Since Wes Craven's "My Soul to Take" premiered last night, Mike S thought we would watch and review the Samuel Bayer directed "re-imagining" of the classic Wes Craven's "A Nightmare on Elm Street":
"This is a slicker looking version of Wes Craven's Nightmare... and not much more.
If you've seen the original, you'll be able to easily predict much of the events that happen, and the roles that the various characters fulfill. For a "reimagining", there really isn't that much imagination in this film.
Jackie Earle Haley does a decent job of portraying Freddy Krueger, but lacked that magic that Robert Eglund had. He just seems to be going through the paces of getting revenge- rather than enjoying the torment he was inflicting.
The characters are pretty flat, and rather bland. Even Nancy, the heroine, was simplistic and interchangable with pretty much any other character in the movie.
The one really nice touch I appreciated was the fleshing out of how the characters fit into Krueger's need for revenge.
For looks, this movie is pretty good, but for everything else, I'll take Wes Craven's original, and rate this one as Bad."
