why remake or re-imagine (for the people that will point it out) something and bring nothing new to the story. OK - we got to see Freddy burn, who cares, we have seen the scars for years already, we know he burnt badly.
The film has a grey emotion to it - it is just bleak in its delivery. As I quote another critic "as the teenage characters fight to stay awake, you may find yourself doing the same thing". Very appropriate. Out now and worth 3/10. Sorry Mitch - I hope you don't cry too much and don't defend what you know is poor
It just wasn't good. It's not horrendous but it's not fabulous and this film needed to be fabulous.
I really tried to like this film, especially for my Elm Street obsessed friend Mitch, he basically knew every piece of this information as it was announced and has been sleeplessly waiting months for its release. I texted him at the end to say sorry but I didn't like it and he is in denial - he will not listen to a film reviewer named Jason as basically I am supposed to be biased to Friday the 13th and my namesake
This is a re-imagining of the original story but it is too close to the original and frankly quite boring and without anything scary. It was predictable and surprisingly all the good characters you expected to follow through the film get killed at the start and the ones you assumed would be the off cuts stay on as the "surprising" leads.
But for me the biggest letdown in this film is Freddy himself. I think Jackie Earle Hailey is a great actor - he was superb in The Watchmen and is on a great comeback trajectory but Freddy's involvement in this is quite limited and for me too limited. Hailey does nothing exciting and besides his makeup he just delivers lines. I also thought he would bring so much to this but I was totally disappointed and really missed the old Freddy, Robert Englund. He was and shall always be Freddy Krueger. The voice was wrong, the terrible but brilliant one liners were delivered wrong and even the pitch of Hailey's voice annoyed me, Englund's Freddy scared the shit out of me and Hailey's just made me want to bitchslap him. And the face was crap - surely they could have at least made him look the same - he looked more like a melted alien from The X Files in this one. Booooooooooooooo
For once this story needed to ditch worrying about being a serious story on Freddy and just give us kills. What has always made the "Nightmare" films exciting and brilliant for me was the imagination behind the deaths in people's dreams. In this it was lacking. Sure there was some great upside down shots, a stupid hand between the legs in the bath and a great "wet dream" sequence in a bloody submerged hallway but we have all seen most of this before and this film needed edge to make a huge comeback and it did nothing. Three teenagers in front of me actually walked out 30mins in and this would ideally be the target audience as most of them would not have been introduced to the series as yet and hence why it needed a HUGE GREAT comeback and not this half assed saccharine attempt. None of us enter a theatre to watch Freddy have a well written explanation to his back story - we only give a crap about how he is going to kill them all.
And for a re-imagining I wanted to see the people reconstructing their own dreams to battle Freddy and not the way they did it.
And another surprising thing. Kellan Lutz is probably the biggest thing in the film for this generation, behind Hailey - if this is the case - why on earth did he only perform a Drew Barrymore lame attempt at a Scream opening? And now for me to be extremely shallow, which no doubt explains why I am constantly single, but this is Hollywood - why kill all the beautiful people and leave us with the rest?? No teenage girl is going to give two hoots about the remaining male lead and the remaining female - while I found attractive is more Emo goth and not something the teenage boys are going to lust after - this leads me to believe that all you want is everyone dead so we can go home.
The director, Samual Bayer has come from rock video clips and the imagery in this was extremely lacking, I would have expected much more from him in this. But don't worry as he is already in pre-production on the second instalment - LAME. Another thing that annoyed me - why remake or re-imagine (for the people that will point it out) something and bring nothing new to the story. OK - we got to see Freddy burn, who cares, we have seen the scars for years already, we know he burnt badly.
The film has a grey emotion to it - it is just bleak in its delivery. As I quote another critic "as the teenage characters fight to stay awake, you may find yourself doing the same thing". Very appropriate. Out now and worth 3/10. Sorry Mitch - I hope you don't cry too much and don't defend what you know is poor
| 167 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
subscribe to this blog
Comment by Mr Nice Guy
Pop Culturist
Pop Rock Factory
Have to admit - I have a soft spot for "Nightmare" as it was the first film to genuinely get me nervous in my seat.
(The fact that I decided to watch it at 2am having just come home from a party a little worse for wear didn't help of course).
Still - there may be hmmm - how do I put this - heritage value in it.
Thanks for the head's up - I'm not expecting too much.
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness
Let us know what you think about it.
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Prince of Persia was a lot worse.
I reviewed Nightmare here if you're curious.
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
Another in a long line of disappointing reviews...the trailer didn't promise much.
The original film was an incredibly effective Frightener, I'm glad they at least tried to channel "scary" Freddy, instead of the comedy one liner king that made the sequels flat instead of effective horror....i do like the final Wes Craven directed one too.
Comment by Joshua the Samurai
Bucket Movies
Weird, Rare, and Overlooked Film
Ultimate Battle
Comment by Wilson Pon
Health 2 Know
Adventure Toes
boxing sound
Business Rope
Fun Places 2 Travel
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness
JD - I didn't find Freddy scary in this one at all. To be honest I was so much younger with all the original sequels and I loved his one liners
Samurai - well puT!!!!
Wilson - also well said!!
Bryn - LOL - thanks for the faux pas of Jason is Crap hahahahahaha
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
For starters, they're all talking in British accents that verge on cockney! The Princess sounds like Betty Spencer fer Chrissake! Jake looks and acts like he's in another movie entirely ... sure, he buffs up nicely, but he's woefully miscast I thought. And I've decided not the good actor I thought he was.
Comment by Akito Hirata
I'm yet to see it and will judge then.
Jackie Earle Healy is such a creep and by that I mean he should be awesome here.
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness