I don’t pretend to be a non-biased critic. I’m very biased. I often tell people that I watch movies strictly for people in them. After I get that piece over with, then I judge the movie by itself.
Nightmare is no different. I watched this movie (and actually paid $10 to see the midnight showing) purely because of Kyle Gallner. He is quite possibly the best underrated actor out there. He is just really good at his job. Of course, he often plays the same character, but that’s beside the point. Anyways, I’m in love with this man. Blame it on a combination of CSI:NY and the commentary from Haunting in Connecticut. But enough about my love for this man.
The movie itself was… okay. It was very predictable, especially after half of the cast was gone within the first 30 minutes. Oops, sorry. SPOILER ALERT….. people die in a Freddy Krueger movie. That’s kinda like saying Oceans is gonna have water.
Some of it felt like a film school project. Some of it was poorly lit… I mean when it wasn’t supposed to be poorly lit. And a lot of the acting was awful, namely the lead. I had no remorse for this new Nancy. She just kinda alienated me, and she’s the protagonist. I get that she’s a loner and being a loner means you feel for her, but I didn’t feel for her at all. Except that she was in love with Quentin (Kyle). That I totally understand.
I know everyone wants to know how Jackie Earle Haley did as Krueger. He was good. Not as good as Englund, but then again no one can be as good as Englund. Englund IS Freddy. There’s no way around it. But for a secondary choice, Haley did a really good job. He was very creepy and the burn makeup was definitely disgusting.
Some of the one-liners were awful, like Doomsday Arcade (look it up) awful. There is no excuse for a poorly written pun in a horror movie. Wait until the sequel to add in the puns. I realize that this technically is a sequel, but it also is a reimagining and that means some people are being introduced to the series for the first time. Cut the puns to a minimum the first time around.
I was happy that they included the original music. I have an album of scary movie themes, and that is one of my favorites. Right after Exorcist and right before Halloween, which is tied with Poltergeist. So including it really made my night.
So to review, it was okay. It was highly predictable. I’m a shallow person.
Fiser, OUT!
[drops mic]
