Freddy Krueger 2009
I'm actually a bit confounded why there seems to be a lot more buzz - both positive and, mostly, negative - around this remake than their last film, Friday the 13th. The original Jason Voorhes series had a much longer run than the Freddy series, with 10 films for Jason (11 if you count Freddy vs. Jason) and six for Freddy (eight if you count both Freddy vs. Jason and the fabulous Wes Craven's New Nightmare). Perhaps it is that Freddy's series stopped while it was ahead, so to speak, and didn't go to Manhattan or friggin' outer space like his iconic rival. Perhaps it's the fact that Freddy Krueger has that innate quality to both scare the hell out of you and crack you up with his twisted style. Perhaps they're just sick of seeing the icons they grew up with be re-hashed for the younger masses. No matter what the reason, positive or negative, there doesn't seem to be any shortage of opinion or controversy when it comes to this remake.
There have been rumors abound surrounding this film practically from the start, with Billy Bob Thornton originally rumored to portray Freddy Krueger and it was even rumored that now troubled actress Lindsay Lohan was up for a role of some sorts. So, one would think that when they finalized Jackie Earle Haley, fresh off a spectacular performance as Rorschach in the fanboy favorite Watchmen, the fans would be pleased... right? Kind of. The "blogosphere" (I hate that term, for the record) lit up with mixed criticism over the choice, with some fans hailing the casting choice, some thinking he was not right for Krueger and even some bothered by the fact that Haley was too short. For the record, Robert Englund was 5'9" and Haley is 5'5" ½, which is a margin any good set of lifts could take care of... but it's not like they're needed anyway. The widespread reaction to Haley's casting prompted Fuller to write that earlier-mentioned post on the the Platinum Dunes blog, some of which was spent defending their casting choice and, if you ask me, rightly so. There have also been a lot of bitchy blogs aimed at young Kyle Gallner's casting. While I haven't seen Gallner's flick The Haunting in Connecticut, this kid delivered a superb performance in a small arc during the last phenomenal season of The Shield as a very twisted young kid/possible murderer. I really don't know anything about Rooney Mara, except that she's the younger sister of the lovely and very underrated actress Kate Mara, but I do know that she has some very big shoes to fill. I'm actually quite pumped to see what both Haley and Gallner can do here, and even to see of the younger Mara has her sister's acting chops, but, aside from the negativity in the casting, there is plenty of negativity elsewhere... which I actually agree with.
A script review from the guys over at Latino Review has sparked many a negative reaction surrounding the film and I have to tell you, I really don't blame them. For one, Wesley Strick doesn't exactly inspire a lot of confidence. While he has such hits as Cape Fear under his belt (and a guilty-pleasure flick of mine: The Saint), he also wrote Doom and the syrupy tear-inducer The Glass House. Even if you put his resume aside, the script review brings up some interesting points of this script - which is a recent draft from this January - which indicates that Freddy will be much darker and, instead of the trademark snarky wit that Robert Englund so deftly applied as the original Freddy Krueger, it seems that, according to this draft, Freddy won't be speaking much at all. It also brought up some bothersome points that seem to indicate the film is more about getting to the root of Freddy's past and why he does what he does. It seems they'll be delving into Freddy's backstory in a much bigger way here, and the main question is will Freddy Krueger be a child molester or not? Regardless of what he turns out to be, I'm not a big fan of this at all and I think the fact that they didn't dig too deep into Jason Voorhes' past is one of the reasons Platinum Dunes' Friday the 13th was so successful (I rather enjoyed the film, for the record). While Jason's reboot was a brutal throwback to the 80s films, this almost seems to be a moody character study of sorts, trying to examine this bad man with cutlery hands. I could be wrong, but it seems that the high-spirited sharp-handed, quick-witted killer has been replaced by a brooding possibly sociopathic predator... which would be fine... if it was anyone else BUT Freddy Krueger. Then, for the icing on this crummy cake, it seems that the Mara's Nancy character will be more of a "goth" kid and Gallner's Quentin character runs a podcast... as if that's something we need to know (i.e. I really hope it's not a plot device...). Now, of course, all of this is on the basis of this script review, from a script that was dated in January and, by now, God knows how many revisions have been made since then, so perhaps I'm barking up the wrong tree, but if I'm not, I know at least that Andrew Form and Brad Fuller will at least know I'm barking.
