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Directed by Samuel Bayer. Starring Jackie Earle Haley, Katie Cassidy, Kellan Lutz, Rooney Mara, Kyle Gallner. Horror, USA, 95 mins.

DVD and blu-ray release date: 25 October 2010.

Freddy Kruger, the serial killer with a glove of blades, picks a group of teenagers off one by one in their nightmares. But nightmares soon become a reality for them all.

Freddy stalks the teenagers as he holds them responsible for his death. It soon becomes apparent that the teenagers are all linked somehow. Kris is at a local diner with her boyfriend Dean and he tells her about a recurring nightmare about a man in a striped jumper wearing a glove of knives who tries to kill him. She witnesses him cut his own throat, although it is as if someone is making him do it.

At the funeral Kris discovers that he wasn't the only one to have had that nightmare. Soon after Kris begins seeing Freddy and she too is murdered. Kris’ ex boyfriend, Jesse, is arrested over the incident but Freddy gets to him in his police cell. Nancy and Quentin, friends of the other teenagers, soon start digging around to find out the connection between them all. As they have to stay awake in order to survive Freddy the pair experience ‘micro-naps’ (a new concept not explored in the original). Sleep deprivation sets in and their memories come flooding back. Nancy and Quentin visit their old pre school and the memories are especially painful for Nancy as they find physical evidence of what Freddy did to them. She decides the only way to stop what happening is by bringing Freddy into her world so she can kill him. Freddy has saved her, his favourite, until last. She manages to bring him back as Quentin wakes her and kill him burning the evidence. But when she returns home from the hospital with her mother at the end of the film she is in for a big surprise!

The death scenes are lacking the imagination of Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street. In his film the deaths tend to be more memorable, a prime example being the bedroom death where Kris is dragged across the ceiling, which is far more gruesome and shocking. There are still twists and turns throughout this one to keep the audience on the edge of their seats.

Being a big fan of the original by Wes Craven the expectation of a new one without the iconic Robert Englund was a scary thought especially having watched other remakes such as the Friday the 13th re-make and being disappointed with that one.

The paedophile storyline was more prominent and scarier than the original but I wish the audience were shown more of the character of Freddy as a man. To be honest I would like to have seen more of the early years of Freddy, working at the school and the transition into the monster. It is a franchise so it seems a shame to have wasted the opportunity to explore this element. So much more could have been explored especially with such a new perfect casting of Jackie Earle Haley as Freddy. There were short flash backs as the kids started to remember what happened at the school but it still didn’t delve too deeply. The film was not the reworking that I was hoping for.

This film does seem to have a serious take on the original and misses out on the humour that Robert Englund brings to the role. The new Freddy played by Jackie is done brilliantly but in a different way.

The production team decided to make Freddy’s injuries look like that of a real burns victim. The burns were very realistic, done with hours of make up and a little use of CGI, which was good as it also added a shock element and there are some good extras about creating his face and the look the production team were trying to create.

Overall, the film feels a little too Hollywood compared to Craven’s cult classic and craves its charm and originality. But it was a good film especially for a new generation who may not have even seen the original. There is definitely potential for any future sequels. Watching this film made me want to watch the original again! Ultimately, the premise of the film is still very scary...whatever you do don't fall asleep!!

By Maria Phillips and Gareth Martin

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