"A sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare
All Hail
is this end of JEH career...?
The first world wide exclusive review of the SCRIPT of A Nightmare On Elm St (2010)"
A Long Nightmarish Introduction
Ok first of all if you don't know what A Nightmare On Elm Street, its one of the best slasher horror movies of all time and maintains the status of the iconic Freddy C. Kruger. In which Kruger stands with the greats such as Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers and other iconic horror characters
So it really comes as no surprise, that Platinum Dunes, a company owned by explosive popcorn action flick director, Michael 'Transformer' Bay, has decided to give the iconic fedora, green & red sweater, razor slashing dream master a reboot, what not this being the only horror franchise they haven't raped yet.
Throughtout this review i'll be taking you through the SCRIPT by Wesley Strick so your be aware of what to expect within the upcoming remake coming April 2010, from the story to the killings, to the good the bad and well freddy whose just so ugly, of what been murdered from my all time favourite horror film.
Getting To Know The Cast
Ok so throught out this film we have a brand new cast, still consisting of the old characters some have had their names changed some haven't, here is your cast and whom they refer to in the original.
Rooney Mara > Nancy Thompson
Kyle Gallner > Quentin > Glen (Played by Johnny Depp in the original)
Kellan Lutz > Dean (new character, gets killed the best way, in the first 5 mins)
Thomas Dekkar > Jesse (Kris's BF)
Katie Cassidy > Kris > (Originally Tina)
&
Maybe
Robert Englund as Dr James Britt (since he portrayed interest in a cameo role)
Freddy's Backdrop (beginning review)
Ok so lets begin our review, obviously if you an avid horror fan or even a nightmare fan, you already know about the origin/backstory of the 'Springwood Slasher,' whom in the original terrorized & molested the young kids of Springwood, sone things have changed...
The Nightmare Begins (The Story Broken Down)
While the newly awaited remake opens up with a partahhhh introducing the characters very slowly and of course reinventing the heroine of our film, Nancy as an unsociable Goth (yes you heard right). But the scene quickly tragically ends with possibly the best death in the entire film with a young strapping jock called Dean, committing suicide by sleepwalking out of his window before retaining four parellel slash marks and smashing smoothly through the conservatory roof, laying in shards of glass and laiding on his sleeping pals.
We then travels through and get to know the characters more at Dean's funeral, especially Kris, whom we gather to think is the main character and Nancy has been replaced as a secondary...
Think again, she gets slashed up the same beautiful way Tina did in the original, and of course Jesse getting arrested and sent to prison...Yes this is the first kruger movie with an actual proper prison sequence, dunno how it will fair with the fans though.
While every dream sequence pays slight homage to the backstory and has little kids running around with slash marks on their backs, or saying they are hiding from Freddy or we go back to this unknown school, which links to the story in the end. It all gets fairly repetitive really, especially running through a door and ending up in the school.
Although there is a fairly nice plastic sheet scene in the gardens of elm st with stone structured kids glaringly glooming before Kris is brutally murdered and well of course before Kruger murders her dog, Rufus.
Best part is where a china doll sing the first line of the freddy theme song, go on just try and imagine it...
A lovely chase scene quite similar to the original but except more intense and ooooo set at night, exciting :D and Jesse goes to jail woop woop,
before he dies getting to hear freddy fingers scratch and splinter against wooden coffins :)
But another great is where young Jesse attempts to take on Freddy in a fist fight in the boiler room with the bodies of the now deceased Kris & Dean glorified and hanged on display.
While it takes approximately an hour to hear the backstory of hired help janitor, whom just strode into town and secretly child molester, Freddy Kruger, whom becomes the janitor of the new school and gets on brilliantly with the kids, occassionally playing games of Hide & Seek.
and introducing the best piece of dialogue in the film which comes from Gwen Thompson (Nancy's Mum) saying
"Sometimes evil hides behind a smile."
While there is a nice merging of having a water sequence of having Quentin's character being dragged under the water, and then when he gets out from the pool he is in the grass and see, Freddy live and human in the flesh running from the parents of Elm st. Except Freddy is kinda dumb enough to run into a flammable building and get petrol bombed by Quentin's father whom is fueled with anger that Kruger touched his adorable 5yr old son.
We also get to see a full fledged burning kruger as he runs out the building dropping right on top of adult Quentin, lovely :)
While the best twist begins to develope approximately 71 minutes into the film which will just span under 2hrs, since the script adds to 112 pages, equalling to a page per minute.
So obviously our best twist, where only Quentin and of course Nancy are now the only survivors, yes you have to live with these 2 characters for the next 50 minutes or so. They begin to create doubts that they actually made up the story of Freddy assaulting them and would say anything for attention because they were young and foolish and being only 5yrs old, so the twist comes in that its possible that in this new remake, that Freddy Kruger himself is the victim not assiliant...As they begin digging into the dark history of Springwood, which you never see or hear any of the audiotapes, which is a real bummer.
As they begin to realise that all the people that could help them have died except one individual whom, surprisngly made a dream map, as he continues on with his nightmare diary and we get to see his death through a computer monitor, with the words 'DIE NANCY!', carved in his chest, thats a first!
And now all that's left is Nancy and Quentin, and now here comes the fun part when the micronaps begin to kick in, and Freddy randomly appears out of nowhere and anywhere and even sends the lovely Nancy a message by dragging her out a car and asking 'you get my message?' (which really just seems like a mobile phone advert).