Form and Fuller have openly said that they read essentially everything written about them, good or bad. I rather enjoyed meeting Form and Fuller on the Jason set. They were very amiable guys to talk to and were very open about the film and potential future films on the horizon. I've enjoyed some of their films (The Amityville Horror, Friday the 13th), I haven't enjoyed others (The Hitcher, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), but I respect that they actually do read all those blog posts, comments, reviews and anything else to get a better sense of the fan's perspective.
While I still don't understand the appeal of Platinum Dunes strictly focusing on horror remakes, from a creative standpoint, the philosophy is hard to argue from a financial standpoint. The films make money hand over fist (with The Hitcher being the only real exception), so with their films that always cost less than $20 million to make and always make at least $40 million in domestic theatrical grosses alone, not to mention that fat DVD money... you can see why this cycle of remakes continues. You can get angry all you want about your favorite horror films being rebooted, but that's like being mad at a sports team that keeps winning. For better or worse, Platinum Dunes has found a system that works, which allows for enough of a built-in audience to make these relatively-cheap films relatively profitable, which in turn leads to more remakes and so on. It does seem that Form and Fuller might be getting a bit big for their britches, though, with a remake of Alfred Hitchcock's classic The Birds in the pipeline, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it...
Platinum Dunes seems to have a model that works artistically some of the time and works financially all of the time. They do have a great start in casting for A Nightmare on Elm Street (although if a recent rumor that Chace Crawford was joining the cast is true...) but some script issues are frankly quite frightening to think about. Also there is the wild-card of director Samuel Bayer, who has made a legacy out of his work in music videos (Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" to name one of many) but is just now making his feature directorial debut here. I guess he just really really loved music videos for all those years. How does this all come into play for A Nightmare on Elm Street? You know I don't know that, and nor do you, for that matter... but I know that won't stop you from commenting below... Peace in. Gallagher out!
A Nightmare on Elm Street was released April 30th, 2010 and stars Jackie Earle Haley, Kyle Gallner, Rooney Mara, Katie Cassidy, Thomas Dekker, Kellan Lutz, Clancy Brown, Connie Britton. The film is directed by Samuel Bayer.
Comments (16)
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leif55
Funny...With all your negative opinions I gurantee you all will go see it!!!
3 years agoby @leif55Flag
SAGR8-ONE
i have an idea! why not remake...subspecies...no...puppetmaster...no reanimator....no phantasm starring verne troyer as the tall man...wait toxic avenger starring sloth from the goonies...wait!... critters starring gizmo and crew...wait Cujo starring marley...naaa! jaws...but lets make it a jelly fish like in seven pounds! no wait! la bamba remake but ritchie doesnt die...he become ricky martin...GIVE IT A F*CKIN REST WITH THE REMAKES...I KNOW WE'RE IN A RECESSION BUT THE CREATIVE JUICES WILL FLOW, HOLLYWOOD! GIVE PEOPLE A CHANCE...
3 years agoby @moviespace1Flag
-comrade-
Why does Latino Review get all these scripts first?
3 years agoby @taberjohnson18Flag
reelmein
I dont like the idea of remakes they dont whant to think any more so to make easy money they remake older movies it is sad iam sure they will be some pepole lineing up to see it...
3 years agoby @reelmeinFlag
Newkill3000
I agree a prequel would be better than a remake. However, I'm one of those people that don't like things explained to me. I don't think Kruger needs his origin story fully explained. You get it enough through some the sequels. They gave Myers a full origin story and it just took his mysteriously, creepiness away from him. That's why i kind of liked the Jason reboot remake or whatever they call it, because i doesn't give you his origin story; they just revive him from that atrocious Jason X. Not the trailer but the budget for this will tell half of it all for me. If the budget is big, then i know that there looking more into adding a lot of high tech special effects sh*t to the dream world, and you don't need that sh*t. The original had a cheap budget and didn't rely on all that cgi sh*t, basically because it wasn't that perfected, but still, i think if they what to have a half a chance of making a decent Nightmare movie, you must calm down with the special effects.
3 years agoby @newkill200Flag
J.A.Ottley.Writer / Director
I agree with you guys.
