This is the 2010 remake of A Nightmare On Elm Street, directed by Samuel Bayer and starring Jackie Earle Haley, Kyle Gallner, Katie Cassidy, Rooney Mara, Connie Britton, and Thomas Dekker. The movie is not a shot-for-shot remake of the original, nor is it another sequel. It is a retelling of the original story that pays homage to some of what we saw in the first film but does tell a different version of the story. There is more given to Freddy's back story than just the fact that he was a child murderer that was told in the original movie. His origin is much more fleshed out in this movie. Secondly, they have dropped the one-liners and jokes out of Freddy's persona (for the most part) and he is much more the sinister boogieman-like character he was in the first movie. While it is definitely weird not to hear Robert Englund's voice, the fact that they were making Freddy even darker in this movie than in most of the other sequels to the original movie allowed me to more easily accept Jackie Earle Haley in that role.
Pretty much all of the teenage characters (and even the parents) in this movie were different than their versions in the original movie. For example, this version of Nancy (played by Mara) was totally different than the version of the character played by Heather Langenkamp, and the role of her father (played by John Saxon in the original film) was omitted altogether. There are also some totally new characters added to this version who were not in the original movie. It takes a while to get used to the changes in the story and the characters, although, as I said, some of the shots from the original movie (like the glove coming up between Nancy's legs in the bathtub, the dragging across the ceiling, Freddy's shape materializing from the wall) are remade in this one.
The Blu-ray's A/V quality is great, and of course, it has much better effects than the original movies, although they did not go overboard with the CGI effects. As far as extras go, there are several behind-the-scenes and making-of featurettes, a couple of deleted scenes, and an alternate ending. There is also a commentary track and an in-movie mode where pop-ups will play throughout the movie at certain points.
Pretty much all of the teenage characters (and even the parents) in this movie were different than their versions in the original movie. For example, this version of Nancy (played by Mara) was totally different than the version of the character played by Heather Langenkamp, and the role of her father (played by John Saxon in the original film) was omitted altogether. There are also some totally new characters added to this version who were not in the original movie. It takes a while to get used to the changes in the story and the characters, although, as I said, some of the shots from the original movie (like the glove coming up between Nancy's legs in the bathtub, the dragging across the ceiling, Freddy's shape materializing from the wall) are remade in this one.
The Blu-ray's A/V quality is great, and of course, it has much better effects than the original movies, although they did not go overboard with the CGI effects. As far as extras go, there are several behind-the-scenes and making-of featurettes, a couple of deleted scenes, and an alternate ending. There is also a commentary track and an in-movie mode where pop-ups will play throughout the movie at certain points.
Like all remakes of classic movies, some are going to love this, and some will hate it. That is the nature of recreating a movie like Nightmare on Elm Street, which was one of the iconic 1980s horror movies that spawned 7 direct movies and a crossover with the Friday the 13th franchise, and more importantly, when recasting an iconic character like Freddy. If the whole idea of changing anything around from the original movies is like sacrilege to you, then don't even bother with this. If you can accept that there are changes to the story and the characters, then this, while not as good as the original movie, is still better than some of the cheesier sequels of the original movie and is worth the time to watch.
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