A Nightmare on Elm Street
A Nightmare on Elm Street is the latest in the Freddy Kruger franchise that spawned eight sequels from 1984 to 2003. Here we’re back to square one with a bunch of twenty something adults pretending to be terrified high schoolers. With a little tweaking the story is basically the same. Again the children of guilty parents are haunted in their dream by a bogeyman with razor extensions on his fingers and a serious need for moisturizer after being burned alive by those parents for his role as a child killer. The only problem is these nightmares can be fatal so the dreamers have to keep seeking ways to stay awake while trying to lure Kruger into the real world so that he can be destroyed for good. Wes Craven who was the driving force behind the original is given credit for the characters although no names remain the same save for Frederick K. Kruger became an icon portrayed by Robert Englund but now taking on the mantle of scar tissue and putting his own stamp on it is Jackie Earle Haley who ironically unsuccessfully auditioned for a role in the original with a friend who did get a part and has since done OK – Johnny Depp. Most of the actors even though long in the tooth for these roles still were not born when the original came out which makes a redo worthwhile to redo for a whole new audience because it’s a good idea for a chill fest. In a departure from the original which as usual with slasher films had a moral element in that the kids who have sex are the first to die, here there is no sex yet kids still get julienned. The action may be on a street lined with Elm but that’s the only hardwood in this picture. Even with the rod spared the child is still spoiled.