Cavalcade of Awesome

Platinum Dunes had a minor success with their Texas Chainsaw Massacre reboot in 2003.  2009’s Friday the 13th reboot also actually made some money.  So, in 2010, New Line and Platinum Dunes decided to reboot the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise.

I am a fan of Freddy Krueger as well as the slasher movies of the 80s. However, if I had to pick, I was more of a Jason guy myself. But I enjoyed the Nightmare movies, especially the first one and the third one.  I was intrigued by this reboot, I enjoyed the Friday the 13th reboot by New Line/Platinum Dunes in 2009 and I loved the idea of Jackie Earle Haley as Freddy, so I was anxious to see how well they pulled this off.

Unlike the Friday the 13th reboot, I had not watched this movie beforehand, it was my first viewing.  I was intrigued by the idea of Jackie Haley playing Freddy and I really liked the look of Freddy from the trailer.  I didn’t go into it with HIGH expectations, per say, but I was optimistic.

Check out the trailer:

I think the best thing about the movie is the “look and feel”.  It was definitely grittier and more dark than the later Nightmare movies.  I also liked Haley as Freddy.  His mannerisms and his look were very well realized.  I even thought Haley was slightly more menacing than the original Freddy, well at least the version from the later movies.  The wise-cracking jokester killer.  All in all, I enjoyed it.  It sort of fell apart at the end, mainly because I think the teens in the movie weren’t very interesting.  I didn’t really like anybody.  Rooney Mara was okay if a bit understated as Nancy.  Katie Cassidy did pretty good, but I think I just got bored with the teens by the end.  I like the way Freddy is “dispatched” in the final battle and how the final stinger shot is sort of an homage to the final shot in the original Nightmare movie.

I liked it, but I didn’t love it.  However, that being said, I would watch another Jackie Haley as Freddy Nightmare movie.  I think the potential is there to have a really good sequel.  Especially if they follow along the story lines of Nightmare 3: Dream Warriors.

And they have to reunite Dokken for the soundtrack.  That is a must.

Also, check out the blog Countdown to Halloween for more Halloween-y, bloggy AWESOMEness.

This entry was posted on October 19, 2012 at 9:00 am and is filed under Halloween, holiday, movies, pop culture, reviews with tags AWESOME-tober-fest, AWESOME-tober-fest 2012, Freddy Krueger, Halloween, holiday, movies, Nightmare on Elm Street, pop culture, reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.