A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)

The original “Nightmare on Elm Street”, directed by Wes Craven and starred Johnny Depp in his first film role, came out four years before I was born and I never saw it till I was in high school. I enjoyed it and thought it was one of the best horror movies I’ve ever seen. When I heard they were making a remake of it, I thought they were kidding. But when they released the teaser, I started to have second thoughts. I went to see it and I really liked it. It was also the 1st horror movie I ever saw in theaters and it made me scared, but I loved it. For those who don’t know what this movie is about, it tells the story of a group of high school teenage friends who are being stalked by a serial killer who wields a glove with four razor-sharp blades and kills them in their dreams. Jackie Earle Haley, who we all know him as Rorschach from 2009’s Watchmen, takes over the iconic horror role made famously by Robert Englund. I thought he was brilliant as Freddy Krueger. I watched the exclusive first look online and Brad Fuller, whose one of the producers of the film, said that Haley was the only actor they wanted for Freddy Krueger and he was right. I loved how Director Samuel Bayer made this ‘Nightmare’ much darker than the original. As for the younger actors: Rooney Mara (Youth in Revolt) as Nancy, Katie Cassidy (Taken) as Kris, Thomas Dekker (TV’s Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) as Jesse, Kyle Gallner (Jennifer’s Body) as Quentin, and Kellan Lutz (the Twilight trilogy) as Dean, were all terrific as the doomed teenagers and during the middle of the film, I figured out why Freddy is trying to kill them and I couldn’t believe it. You’ll have to see for yourself. I also thought Clancy Brown (Mr. Krabs from TV’s SpongeBob SquarePants) and Connie Britton (Friday Night Lights) were both good as some of the teenagers’ parents. The original “Nightmare on Elm Street” is a classic but I really enjoyed the remake and it is one of the best horror movies I’ve ever seen.