Another horror movie remake! This one tries is particularly faithful to the Wes Craven original, even recreating a number of scares shot-for-shot. Not necessarily a bad thing, I suppose, but the new interpretations are pedestrian interpretations, without flair or creativity. There’s no emotional throughline in the first half; the film focuses on one character for ten minutes or so before killing them off. I guess the intent is to ape the classic Psycho “surprise” but all it does is remove any audience investment in the last character(s) standing.
There is an attempt to do something different from the original in the last act, which features some surprisingly well-conceived jump scares, but the Ring-esque plot twist is utterly predictable. Besides, turning the original’s molestation subtext into text is both icky and unnecessary.
The biggest disappointment in the film is what should have been the highlight – Jackie Earle Haley as Freddy Krueger. He’s perfectly suited for the role, but is severely hampered by overly restrictive makeup. I have no problem with a reinterpretation of Freddy’s look, but the makeup is so dense his ability to emote is reduced to flapping his mouth like a goldfish. His Freddy is neither witty nor scary.
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