A Nightmare on Elm Street

MontyTG 11/30/2025 5:56:59PM 8.4

**Unfairly Misunderstood Masterpiece.** I cannot express how unfairly judged and misunderstood this remake is. Instead of being another Elm Street sequel with the sole purpose of creative kills, jokes, unnecessary characters, and lazy revelations. The filmmakers decided to take a risky creative decision by reinterpreting Wes Craven's original ideas and retelling the story with a much more realistic tone. The dream sequences are more symbolic and atmospheric. The story explores real-life portrayals of teens dealing with childhood trauma that has been repressed into adulthood. You get to witness their confusion, coping mechanisms, and strained relationships with their parents. The kills are more grounded and eerily reminiscent of suicides or tragic accidents. Freddy himself is given a proper origin, motive, and personality that isn't just a bunch of plastered-on sequel lore. You witness Freddy's transformation from a pathetic loser with a dark fantasy to the dream demon that has no restrictions. I love the original and even gave it a 5/5, but this remake even surpasses that. I think many people might enjoy it far more if they truly gave it a chance.

Andre Gonzales 4/18/2023 2:35:01AM 8.4

I really liked this new nightmare. I wish there was more action in it but still pretty good. I hope this is the start of a new Freddy movie series.

Wuchak 6/23/2021 3:58:14PM 8.4

***A more realistic and morose version of the original film & franchise*** The specter of a dead pedophile fatally haunts the dreams of the children of his self-appointed executioners who burned him to death years earlier. Released in 2010, this is a reboot of the original 1984 movie, freely throwing in elements from other flicks in the franchise. I think Jackie Earle Haley works well as creepy Freddy Krueger and I like the more realistic tone, which some say makes movie bland and boring. Rooney Mara (Nancy) and Kyle Gallner (Quentin) are decent as the main protagonists and I think the bedroom scene is superior to the same attack scene in the original; it’s more shocking. The prison scene’s great too. Unfortunately, the concept of Freddy is a bit of a mess. For instance, his bladed-glove is never explained. And what was the point of the boiler room since he was just a gardener at a small preschool? The filmmakers just threw in these elements because it's Freddy, figuring people knew the character. But how do these components fit into THIS movie? And what about viewers who never saw the original flicks? The film runs 1 hours, 35 minutes and was shot in northern Illinois and nearby Gary, Indiana, with reshoots done in Los Angeles. GRADE: B-/C+