But that's all Platinum Dune do, is remake films, it their actual target. Their goal is to reinvent the old classic horrors, for some dumb reason, you can't make a classic better than a classic.
It's like saying you can recreate Moonlight Sonata better than Beethoven.
A Nightmare On Elm St doesn't need a remake it needs a bloody prequel, Kruger's backstory is interesting enough for a feature length film that would be awesome, especially if done by someone in the league of David Fincher.
I made a Nightmare Prequel script, now i'm sure if i can in which i aint a pro screenwriter, i'd say novice. And these Hollywood people are pros.
All they do is give it some crappy MTV feel to it and add more violence and gore, Hollywood just don;t understand the codes and conventions now days of horror.
They believe its all about blood, guts and gore due to the uprise of graphical horror films such as Saw & Hostel, i forgot the terminology for it lol.
But Horror films now days are weak....I recommend Hollywood go watch some classic Italian Horror movies.
3 years agoby @chronicFlag
JonSpidey07
(sigh)
too many remakes!!!
please New Line, if ur gonna remake something do it better and make it worthwhile please.
this is the problem with original classics, they can't maintain the heart, soul and feel
i mean the script can't be that hard to stay true too right?
Freddy's an iconic horror legend, Jason's been exploited and so has Michael already
is there anything else Hollywood can do to shave us off our hard earned cash?
WHY EVEN REMAKE SOMETHING EXCEPT TO CASH IN?
3 years agoby @jonspidey07Flag
SAGR8-ONE
alright, lets get this straight...friday the 13th and halloween have iconic characters that dont speak. they carry a film with actions, kills, body language. that is easy to build a new franchise around with. those two films were highly successful because of it. freddy krueger has a personality...no way in hell can that be duplicated. the story is from the mind of craven. he put a personal experiences in the original and that made the connection deeper between audience and characters. haley is a good actor (little children, wow..SEMI PRO, cool) but he is no robert englund...not in this genre...englund's portrayal in the original is exactly that, original! he was a dark presence, even in part 2. it wasnt til part 3 (2nd best of the series)that he started with the humor. part 4...sh*t give the man a mic already! part5 ( great story, bad direction),6....god awful. new nightmare..ok...FvsJ great. bottom line: no one...AND THE ROCK MEANS...no one would ever replace sly as rocky or hanks as gump...kruger belongs to englund...let the frickin young writers/directors show what they got and come up with some new sh*t...eg LAID TO REST! MAN UP HOLLYWOOD!
3 years agoby @moviespace1Flag
Newkill3000
I didn't say Freddy wasn't dark in the original. But he still did have a corky funny thing to him. The guy was cutting off his fingers and laughing, he stuck his f*cking tongue out. That's how Wes Craven makes his movies.
3 years agoby @newkill200Flag
Newkill3000
I hope so too.
3 years agoby @newkill200Flag
CelluloidDreams
I hope it never happends....
3 years agoby @2movieguysFlag
Newkill3000
If you really look at the original one, Freddy is still doing his corky funny stuff. It's Wes Craven, man. Freddy was always cartoonish. If they don't bring that side to that character and just make him evil, well the should just make him like Jason or Myers. That's what makes Freddy, Freddy. Leave it the f*ck alone.
3 years agoby @newkill200Flag
EvilWhiteMale
The reason the Elm Street series went down the toilet was because Freddy was made into a cartoon character. I hope the new Freddy is the evil mofo he was originally made to be.
3 years agoby @evilwhitemaleFlag
Michael5
Totally agree with you Brian. Thats the list I would have said too. The Nightmare Trilogy is the #1 Horror movie trilogy of All-Time.
3 years agoby @michael5Flag
Brian
Ha. I agree. New Nightmare was god awful. The last Nightmare that was even remotely good was Freddy's Dead, and even that one is shakey.... let's talk about the real Elm Street films that defined horror in the 80s: A Nightmare on Elm Street, A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, A Nigthmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master.... and we can even throw part 5, Dream Child on the end.
3 years agoby @brianFlag
Newkill3000
How the hell could you combine fabulous and New Nightmare at the same time. That film was terrible. Their just going to remake everything. It doesn't matter what we think.
3 years agoby @newkill200Flag