GARFY'S GORETORIUM

Welcome to my nightmare. Yes, this is another versus post and another post complaining about remakes. This time, it is A Nightmare on Elm Street 1984 & 2010.

So here it is, ANOTHER little rant about remakes of classic and much-loved horror films, but this one is a little bit different. This was one of the first ever bits of writing I had ever attempted, months before I started this blog.

I’ve said it before but I will say it again, one of the many charms of horror movies is the way their main characters are played and the style in which the director shoots the movie. A prime example of this is A Nightmare on Elm Street, the partnership of Robert Englund and Wes Craven is one of many things that made the original movie, the success it was. Unfortunately, the purpose of remakes is to “re-imagine” and “re-boot” the original films which usually ends up with them taking away everything we love about the remake.

A Quick Comparison of the Two Freddy Kruegers.

Ok so this really annoyed me. I first watched the original movie at a young age and as expected, the nightmares soon came after and then the fear of Freddy Krueger. Out of everything, it wasn’t the famous glove that scared me the most or his horrifically scarred face, it was his laugh. That laugh haunted me for years, the worst thing was hearing just before I was about to sleep as that is how I knew what awaited me in my dreams. That’s what the “new” Freddy lacked, he didn’t have anything like that all he had, was the scarred face and the glove, which he wasn’t really effective, in fact I read a comment that said he looked like a meatball which doesn’t make him scary at all. Robert Englund played Freddy with charisma, everything hid did as Freddy was effective, even just the way he moved. Jackie Earle Haley didn’t have any of that, in my opinion. His performance wasn’t a memorable one even with him playing the main character, I mean without Freddy there is no movie, so i was disappointed with the way he portrayed this iconic horror character.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 1984

Cast – Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp, Johnny Depp, Amanada Wyss and John Saxon

Director – Wes Craven

Plot –  Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp) and her friends are being haunted in the dreams by a man wearing a glove with knives on the fingers, Freddy Krueger. After learning the reason as to why Freddy hunts them in their nightmares, Nancy takes it upon herself and attempts to take him down.

One of the first horror movies I ever watched and the reason why I love the genre, so I this one is close to my dark little heart. Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger was literally the stuff of nightmares, as a young kid I was terrified of going to sleep in case he came after me in my dreams. Many times he often did and would leave me petrified of sleeping again. Which is why this movie was a success, we all have had nightmares from horror movies so what could be scarier than a killer who thrives and has control in the nightmare world?

As much as I love this film I will admit that it does have its flaws(Freddy and his long arms), especially as far as modern films go this does seem a bit dated. Ignoring that, there are still elements that are just as effective now as they were then, the music for example 20+ years later and that little jump rope song still freaks me out. Even some of the effects are still decent, the scene where “The Nightmare Man” appears to be coming through the wall above Nancy while she sleeps, it was something as simple as a panel of spandex that Jim Doyle pressed his face and hands into while dressed as Freddy and the scene where Tina(Amanda Wyss) is being dragged around the room and pulled up to the ceiling. Two of my favourite scenes in the film.

It may not be perfect but A Nightmare on Elm Street is without doubt a classic in the horror genre, I rate it 8.5/10 and call it a must see and a must own. The Blu-Ray collection is also a must buy for Freddy fans as it has some amazing behind the scenes footage and interviews.

A Nightmare on Elm Street(2010)

Cast – Jackie Earle Haley, Rooney Mara, Kyle Gallner, Katie Cassidy and Thomas Dekker

Director – Samuel Bayer

Plot – A group of friends start to realise they are all having the same nightmare about a horrifically scarred man, Freddy Krueger. When one of them dies during their nightmare, they all soon start to figure out, what happens during their sleep, effects their reality. As secrets start to unfold, they must work together to battle their sleep and survive.

As a fan of this franchise, I was excited when i found out I would be getting another fix of Freddy, then news came that Robert Englund wouldn’t be playing his famous role and then i became a little sceptical. I tried my best to be positive about the new release, until i actually watched it. Everything was so disappointing, from start to finish I couldn’t help but feel let down. Which in all honesty was a bit of a surprise considering the cast, each one of them have movies out that I have enjoyed and thought their performance was really good. This lacked everything that made the original a success, it was an instant avoid the first time and then after revisiting it a second time(which I regret) this is still and always will be an avoid. I stand by my statement when I said this is one the worst remakes I have ever seen. To be slightly fair, I will give it a little bit of credit, for modern standards this will be more effective to the younger generation who aren’t into older movies or for casual horror fans.

A lot of people did put hard work into making this movie which I can appreciate so I will give this a higher rating than it deserves, 4/10 and don’t even buy it if you’re a fan of the franchise!