The James Logan Courier

By Shamal Asnani, Courier Film Critic

April 30 marked the release of the movie Nightmare on Elm Street. The film is a remake of Wes Cravens 1984 film of the same name. Like the original, the film’s plot focuses on the undead villain, Freddy Krueger. Unlike the original however, Krueger is now played by Jackie Earle Haley.

In the film, Krueger has begun to appear and haunt many of the local teenagers’ dreams. Although many of the teenagers were reluctant to talk about these nightmares at first, they began to discuss much more with each other after two of them had died in their sleep. The film’s protagonist, Nancy (Rooney Mara), eventually discovers from her mother that the man who has been haunting her and her friends is the old gardener from her preschool, Fred Krueger.


Her mother explains to her that although Fred Krueger seemed like a harmless and friendly companion to all the preschool kids, he was actually some sort of a sexual offender. Before the parents were able to take action to have him arrested, he supposedly ran away from town. Nancy, however, believes that there is much more to her mother’s story, and is determined to discover what will stop the undead Freddy Krueger from trying to murder her and her friends in their dreams.


Although it would be unfair to call the remake of Nightmare on Elm Street unentertaining, it is definitely fair to see that the movie will leave fans of the original film somewhat disappointed. Had this film not been a remake, Jackie Earle Haley’s performance as Freddy Krueger might have been applauded. Unfortunately for Haley, comparing his performance to Robert Englund’s performance, in the original film, only makes him look like a second rate actor. This largely attributed to the fact that the new Krueger simply did not have the same sadistic humor as the original. Fortunately for the film makers, this movie is available to watch in 3D, which might be one of the few reasons actually worth spending money to watch it in a theatre.