What Do The Critics Say?

"This new 'Nightmare' is a relatively faithful remake, in which teens killed by Freddy (Jackie Earle Haley) in their dreams end up dead in real life. The difference is that the teens in this movie are living in today’s world. Those who are old enough to have fond memories of the original are probably too old for this Nightmare. The high school and college students who will flock to theaters, and who have only heard of the original as a movie that spooked their parents, will find this scary and disturbing, which is exactly what it’s supposed to do." Daniel M. Kimmel NEW ENGLAND MOVIES WEEKLY "Twenty-five years on, the legendary teen slasher gets a modern makeover for a whole new generation and does a pretty decent job. Jackie Earle Haley is the new Freddy Krueger, less camp and more scary than the Robert Englund version, as he slices and dices his way through a cast of exhausted all-Americans. Debut director Samuel Bayer was not hired to dismantle the franchise but to shoot it afresh. He gives us a film in which the teens are screaming and the blood is flowing; a steel-jawed little man-trap tucked just beneath the duvet." Xan Brooks GUARDIAN (UK) "Haley's Krueger doesn't just look like a deeply unhinged burn victim out for gruesome revenge, he is a complete embodiment of evil. In this new film, the black and white is stripped away to create an unsettling landscape of gray. And as Freddy’s story begins to unwind and the film’s action crescendos, we see that this new Freddy isn’t just less of a jokester, he’s also more unnerving as a villain." Neil Miller FILM SCHOOL REJECTS "Wes Craven's 1980s slasher classic gets a slick 're-imagining'. Now, after The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Amityville Horror and Friday the 13th, Michael Bay's horror remake spin-off company Platinum Dunes has re-awoken the sleeping franchise giant. It's well-made and rattles along at a fair old pace, predictably leaving the way open for another 130-odd deaths in the inevitable glut of sequels." Tim Evans SKY MOVIES

"Music video director Samuel Bayer's blandly efficient remake of Wes Craven's seminal horror retains the core concept (if you die in your dreams, you die in real life), but where the original was joltingly inventive and disturbing, this is just second-hand fright. It's glossy and visually artful, but ultimately pointless without Craven's wickedly humorous touch." Alan Jones RADIO TIMES "The movie industry is playing it safe in these tough economic times. New ideas are too risky and expensive. Stick with what works and hope it doesn’t get boring anytime soon for the new generation." Michael Black REVIEW EXPRESS "Jackie Earle Haley is an excellent successor to the original's Robert Englund. Krueger isn't just scary again, he's the most disturbing he's ever been. While this rebirth of Krueger no doubt boasts a number of glorious kills (the bold opener sets the gore precedent), its biggest strength in the fear department is this new, far more disturbing structuring of the character as a joyless, disgusting psychopath." Peter Hall HOLLYWOOD.COM "Directed by Samuel Bayer, A Nightmare on Elm Street is a remake of Wes Craven's 1984 slasher classic. Despite the fact that Bayer is clearly no Wes Craven, he does at least appear to know his way around a horror scene. Accordingly all the various shock and gore moments are well handled. In addition, the young cast (several of whom are familiar TV faces) are excellent." Matthew Turner VIEW LONDON "With the recent abundance of film remakes it has been hard for me to review them properly. Do I compare them to the original film when I judge them or do I just pretend I’m seeing it for the first time? The set pieces are well created and Jackie Earle Haley does a fine job (don’t forget, he’s not only dealing with the character but with the knowledge that Robert Englund will always be associated with the role). The special effects are well thought out and the mood isn’t too bad." Michael A. Smith NOLAN'S POP CULTURE REVIEW

