A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)

A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010). I posted about this movie (here) before it actually came out with some opinions. Now that I've seen the movie I can fully share based on actual viewing. I made it sound official but I'm just going to type random thoughts and observations.

So, as I previously mentioned, Jackie Earl Haley sucked as Freddy. He wasn't scary to me at all. Now that could be because I'm older than when I saw the other Nightmare movies but I still get a chill every now and then when I see something that really "scares" me. The mask that Jackie wore made him look more like an alien-type thing because it kind of smashed his nose (probably planned that way) unlike the original Freddy mask. I prefer the nose because for me it made him more menacing and scary. Maybe it was the overall shape of the mask, I don't know, but it just wasn't as scary. Not to mention that even in make up, Jackie's bright, blue eyes shown through making him look more like a mishap burn victim versus an evil, vengeance-ridden dream killer.

The choices of actors that look like high school students obviously was not a priority. The blond girl and that guy from Twilight looked too old although the Twilight guy (I think he was Dean in the movie) was short-lived...literally. The blond girl playing Kris was on the Melrose Place remake. She looks even older than Twilight guy. After Googling the cast, the three other people are at least 23 years old but they didn't "look" as old as the others, especially that guy that was the first victim in the movie with Megan Fox where she ate guys.

The death of Kris was very reminiscent of one of the other movie's characters (I think the first girl in the original). The way she was slammed around the room and ran up the walls and ceiling and then slashed across her chest, which didn't expose any boobage I might add, dammit! Also, the way her boyfriend was chased by the cops, captured and then subsequently killed in his cell was very original-like as well.

The bathtub scene with...oh shit, Nancy like from the original. I think I've made a correlation here or something. Okay, never mind, two different last names but both Nancy...Nancy is very similar, to similar for me, to the original Nancy bathtub scene.

The plan to get Freddy out of their dreams and into the real world is a good idea although I'm not sure why it never works. If he can kill in "his world" and it affects the real world, why won't getting him into the real world and killing be the end of it? I just don't get it other than the fact it would allow for shitty sequels. At the end of the movie when Freddy appears in the mirror and Nancy sees him (while not dreaming) and is able to reach from the mirror and jab her mother in the back of the head and through her eye sockets (which was really cool) and pull her back into the mirror really pissed me off. I just don't know what the hell is going on: is Freddy in the real world or is he not? Is he able to be finalized (deader than dead) or not? I just don't like this unending ending!

Finally, I was able to walk through my dark house and go to bed without issue of having after fear (that's like after shocks for an earthquake). Where is the fear? I could chalk that up to age difference but they previewed The Exorcist before playing the movie and seeing Linda Blair with her green face, blueish eyes, and pop-out varicose veins gave me the chills like I got when I saw it back when I was a kid some 20+ years ago. Look at it here.

So, I would consider this movie a major fail and you can pass on viewing it. If you want to see a Nightmare movie, rent the original (for better scare factor) or Dream Warriors (for the brief shot of the awesome boobies nurse).