• Director: Samuel Bayer
• With: Kellan Lutz, Jackie Earle Haley, Rooney Mara, Kyle Gallner, Katie Cassidy, Thomas Dekker, Clancy Brown, Connie Britton
• Music by: Steve Jablonsky
• Duration: 1h35
• Rating: 7,5/10

Synopsis:

Death stalks the dreams of several young adults to claim its revenge on the killing of Freddy Kruger. Chased and chastised by this finger-bladed demon, it is the awakening of old memories and the denials of a past of retribution that spurns this hellish vision of a dreamlike state and turns death into a nightmare reality.

Review:

One more time, Freddy’s coming for the Elmstreet kids. Chasing them in their nightmares and killing them one by one…

This time Jackie Earle Haley portrays the Dream Killer, taking over from Robert Englund, and he does a great job. I know this movie is hated by all the true Nightmare fans but honestly, this is better than most of the sequels. Of course, it has some flaws and the end battle could have been better (there’s no boobytraps) but as this is a reboot, why would they make a complete copy of the original?

I loved how they integrated some of the key scenes from the original in this one (Tina’s death, Glenn’s shirt, Tina’s body in a bodybag in the school hallway…) but they spun a whole new story ànd added some of Freddy’s background in this one…

In my opinion, the original Nightmare is the best of all the Nightmares, this comes second (bring on the hate for stating this very unpopular opinion)!

Jackie Earle Haley added some improv to his role, I like that about him! I think he’s a great actor for these kind of roles (my favourite of his is of course Rorschach in ‘Watchmen’) His menacing voice ànd realistic burn make-up (Sorry Englund and Craven… this is how a burn victim looks like!) make for a great Krueger!

The only big problem I had with this movie (and from what I read, she thinks the same) Rooney Mara didn’t fit in the role of Nancy! I honestly think it shows she didn’t have any fun portraying that role, at all!

I don’t think another Nightmare will be made in the near future… if they do, I sure hope they change the rules a little and look for an actor that gets in the part of Freddy like Englund and Haley did, with a lot of conviction… and maybe bring back the oneliners (I missed those in the reboot)

Well… you know what I’m about to say now: ‘Whatever you do, don’t fall asleep!’