Short Take: What's different shouldn't be different, and what's familiar should have been original. An overall wasted opportunity.

Director: Samuel Bayer (feature debut)

Screenwriters: Wesley Strick (Wolf, Doom), Eric Heisserer

Cast: Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen, Little Children), Kyle Gallner (Jennifer’s Body), Rooney Mara (Youth in Revolt), Katie Cassidy (Black Christmas (2006))

Length: 1h 35m

Synopsis: In an unsuspecting suburban town various teens begin to experience frightening nightmares that are dangerously real. And in those nightmares they all come across the same evil man named Fred Krueger who continually tries to viciously murder them. Some teens fall victim to his assaults, the rest try to find a way to stop him – and keep from falling asleep. Pieces of the puzzle begin to fit together, which lead the surviving few to a final confrontation with their supernatural terror. To come out on top, they’ll have to literally fight their fears.

Analysis: The remaking of old horror movies continues. Surprisingly though, it took Freddy Krueger longer than Jason Voorhees, Leatherface, and Michael Myers to make an appearance in a renewed form. Like the other three, Freddy now has a new face and new story to tell (although it’s not a markedly different story). Perhaps because he is the last of the big four 1970s/’80s horror monsters to receive a reboot, Freddy’s reemergence seems to be the most anticipated judging from horror fan websites like Bloody-Disgusting.com and Fangoria.com. But even if it’s not the most anticipated, such eagerness seems to be the byproduct of a studio-driven decision to restart yet another iconic horror franchise. That decision, you must recognize, is not to appease those fans who are willing to stand in long lines to buy tickets to midnight showings, but is instead an attempt to reach newer, younger audiences that will inflate the fan base of the franchise. The bigger the fan base proves to be, the more money it’s worth. This isn’t necessarily a reason to dislike all remakes inherently, though, as this tactic has provided several notable films. One example is John Carpenter’s remake of Howard Hawks’ The Thing (which is itself currently being remade). At the time of its release it was a commercial and critical flop, but it has since become very well regarded among both horror audiences and academic circles. Another example would be Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978).

What helped make the original A Nightmare on Elm Street scary and stand out from the horror crowd is present again in this remake (by default or design, I leave you to decide). That factor is the alteration of the uneven circulation of violence that makes up the backbone of the story. In a cop drama, say, there’s usually a depiction of violence that goes from criminals towards innocence or authority, which is then reciprocated by violence enacted by an authority (typically lawmen) against the criminals. A back and forth would occur, which would signify an evenhanded circulation of violence. In many horror films, what causes fear is the depiction of an uneven circulation of violence, meaning that the monster (figurative or otherwise) would be able to act out violently against the protagonist(s) but a retaliation of violence would be far more difficult. What the character of Freddy Krueger does is alter an already uneven circulation of violence by making it not just difficult to exact violence on him, but seemingly impossible. By making his victims unable to actively confront him he poses an apparently unstoppable threat. Added on to this dynamic is the concept that this monstrous being is able to take advantage of a handicap shared by all people, which is the need to sleep.

Continuing to look closer at Freddy, a significant differentiation is made between this remake and its original in the way it constructs his character. In the original film Freddy was taken to trial for the murders of over a dozen young children, but due to a legal loophole brought about through negligence in the execution of certain protocol he was set free. After the failure of legal justice, all parents decided to claim social justice by killing Freddy themselves. In this remake, the parents of the town bypass any legal recourses they might have utilized and instead move straight towards attaining social justice. What this does is change the foundation of Freddy’s actions from being those of unjustified revenge to those of the possibly justified. It provides reasoning, however little, to a once indefensible motive. Some of you might consider this to be a minor chink in the armor of an otherwise uncontroversial facet to the story, but that it could possibly be considered a facet that undercuts the demonized persona of the fiendish villain does not bode well for the movie as a whole.

Rating: 4.5

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