Nightmare on Elm Street Marathon: "A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)"

The Nightmare on Elm Street Movie Marathon ends

with the first movie again kinda sorta.

 

     This is it. One last trip to Elm Street. And, honestly, why not? A Nightmare on Elm Street may be a classic. but I can certainly see a great modernized version of it being made. But, I can also definitely see a terrible modernized version being made as well. And in 2010, a monetized version of the original 1984 A Nightmare on Elm Street was released. But was it a great re-telling? Or was it an awful nightmare? Only one way to find out.
    The 2010 version follows Nancy Holbrook (Rooney Mara), who, alongside friends Quentin (Kyle Gallner), Kris (Katie Cassidy) and Jesse (Thomas Dekker), discover that when they were kids, their parents, including Nancy's mother (Connie Britton), murder a man named Freddy Krueger (Jackie Earl Haley), who they believed was molesting the kids. But when Freddy starts haunting the kid's dreams, they find themselves in a struggle to stay awake and must somehow stop Freddy from killing them all and taking his revenge.

Not bad looking, but not great
either.

    For a horror movie remake, especially one by Platinum Dunes (Michael Bay's production company), one would think that the cast would not be all that great. But this movie's got Jackie Earl Haley in it! He's awesome in everything he's in! And here, while he does need to speak up, he does create a menacing Freddy for Mara to face off with. And Mara does well here too. She's just as good as original Nancy Heather Langenkamp in terms of acting. She does a great here and plays here role very smart.
    Because, after all, this is a movie Michael Bay had his hand in. So, naturally, the writing's pretty weak. It's not that i bad, it's just... generic. This is a horror movie you've seen before. It came out in 1984 and was directed by Wes Craven. The new story the film goes with is interesting, but underdeveloped, making it hard to really connect with the characters in any real way other than "Oop, well he's dead".
    The movie does manage to capture style of the original and does look good, even if they should have used practical effects over CGI and even though Freddy look less like a burn victim and more like an alien. And, if there's anything the movie really has going for it, it's that the movie is just so okay. I did at least like the movie a little and it is certainly watchable. It's not the worst Nightmare movie (Hi, Freddy's Dead!). And really, isn't that impressive?

"I really shouldn't have left that
window open."

   A Nightmare on Elm Street is by no means the worst remake ever, or the worst Nightmare movie ever. It's not even really that bad a film. It's well-made, well-acted and a little interest. But, the writing is weak, the movie is generic and remember that long after you watch it. I enjoyed it, but it's  nothing that special. A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) get 4 stars out of 6.