I’m of two minds about the upcoming remake of A Nightmare On Elm Street. On the one hand, the original is a bonafide classic of 80s horror cinema and something that’s held up extremely well with age. However, the franchise really is due for a new makeover, and Freddy deserves a return to his scary boogeyman roots rather than his stand-up comic routines in some of the later sequels. With Freddy vs. Jason‘s much talked-about sequel not appearing any time soon, I don’t see why a reboot is necessarily a bad thing.
(see more, plus pictures from the remake after the jump)
However, there are two issues I’ve had with the idea of this reboot. First of all is the effects. Yes, some of the original’s physical effects have dated badly (long arms and the gloopy staircase being 2 cases in point), but there’s still a presence to physical effects that all but the very best CGI cannot replicate. the last thing we need with the remake is for a bunch of crappy CGI effects to overrun the screen.
The other issue is the lack of Robert Englund in the main role. Even with the worst of the sequels, Englund was a reliable presence who completely dominated the role. It’s difficult to imagine anyone else playing Krueger. But, Jackie Earle Hayley looks like he might be a good fit. Thankfully, the producers have not gone the route of casting a hulking brute in the role, and Hayley does seem to have the right kind of look for Freddy. I’ve not seen him in action in any movies (he only returned to acting a couple of years ago after a long hiatus and I still haven’t gotten round to watching Watchmen), but he looks OK from the photos I’ve seen of him off-set.
Today, 2 new photos were released of the new Krueger in action, and I have to say I’m impressed. The look of the movie is in-keeping with the original (though obviously much glossier) and while we haven’t got a full look at Freddy’s face yet, I’m actually starting to look forward to seeing some footage.
Time will tell if this early promise is delivered upon. I remember when I finally got to see the remake of The Fog after some decent looking stills and a good trailer ((shudder)). I’m also not sure about the director – a first-time feature from a music video director rarely bodes well for a horror movie’s scare factor, although Marcus Nispel did OK with the The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake that was his début for the same production house…
See More A Nightmare on Elm Street Artwork at IGN.com
See More A Nightmare on Elm Street Publicity Still at IGN.com