Starring: Jackie Earle Haley, Rooney Mara, Kyle Gallner
With Hollywood cynically ‘re-imagining’ every classic horror film it can, it was
only a matter of time before
A Nightmare On Elm Street returned to the big screen.
And, predictably, a movie
that in 1984 was frightening enough to cause insomnia has been turned into a sterile, hackneyed snore-fest.
Back on Elm Street, Nancy (Mara) is having nightmares about disfigured ghoul Freddy Krueger (a decent Haley). As teenagers at their school start dying in their sleep, Nancy and friend Quentin (Gallner) try to discover why a razor-gloved nutter is coming for them.
But director Samuel Bayer eschews chilling visuals for predictable horror set-pieces, and the new Elm Street simply isn’t scary enough. The film tries to put an interesting spin on famous moments from the original – Freddy dragging
a victim across the ceiling, Nancy napping in the bath
– but falls short every time.
The movie’s good parts,
such as a scene involving
a video blog, can be counted on one taloned hand, making this a lame comeback for
a horror classic.
GOOD FOR: Those who haven’t seen the original.
2/5
