Post by Red Goblin on Apr 30, 2010 4:15:35 GMT -6
First, let me start by saying that, yes... I know, we're all tired of seeing every horror movie ever remade... The fact that I've been receiving word on remakes of I Spit on Your Grave and another take on Night of the Living Dead has me a little upset... And, the reported plot for the remake of Creature From the Black Lagoon has me feeling sick to my stomach...
That out of the way, I'd like to address the questions I know alot of you may have on this particular remake... First, the biggest concern, was replacing Robert Englund with Jackie Earle Haley a good move? Some people would say no, not at all... Having watched the movie, I'd tell you that they're wrong... Haley has done a wonderful job taking the reigns as the Slasher of Springwood... For a good portion of the movie, he brings something to Krueger that Englund never managed... Sympathy. That's right, for a good portion of this movie, you feel bad for the mass murdering dream demon... I won't tell you why, but, I'll tell you that it's one of the best red herring's I've seen in a long time...
Outside of that, there's the rest of the cast, who, for the most part, seem somewhat unknown... In fact, the only cast members outside of Haley I knew were Kyle Gallner (what can I say, I'm a sucker for Veronica Mars... And his role as Impulse on Smallville is pretty good, too) and Aaron Yoo (who, unfortunately, only appears for a small, uncredited cameo). Despite this, however, the cast selections were excellent, most notably the new Nancy, Rooney Mara, a talented young actress I can see becoming a great Scream Queen. While the acting isn't flawless, you do get a sense that the fear is real, and is caused by extreme sleep deprivation... Some scenes do come off as cheesy, but, it feels more like a throwback to the campyness of the original series, which was always fine by me.
Finally, the only other major detail I need to mention is the revamped story itself... While several classic scenes were returned (the girl dragged across the ceiling, the blood falling from the ceiling, and, my personal favorite, Freddy being dragged into the real world, to name a few), some of them were changed to fit a more modern rendition... Breaking from the traditional storyline for Slasher films, two characters actually survive the entire ordeal after defeating Freddy... While the story is actually far different from the original, it does lead to a thrilling climax... And, when you finally learn the truth, whether you knew it already or not, you still feel a little upset over the revelation... Like those who discover it, you know longer know what's real and what isn't in the film by that point... And, like any good slasher, it does end with a clear and obvious lead in to a sequel... In fact, this is perhaps the most obvious sequel direction any Nightmare movie yet has taken.
As for the technical aspects of the film, it was a love/hate relationship for me... While I adored the surreal transitions from real world to dream world and back, which kept the audience from ever really knowing whether or not Freddy was there... I detested the heavy reliance on 'shock' scenes for minimal scares... However, given the surprisingly strong mystery at the core of the film, and the sheer amounts of gore and surrealness in the film... I can easily overlook the reliance on shock...
As far as recommending it? I certainly would. If you're a fan of the Nightmare series, or of horror films in general, I highly recommend giving the newest Nightmare a chance... Maybe you won't enjoy it as much as I did, but, I hope you will! Enjoy it if you see it, and if you don't, enjoy whatever kind of film it is you enjoy!
That out of the way, I'd like to address the questions I know alot of you may have on this particular remake... First, the biggest concern, was replacing Robert Englund with Jackie Earle Haley a good move? Some people would say no, not at all... Having watched the movie, I'd tell you that they're wrong... Haley has done a wonderful job taking the reigns as the Slasher of Springwood... For a good portion of the movie, he brings something to Krueger that Englund never managed... Sympathy. That's right, for a good portion of this movie, you feel bad for the mass murdering dream demon... I won't tell you why, but, I'll tell you that it's one of the best red herring's I've seen in a long time...
Outside of that, there's the rest of the cast, who, for the most part, seem somewhat unknown... In fact, the only cast members outside of Haley I knew were Kyle Gallner (what can I say, I'm a sucker for Veronica Mars... And his role as Impulse on Smallville is pretty good, too) and Aaron Yoo (who, unfortunately, only appears for a small, uncredited cameo). Despite this, however, the cast selections were excellent, most notably the new Nancy, Rooney Mara, a talented young actress I can see becoming a great Scream Queen. While the acting isn't flawless, you do get a sense that the fear is real, and is caused by extreme sleep deprivation... Some scenes do come off as cheesy, but, it feels more like a throwback to the campyness of the original series, which was always fine by me.
Finally, the only other major detail I need to mention is the revamped story itself... While several classic scenes were returned (the girl dragged across the ceiling, the blood falling from the ceiling, and, my personal favorite, Freddy being dragged into the real world, to name a few), some of them were changed to fit a more modern rendition... Breaking from the traditional storyline for Slasher films, two characters actually survive the entire ordeal after defeating Freddy... While the story is actually far different from the original, it does lead to a thrilling climax... And, when you finally learn the truth, whether you knew it already or not, you still feel a little upset over the revelation... Like those who discover it, you know longer know what's real and what isn't in the film by that point... And, like any good slasher, it does end with a clear and obvious lead in to a sequel... In fact, this is perhaps the most obvious sequel direction any Nightmare movie yet has taken.
As for the technical aspects of the film, it was a love/hate relationship for me... While I adored the surreal transitions from real world to dream world and back, which kept the audience from ever really knowing whether or not Freddy was there... I detested the heavy reliance on 'shock' scenes for minimal scares... However, given the surprisingly strong mystery at the core of the film, and the sheer amounts of gore and surrealness in the film... I can easily overlook the reliance on shock...
As far as recommending it? I certainly would. If you're a fan of the Nightmare series, or of horror films in general, I highly recommend giving the newest Nightmare a chance... Maybe you won't enjoy it as much as I did, but, I hope you will! Enjoy it if you see it, and if you don't, enjoy whatever kind of film it is you enjoy!