The Inside Story on A Nightmare On Elm Street "A Nightmare on Elm Street" is a reinvention of the seminal 1984 horror classic that unleashed Freddy Krueger upon the nightmares of a generation of fans. Now, a new Freddy Krueger, embodied by 2007 Oscar nominee Jackie Earle Haley ("Little Children"), is born. Welcome to your new nightmare. "Freddy Krueger is the mythical boogeyman," says Haley, who picked up seven major Film Critic Awards in the U.S.A. for his role of Ronnie J. McGorvey in "Little Children". "He’s everyone’s worst nightmare: the character in the campfire story." "Real horror, when you think about it, relates to things on a very human level," notes Samuel Bayer, the acclaimed commercial and music video director who makes his feature film debut with "A Nightmare on Elm Street". "And we all dream; it’s universal." "To me, the most terrifying aspect of Freddy Krueger is that he comes to kill you in your sleep, when you’re at your most defenseless," says producer Michael Bay ("The Hitcher" & "The Unborn"). "In your dreams, there’s nowhere to hide. You can’t escape, and he won’t stop until you either die or wake up. He provokes fears we all have." "In watching horror movies, you often wonder how people can put themselves in such dangerous situation, but the thing with "A Nightmare on Elm Street" is that no one can stay awake forever," notes Producer Brad Fuller ("Friday the 13th"). "Freddy’s got nothing but time," producer Andrew Form (Kissing A Fool" & "Horsemen of the Apocalypse") notes. "All he has to do is wait, and eventually you’ll end up in his world." 1992 Pegasus Audience Award winner Wes Craven ("The People Under the Stairs ") wrote the original "A Nightmare on Elm Street" after he became inspired by a series of newspaper articles about children who had suffered through a war and died from the power of their recurring nightmares. Released in 1984, the initial low-budget film, which starred Robert Englund as Freddy, became an international sensation for New Line Cinema. It was affectionately called "The House That Freddy Built" and spawned a number of sequels which culminated in 1991 with the release of "Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare". Now, more than two decades later: Bay, Form and Fuller (whose Platinum Dunes production company has created a niche for reimagining classic horror properties) felt the time was right to unleash Freddy on a new generation of fans. "Growing up, I always felt that if I died in my dreams I would actually die, and that didn’t come from hearing it on the news; that came from seeing the 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' movies," Form ("The Amityville Horror") says. "They scared the hell out of me as a child." Director Samuel Bayer has proven his ability to blur the lines between the real and the unreal and in him the producers saw the ideal sensibility for creating the ultimate nightmare. "Sam has created some of the most enduring images in his video and commercial work, and we were excited to pair him with this story," Form ("The Texas Chainsaw Massacre") notes. Screenwriters Wesley Strick ("Arachnophobia") and Eric Heisserer ("Stranger Adventures") used Craven’s 1984 film as a blueprint but evolved the ideas further as they explored the psychologically resonant elements of the character of Freddy Krueger. "Trying to write Freddy in a fresh way led me back to the Pied Piper, who’d punished a town by taking away its children," says Strick ("Cape Fear" & "Doom"). "When I learned the term 'pied' meant 'stripes of contrasting colors', just like Freddy's famous sweater, it felt like a sign that I was on the right track." And where did that track lead 1995 Saturn Award Award winner Strick ("Wolf") to? "Making Krueger even scarier by painting him as a righteous avenger, a dimensional villain who’s complex and more human and who may have been falsely accused," says Strick. Freddy’s home turf; the one place where he is in total control; is the world of sleep and dreams. "Through the centuries, people have tried to figure out their own psyches and why they dream, and why some people fear sleep. At some time in life, we’ve all tried to stay awake for something. We know what it feels like when you get tired and your eyes just can’t stay open," Bayer explained. "Usually it just means you fall asleep, but in this movie, you could actually die." Heisserer found that research into this phenomenon uncovered an inescapable fact about sleep: after enough days without it, the brain shuts down to automatically recharge. And, even though the teens of Elm Street resort to questionable methods in order to stay awake: from chugging energy drinks to downing prescription psychostimulants; without their knowledge they slip into a micro-sleep state. "Micro-sleep causes you to fall asleep even for a few moments at a time," Heisserer offered. "Even though you’re still conscious and awake, part of your brain is asleep. So, that phenomenon allows Freddy to get at the characters in the story even when they’re awake. No matter where they are." With a charred, disfigured face, an unforgettable voice, and a wicked sense of humor, Freddy Krueger is both a physical and psychological predator as he invades the dreams of suburban teenagers and kills them in their sleep. The sense of palpable danger and genuine horror rests in the embodiment of the monster at the film’s core: Freddy Krueger, played by Jackie Earle Haley who was cast as Rorschach in 2009's 'Watchmen". Haley recalls that fans of the original 'Nightmare' filled the internet with