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Tuesday, October 20, 2009

12 Days Of Halloween: New Nightmare On Elm Street Trailer

I think this will be the first of a "12 Days Of Halloween" thing where I discuss some horror topics...

I just saw the trailer for the "Nightmare On Elm Street." The first thing that immediately struck me was: "A Michael Bay Film." Wow.

I think a Michael Bay "NOES" won't suck, necessarily, but I fear it's going to have a slick & shiny quality that the original movie lacked. The Wes Craven version was DARK. I know people say this new version will be darker. But I repeat: the Wes Craven "Nightmare On Elm Street" was DARK DARK DARK. An absolutely brutal film, even watching it over 20 years later. Yeah, Freddy had a couple of wisecracks, but in the context of how visceral the film was, those quips only added to the horror.

There's dark and visceral and gripping – and then there is dark and bleak and boring. I would love to see this new film, especially with Jackie Earle Haley as Freddy, be perhaps a deeper mediation on the character. My fear is that it might fall into dark/bleak/boring. Or slick/shiny/dark/bleak/boring.

But I could be wrong. I'm not going to be a complete crybaby fangirl about this – but 85% of the reason I'm withholding judgement is Jackie Earle Haley.

BTW, I once interviewed Robert Englund at San Diego ComicCon. He was a far smaller, more compact person than I though he was going to be. But he just crackled with this energy about him, and was just totally fascinating.

BTW BTW, I liked the Rob Zombie Halloween remake; liked the Dawn of the Dead remake and even Texas Chainsaw Massacre. So basically, I'm an easy mark.






Lieutenant Thompson: "What did the coroner have to say?"
Cop: "He's been puking in the john since he's seen it."

9 comments:

  1. Read the script - it's pretty much a retread with very little originality.

    There are lots of scenes repeated, even the same kills. The only real difference is that the first 20 minutes or so focus on another character instead of Nancy - looks like the excellent Katie Cassidy will be playing that character.

    There's an interesting hint that maybe Krueger wasn't guilty of the crimes the parents hunted him down for, but its never fully explored.

    The one death scene there isn't a retread of, sadly, is Johnny Depp's bed-spray scene.

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  2. "The one death scene there isn't a retread of, sadly, is Johnny Depp's bed-spray scene."

    You know, that is such a classic scene for me that if they had included it and screwed it up, I'd feel pretty mad.

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  3. Too many remakes these days... it's really necessary another "Nightmare"?

    I will see the movie, although I would like some originality, if you're going to re-tell a good story, what's the point in retelling exactly the same? Wouldn't it be better to get another angle, another way to tell the story?

    Think of this like the versions of songs played by diferents bands... why doing it like the original when you can give it your personal vision?

    Me, too, fear on the dark-boring side :S

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  4. Anonymous12:50 AM

    I could not stand the Halloween remake. It spent WAY too much time on Michael as a kid, and it felt as if Zombie had not done ANY research as to what makes someone a killer. It was an hour and a half of the most f****-up shit happening to Myers.

    That's the same way I felt about Friday and this trailer. Filmmakers seem to think that we NEED backstory on the killers. We don't. That's why they are believable. We are only told SO MUCH as to what happened to them to make them who they are, and our minds do the rest. When you humanize them, you destroy their presence. Michael Myers' name in the script was THE SHAPE for a reason.

    The Nightmare trailer... all it said to be was "we're remaking a movie you like lol".

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  5. I thought Bay produced it (as opposed to directed it).

    As much as I usually despise anything with Bay's name on it, I have no issues with this remake. Then again, I'm not a huge fan of the Elm Street series. I liked New Nightmare alright, I guess, but I'm a tough sell on horror movies, mainly because I find very few legitimately scary. The "torture porn" genre (Saw, Hostel, etc.) is not my cup of tea, and while gore can be interesting-looking, I've seen enough real-life "gore" that it doesn't freak me out.

    Though, I have to admit, I enjoy a lot of the old Friday the 13th movies, though mainly for their cheese value.

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  6. Anonymous10:22 AM

    Honestly, I only see the point of a remake when the original had a good idea and poor implementation. Like Event Horizon, good concept, good first half, most disappointing second half. That one deserve a remake. The NoES? Nope, it is quite good as it is. I guess you don't make much money with re-runs and it's easier to borrow on the fame of the past. And we have a season of terrible remakes, just to two examples: The Day the Earth stood still and I'm Legend.

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  7. Was Krueger given a backstory in the original films? I don't recall, but then again, I don't think I really saw any of them.

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  8. Kruger was given just a little bit of backstory in the movies. In the "Freddy's Nightmares" tv show they did one episode that really dove into his origin.

    I'll be fine with this remake as long as it's good. I do hope with the next movies in the series that they move on and do something new with the character...tough to do I know.

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  9. Anonymous4:25 PM

    Why remake the original in the first place? It's not like you can't write a sequel that acts as a reboot.

    Look at Star Trek.

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