A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)

One, two, Freddy's coming for you...  You know the story and after seeing this re-imagining of Wes Craven’s classic, you will easily see why Freddy has stood the test of time.

Regardless of how you feel about the original, horror fans old and new will not be able to deny this 'new' Freddy. He is colder, more evil, and more soulless. You don’t root for Freddy here. You pray to God you don’t fall asleep. Therein lies the film’s success. Jackie Earle Haley as Freddy strikes the perfect chord—fear. The walk, the dialogue, the glove… he owns it all with brilliant results. Gone is the ‘juicy’ look. In its place is a scarred, vengeful disfigured face. Add to that a sexuality that was avoided in the original and you’ve got a full blown visceral fright-fest.

Elm St. hasn’t changed much. The new cast of sleep-deprived teens is solid. Director Samuel Bayer charges right into making a film that feels new, but fans will quickly spot old school homages. Classic scenes are reworked without feeling overwrought and despite some predictability, the scare is real. Blurring reality and fantasy seamlessly, the viewer is best served to stay awake as this time around it’s not so easy to tell.

The opening sequence feels rather art-house and sets the tone for waht is to come.  Bayer plays to a particular angle—what is Freddy was innocent?—thereby increasing the foreboding conclusions. The special effects gore is smart and nightmarishly bloody.

As I see it, A Nightmare on Elm Street is brilliantly executed with top-notch casting and solid dialogue. 2010 has left the ham behind and shown us a crueler, more sadistic Freddy that I, for one, hope to see more of.