speculation about him portraying Freddy after the project was announced. "My immediate reaction was, 'That’s kind of cool!' And then when the producers called and actually offered me the role, I was pretty flabbergasted. It’s such an amazing, iconic character. It was just an absolute honor to be offered the role of Freddy." "Jackie embodied everything that we wanted for this role," Fuller ("The Amityville Horror") states. "The fans were aware of him, and he’s a brilliant actor. We knew we wanted to make a seriously scary movie, and it would be impossible to tell this story without an actor of Jackie’s caliber. We’re not trying to replicate what was done in the past. Jackie made Freddy Krueger his own." Haley ("Shutter Island") plunged into the mythical aspects of the character to internalize what it was about him that resonated so universally. "Getting to play Freddy was exciting and challenging because, as this mythical boogeyman that we all love to be frightened by, there’s a lot that makes him tick," the actor said. "It’s fascinating that what’s scary on screen has triggers in outside life, and Freddy encompasses so much of what terrifies us." At the suggestion of the filmmakers, Haley researched serial killers in preparation for the role. But after doing so, he made the decision to take Freddy out of the realm of fact and into the realm of myth. "I realized I wasn’t playing a serial killer," Haley (who has had guest appearances in icon in TV shows such as "The Partridge Family", "The Love Boat", "MacGyver" & "Murder She Wrote") affirms. "I wanted to be true to who Freddy Krueger is and yet still bring a little bit of realism to his back story and what it was that turned him into this." Bayer has nothing but praise for Haley’s work. "This is definitely Jackie’s take. He created a character that you’re going to hate and be scared of." Standing in stark contrast to Freddy Krueger is a small coterie of teenagers who become his terrified quarry. In casting the young people who are caught in his web of nightmares and deceit, the filmmakers set out to find fresh faces that would bring authenticity to their experience. One of the first to be cast was Rooney Mara in the central role of Nancy, an introspective artist who works as a waitress at the diner where the other kids hang out. "Sam likes to describe Nancy as the loneliest girl in the world," says Mara ("Tanner Hall"), who emphasizes that, though they share the same name, her Nancy is very different from the Nancy played by Heather Langenkamp in the 1984 film. "My character keeps to herself; she’s socially awkward and timid and really doesn’t know how to connect with people." Quentin, who forms a tentative connection with Nancy as their situation grows more dire, is played by Kyle Gallner ("Jennifer's Body"), who notes that his character stays awake with the help of pharmaceuticals. "He pops Adderall, and he steals adrenaline from the hospitals. He’s a mess, more jittery and a more 'out there' than Nancy is. She’s genuinely tired, while Quentin is irritable and strung out on top of that." Katie Cassidy ("Taken") plays Kris, a beautiful and outgoing blonde who comes to suspect that something much more bizarre is happening than merely random dreams. "Emotionally, Kris is run through the entire gamut in this film. She is literally dragged through hell, having to crawl through dark, claustrophobic tunnels. She’s always crying and freaking out as her nightmares of Freddy bleed into her everyday life." Kellan Lutz (who plays Emmett Cullen in the "Twilight" franchise) was cast as Dean, Kris’s new boyfriend, who is the first to put the others on alert about Freddy. "He’s a character who you can tell has a lot of issues just by looking at him. He’s extremely disturbed by the dreams and determined not to go to sleep, so he’s on pills to stay awake. He comes to this diner to drink coffee with the hope he won’t fall asleep, but ends up falling into a dreamlike state and has a terrifying encounter with Freddy." Four time Young Artist Award winner Thomas Dekker plays Jesse, Kris’s brooding ex-boyfriend, who is in many ways blindsided by Freddy’s intrusion into their lives. "Jesse kind of knows what’s going on but refuses to believe it. He goes to great lengths to try and stay awake; he cries and talks to himself. He just has no way of coping with a threat that he thinks can’t possibly be real. By the time Jesse comes face to face with Freddy, he’s just a mess. There’s no bravado about it. His terror is very real." Quentin’s dad Alan, a guidance counselor at Springwood High School, is played by veteran actor Clancy Brown (the voice of Mr Eugene H Krab in seventy eight episodes of "SpongeBob SquarePants"). Nancy’s mom, Dr Gwen Holbrook, is played by Connie Britton (Tami Taylor in seventy six episodes of "Friday Night Lights".) Kris’s flight attendant mom Nora is played by Lia Mortenson (who appeared in the critically acclaimed "Arc of a Bird"). To create the film’s central image (Freddy’s disfigured face) the filmmakers began with the reality of burn victims and took it into the realm of nightmares. Once the design was in place, they turned to veteran special effects makeup artist and designer Andrew Clement ("Spider-Man 3" & "Star Trek") who revealed: "in keeping with horror makeup traditions, we really went for a terrifying, macabre design." Initially, Clement and his collaborator, Bart Mixon ("Grey's Anatomy" & "Private Practice") would spend six hours each day adhering the layers of makeup appliances to Haley’s head, neck and hands. What's It All About?

