Susan Granger’s review of “A Nightmare on Elm Street” (Warner Bros/New Line)
Never has the lure of the recognizable been more obvious than in this reboot of Wes Craven’s 1980s horror franchise. When dealing with Freddy Kruger, audiences know what they’re getting and don’t much care that it’s predictable, formulaic slaughter.
This time, that sinister predator is resurrected by Jackie Earle Haley. Remember how effective Haley was as the pathetic pedophile in “Little Children”? Keeping that in mind, screenwriters Wesley Strick and Eric Hessler have transformed Freddy into a dead child molester whose vulnerable victims are haunted by repressed memories.
One of those is Dean (Kellan Lutz from “Twilight”), who has been traumatized by nightmares of a burned, knife-fingered fiend in a tattered red-and-green sweater and faded fedora. He’s determined to stay awake because “when he kills you in your sleep, you stay dead.” Similar deadly dreams are torturing Dean’s teenage friends: Kris (Katie Cassidy), Jesse (Thomas Dekker), Quentin (Kyle Gallner) and Nancy (Rooney Mara). Before long, they realize they’re haunted by what they experienced as helpless five year-olds in preschool, involving an eccentric little gardener named Freddy. Is Freddy punishing them to get back at their parents for cajoling them to testify against him?
After an extensive background in music video, director Samuel Bayer is making his feature film debut and, even though he’s working with a repulsive and horrifying concept, he doesn’t conjure up much fear, displaying neither distinctive style nor imagination, even in fantasy/reality switches. And, observing the audience, a curious phenomenon has occurred. The jolts that caused us to cringe in terror in 1984 now seem silly, evoking snickers or outright laughter. So when Freddy inexplicably ‘appears’ in Springwood – whether the kids are asleep or not – no one seems to notice or care about the inconsistency.
What’s intriguing is Haley’s revitalized interpretation of Freddy Kruger, making him into a societal pervert within a contemporary subtext, referencing real-life child abuse cases. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “A Nightmare on Elm Street” is a familiar yet forgettable 4, continuing the seemingly inexhaustible franchise.
