Binding:
DVD
Brand:
New Line Home Video
EAN:
0794043132322
Label:
New Line Cinema
Manufacturer:
New Line Cinema
Model:
9445743
Size:
Warranty:
Michael Bay (Transformers, Pearl Harbor) produced this remake of Wes Craven's 1985 horror classic A Nightmare on Elm Street, which means updated shocks, computer-driven special effects, and a brand-new Freddy Krueger, this time played by Oscar nominee Jackie Earle Haley. Unfortunately, it also means a mechanical, largely scare-free carbon of the original film--the same fate suffered by Bay's remakes of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Friday the 13th. Director Samuel Bayer, best known for helming videos for Nirvana and Green Day, does well by the film's visuals, which hew toward stylized doominess, but the film itself limps from set piece to set piece, with the ones borrowed directly from Craven's original scoring the most impact. What's left are a group of dull teens on the run from Haley's Freddy, who proves unsettling, if not the dynamo that Robert Englund was in the previous franchise entries. Speaking of which, the picture ends on a note that suggests a follow-up is imminent, though some more inspiration is clearly needed if Bay's Nightmare intends to have the longevity of the first series. --Paul Gaita