Nancy, Kris, Quentin, Jesse and Dean all live on Elm Street. At night, they're all having the same dream, of the same man, wearing a tattered red and green striped sweater, a beaten fedora half-concealing a disfigured face and a gardener's glove with knives for fingers. And they're all hearing the same frightening voice. One by one, he terrorizes them within the curved walls of their dreams, where the rules are his, and the only way out is to wake up. But when one of their number dies a violent death, they soon realize that what happens in their dreams happens for real, and the only way to stay alive is to stay awake. Turning to each other, the four surviving friends try to uncover how they became part of this dark fairytale, hunted by this dark man. Functioning on little to no sleep, they struggle to understand why this monster targets them, why now, and what their parents aren't telling them.

The Verdict "Those who can remember the terrifying effect Freddy Krueger had on audiences can re-live the experience with this re-imaging of the original 1984 horror flick, "A Nightmare On Elm Street". While older fans who are into nostalgia, won't quite get the same adrenaline rush out of Platinum Dunes latest production, it's target audience (those in the age range of fifteen to twenty), will. For 'generation now' there's plenty of graphic, 'jump out of your seat' moments as vengeful Freddy goes about his gorey task of extracting revenge on the children of Elm Street: as I witnessed at the session I attended. In the audience was a large group of year twelve students, who, judging by their appearance (they were still in school uniforms), had obviously come straight from High School to the cinema. Much of the fun of my experience with the 'new' Freddy Krueger that (opening day) evening, was listening to their quite vocal reaction as Freddy ruthlessly and relentlessly pursued each intended victim. Later, in the foyer, I couldn't help noticing the look on most of the girls faces: they were genuinely affected by what they had experienced. I have to say they appeared to be nervous and looked more than a little scared. I couldn't help wondering if they would sleep peacefully that night. In the darkness of their bedrooms, did they experience dream sequence flash backs? While we'll never know, I suspect some had a troubled night fighting the desire to fall asleep: just like Freddy Krueger's hapless victims. After all, that's exactly what happened to many fans in the '80s. Effective enough! 3 STARS." The Production Team

Director Screenplay Story Characters Producers Original Music D.O.P. Film Editor Casting Production Design Art Direction Set Decoration Costume Design

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Samuel Bayer Wesley Strick and Eric Heisserer Wesley Strick Wes Craven Michael Bay/Andrew Form/Bradley Fuller Steve Jablonsky Jeff Cutter Glen Scantlebury Lisa Fields Patrick Lumb Craig Jackson Karen Frick Costume Design by Mari-An Ceo

Who Is Playing Who?

Jackie Earle Haley Kyle Gallner Rooney Mara Katie Cassidy Thomas Dekker Kellan Lutz Clancy Brown Connie Britton Lia Mortensen Julianna Damm Logan Stalzer Christopher Woods Kyra Krumins Brayden Coyer Max Holt Christian Stolte Don Robert Cass Kurt Naebig Andrew Fiscella Bob Kizer Rob Riley Dominick Coviello Parker Bagley Jennifer Robers Tania Randall

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Freddy Krueger Quentin Smith Nancy Holbrook Chris Fowles Jesse Braun Dean Russell Alan Smith Dr Gwen Holbrook Nora Fowles Little Kris Little Logan Little Christopher Little Nancy Little Jesse Little Dean Jesse's Father History Teacher Dean's Father Inmate Swim Coach Minister Pharmacist Paxton Dean's Mom Nurse

Run Time 95 minutes Rated MA15+ [AUST] Copyright ©2010 - Warner Bros - All Rights Reserved ©1999-2010 The Movie Pages & impact Internet Services. All Rights Reserved. Protected by Australian and International Copyright. Trademark Laws and Intellectual Property Rights apply.