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Sunday, October 24, 2010

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET

Directed by Samuel Bayer
Starring Rooney Mara, Kyle Gallner, Jackie Earle Haley, Katie Cassidy, Thomas Dekker, Connie Britton, Clancy Brown, Kellan Lutz

Up until now I've been somewhat on board the horror remake boom by Michael Bay's production company Platinum Dunes because the films have been good (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre) and some even excellent (The Hitcher, Friday the 13th). You have to remember that these are absolute classics that they are remaking and the new ones can never surpass the originals but what's the harm with having fun with the consepts if there's some new perspective and fun to be had? A Nightmare On Elm Street continues the series of new versions but this time something's way off.

 Teenagers on Elm Street start dropping like flies and after their friends confide to each other about their fears of the horribly burned man who stalks them in their dreams, they realise that these dreams and the man in them, Freddy Krueger (Haley, Watchmen, Semi-Pro) is out to get them and if he's able to kill them in their nightmares, they die in real life as well.

 The original film from 1984 is an undying classic and in my personal opinion one of the best and most effective horror films ever made. It is still something that's almost uncomfortable to watch (in the best sense of the expression) thanks to Wes Craven's ingenious writing and unforgiving direction. Even the sequels which always get a bad wrap were effective though they were much more loose and laid back but in the end still very entertaining. This new Nightmare is none of that. It's a very lazy effort free of any actual psychological horror. All the horror in it is based on cheap and easy scare tactics and nothing more. They've basically stripped the original's powerful underlying tension away and replaced it with stupid predictable teen dialogue and ineffective camera tricks. There's nothing to fear here. Jackie Earle Haley gives the legendary Freddy all he's got but in the end he's just simply not Robert Englund. The demise of Krueger is not his fault, but largely of Bayer's who's had no real vision for the film. Colorful visuals alone don't make good horror. Not the worst movie ever made but it does have very few redeeming qualities which aren't even enough on themselves to be mentioned here. The original launched Johnny Depp. This remake will launch a mandatory sequel. Trust me, it's just as sad as it sounds.

KITEYTETTYNÄ SINIVALKOISILLE
Alkuperäinen Painajainen Elm Streetillä on edelleen väkevä ja täydellisesti toimiva kauhuklassikko joka aikoinaan esitteli Johnny Deppin ensimmäisessä elokuvaroolissaan ja teki ohjaaja Wes Cravenista (Scream) legendan. Nyt kyseessä oleva uusintaversio on piloille laimennettu pikkupelottava teinihippa. Originaalin aidosti ahdistava ilmapiiri on vaihdettu helppoihin ja tylsiin säikyttelytaktiikoihin ja oikeasta kauhusta tai sympatiasta hahmoja kohtaan ei ole tietoakaan. Watchmenissä vakuuttanut Haley yrittää kaikkensa painajaisissa murhaavan Freddy Kruegerin kengissä, mutta ei huonon käsikirjoituksen takia täytä niitä samoin kuin roolin historiaan viillellyt Robert Englund. Kannattaa vilpittömästi katsoa mielummin se oikea alkuperäinen, vaikka se nuoremmalle polvelle saattaakin vaikuttaa jo elähtäneeltä. Hyvä elokuva on silti aina hyvä elokuva yhtälailla kuin tämä tulee aina olemaan alempiarvoinen ja pian todennäköisesti jo unohdettukin.

A Nightmare On Elm Street (2010) at IMDb

A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984) at IMDb


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