There is also a pharmacy / boiler room changing sequence which doesn't seem to scare the pants of ya, despite hanging bodies of his previous victims his killed so far in the film, and well it comes to see that this is the sequence that Nancy realise Freddy can be pulled out from the dream world because yep, she brings out Freddy groovy hat. So now its off to the hospital, since she gets a lovely slash :D
In which the hospital scene causes for Quentin to confront his father and reveal what the hell is going on, although Quentin's father sounds a lot like John Saxon from the original, but there is a lovely reference to Kruger and the pied piper. And its here where they find out the location of the tapes.
And well if you haven't guessed the place by now, yep its in this pre-school that you've been seeing for the last god knows how many dream sequences
After Quentin comes to Nancy's spectacular rescue and the micronaps begin to kick in more, Elm St constantl;y goes from normal realm to Dream realm in which the description of the Dream realm sounds like this will be bombarded with SFX. And they are now back in Quentin's Mustang heading to the location of the tapes.
But obviously if you haven't guessed by now that car has to crash, yes it does, while Nancy gets freddy's claw straight through her from the back of the car seat, this is of course before they see the fucker standing in the middle of the road, but strangley its just Quentin dreaming that Nancy just got murdered and that when he wakes up she is perfectl;y fine and still driving the car, which really makes no sense, since Kruger kills you in your nightmare.
They finally reach the closed down pre-school on the other side of Elm St, yippee and enter to find the darkest secret yet. The simple fact that Kruger is killing them not because they made up the story but because they told and that all the children he has killed he molested.
But now alas comes the final showdown, in which yeah you guessed it Nancy has to drag Kruger out of the dream world and Quentin has to keep an eye on her, but Freddy manages to get to Quentin before he can wakes Nancy, and he gets to him through a lovely jar of poisonous spiders.
And the final showdown commences which last a top of 5 mins, and even has a horrendous reimagining of Freddy's classical line from the first movie 'I'm your boyfriend now, Nancy.' Which rather than say it to her down the phone, he says it behind her.
Freddy is down and out within 3 - 5 mins of being in the real world he which he get beaten with a shovel, his knives stuck in him and obviously sent into the boiler room fire, lovely.
It's all over and somehow, Quentin is still alive, after being bitten by venomous spiders, a ambulance magicaly appears, to save the day for Quentin but obviously, the dream are just beginning and just when you think its all over, freddy makes one last slash, across Quentin's chest while he lays in the ambulance.
And the film ends with that finale, leaving it open for the next installment and us been left in a dream on what happenes to Nancy...
IN BRIEF, THE REVIEW SLASHED APART
While the story is fair, the new reimaging to this classical horror icon really has nothing of new interest except for a small backstory we don't already know, lasting tops of 7 mins throughout the whole film which spans to 112 minutes.
There is also a blend of adding the dialogue to the old character from the original to the new characters of this film. As i stated a while back that Quewntin's father sounds like John Saxon, whom played Nancy's father in the original.
While Freddy within this one doesn't really seem scary at all, just very laughable and talking about 'How we use to play?' and 'don't you remember me,' with his total max of 32 lines throught out the whole film.
The death sequences are really nothing new and even one of them from the original has been kept in, and the dream sequences become very repetitive, that you get tired of seeing schools and little kids prancing around.
Overall the new remake has nothing really more to offer than blood guts and gore, a nice twist of stated that freddy could be the victim of the whole film, and a spectacular death to begin the film, which lands with the death sequence of Kris, whom dies the same way Tina' does in the original.
While the dialogue is typical of that of a fair teen film and and interest of micronaps, and freddy's dialogue couldn't be more paedophilically gayier than ever.
I guess we will have to wait and see where this film leads comes April 2010
As a fan of ANOES, I wasn't impressed, i expected them to do more with today's tech in the dream sequences.
I would have also prefered a lot backbone and development on the back story like the court scene, etc etc, as a avid hardcore fan of Freddy, his backstory is pretty intriguing and well in my opinion, i would have preferred a prequel over this remake any day.
THANKS FOR READING GUYS & GALS
I'M OUTTIE
14 Comments
GI Joe looks heavy as well, cant wait.
But the think is i would like to see QT do a proper serious movie, not something that is overglamorised.
This one is no holds barred action, you see everything including at one point Brad Pitt, stick his finger in a bullet hole and move it around the enemy just to torture them.
Definately gonna see it again though, cant believe MW is making me wait thought to posta review on it
Don't forget who gave me the 'SCRIPT' to write the review :D
Keep an eye up i'm writing an Inglorious Basterds review, film was fucking epic
http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/16831
ASnd here is the one-sheet poster
http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/16834
i'm spectating that since Englund has portrayed interest in a cameo role, he is most likely to play Dr Britt, the school's doctor or maybe a parent in the scene where they burn human Kruger.
Either way this upcoming remake has nothing new to offer that we aint already seen, its like ANOES all over again MTV style but they've decided to throw in the flashback sequences from Freddy's Dead.
Keep and eye out 2day and the next day on bloody disgusting & IGN, where they are posting the first proper pic of Kruger, there is already one on bloody disgusting but the face aint visible.
I would have preferred Haley in a prequel rather than a remake, i mean if i an ameateur screenwriter can write a plan for a Nightmare prequel i'm sure Hollywood can.
Raven by the way, your a soldier for getting through it.
Keep and eye out on Bloody disgusting and IGN as well