In the discussion of aughts remakes, films like House of Wax, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Dawn of the Dead, The Grudge, The Ring, and The Hills Have Eyes are the films that dominate the conversation. For good reason. Each of these remakes took the source material and elaborated on them. Remakes shouldn’t be intended as fodder to see big moments recreated for no other reason than nostalgia. Out of the ‘big’ slashers of the late ‘70s and ‘80s, only two seemed to resonate with audiences enough for at least one sequel: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Halloween. Even the different and fun Friday the 13th remake wasn’t strong enough to spawn a sequel. Why not? (Set aside the fact that Jason Vorhees met a similar fate as Michael Myers in the DGG Halloween trilogy.) More importantly, what happened with A Nightmare on Elm Street and its abysmal attempt to spawn a new series run?
Is A Nightmare on Elm Street an Aughts Remake?
Starting off, can A Nightmare on Elm Street be considered an aughts remake? This unimportant question has haunted me for weeks. Plainly put, yes. Since production started in ‘08, we can consider this an aughts film. Glad that’s cleared up.
Music video director Samuel Bayer, who directed the brilliant Green Day concert video Bullet in a Bible, would make his singular feature film debut with the Elm Street remake. Tonally, A Nightmare on Elm Street very much feels like an early-aughts fart rock music video. And the direction suffers because of it. Visually gritty and dark, with muted yellows and overall offputting computer assistance, this film feels more try-hard than the other films of its ilk during this time. But where the film fails, it also [partially] succeeds.
Out of all the slasher heavy hitters, Freddy Krueger is the one I care least about. Each film in this franchise has felt like a chore to watch. The original A Nightmare on Elm Street slashed its way into the hearts of genre fans in ‘84, but a recent rewatch has made it explicitly clear that it feels just as cheesy and ineffective as I remembered. For an hour and a half, Robert Englund and Heather Lagenkamp carry this hole-ridden bucket of blood with minor patch jobs from some solid practical effects. For every interesting moment of horror, you are met with a handful of out-of-place puns, Dan Flashes T-shirts, smoking fedoras, and a (checks notes) booby trap scene.
The moments in the original that work, work. Damn well. Tina’s death scene looks just as good now as it would have looked in ‘84. It’s raw and brutal, and one hell of an opening kill. In comparison, the opening kill in the remake is also equally brutal. Dean takes a knife and drives the handle deep into his throat. Both are bloody, intense and, dare I say, the best kills of each one? This is pretty much where the two films split. The original gets funky and funny in a way that just doesn’t work [for me]. It’s not clever, fun, or worth the bloodshed that ensues. The remake takes an entirely different route and falls apart for its own reasons. But as stated, where the film fails, it also [partially] succeeds.
A Tonally Controversial Krueger
Instead of being funny and letting Krueger exist in this ambiguous state of conviction, the remake tells all. Craven had said that Krueger’s sexual proclivities were what we thought they were, initially. This would then be pulled back, and Englund’s Krueger would exist solely as a murderer. Looking at Krueger as a killer, rather than a killer and rapist, makes it easier to joke around with him. That’s not to say murder is forgivable, but I’d rather laugh along with a murderer than a murderer/rapist. Maybe I don’t think murder is serious. Jackie Earle Haley had some large shoes to fill as Freddy Krueger, possibly giving him the hardest job out of all of the heavy hitter remakes of the aughts. Leatherface, Myers, and Vorhees don’t have dialogue. Yes, they can still character-act through their performances, it’s just a bit easier for them than it was for Jackie Earle Haley.
The tumultuous decade that was the aughts produced some of the biggest, loudest, angriest, meanest horror films to date. As we all know, the world was in a post-9/11 shock that affected every aspect of life, and horror was no different. Zombie’s Michael Myers was a hulking brute of terror, fueled by pure anger. Nispel’s Leatherface imbued a xenophobia and hatred felt by many. Bayer’s Krueger was…just gross. Making Krueger a cannon pedo is a choice, and it’s a deliberate choice. But now the audience can’t laugh along with him. Again, child murder is unforgivable, but it still feels a bit less personal than murder/rape. So excuse me if I don’t want to laugh along and include Haley’s Freddy as a fun tongue-in-cheek entry into Freddies.
On Haley’s performance, it works. Jackie Earle Haley is an incredibly talented character actor. What he does with this Krueger works for what it is. He’s abhorrent and reprehensible in every aspect. He’s foreboding, terrifying, and an all-around bad guy. The few jokes thrown in felt forced and out of place for this interpretation of the character. A focus on pure evil would have made this antagonist feel less muddled.
Does the new Freddy Krueger Work?
Both films disseminate the lore of Freddy through the characters, though, again, it feels too forced with the remake. In the original, the character of Freddy flows naturally through the series of events, while the remake just assumes you know the intricate lore of what Freddy is and lets you fill in your own blanks. The only interesting piece of storytelling we get for remake Freddy is when Quentin has his big nightmare during his swim meet.
Oh, and we don’t need to talk about remake Freddy’s design. Right? It speaks for itself.
The casts of both films are stellar, but the Oscar for Best Casting goes to the remake with the likes of Rooney Mara, Kyle Gallner, Connie Britton, Clancy Brown, and the aforementioned Jackie Earle Haley. With a cast like that, how can you fail? A sloppy story, forced brutality, and terrible direction make A Nightmare on Elm Street a sleep-paralysis demon borne of post-9/11 anger.
Is this Elm Street the worst of the franchise? Not by a long shot! But is it a worthy entry into one of horror’s most highly lauded franchises? Unquestionably no.