Every Nightmare On Elm Street Film Ranked Worst To Best

9. A Nightmare On Elm Street (2010)

It sounds like a cliche to say that the remake never stands a chance of matching the original, but, as we've seen time and again, this is very often the case, and never more so than here. 2010's A Nightmare On Elm Street aimed high, but fell short by a very, very wide margin.

There had been some cause for optimism going in. Jackie Earle Haley, fresh from his scene-stealing turn as Rorschach in Watchmen, was an inspired choice to take over from Robert Englund as Freddy, and first-time feature director Samuel Bayer had the video for Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit on his CV. The film also seemed to be taking an intriguing approach, delving into the darker elements of Freddy's backstory; for the first time, directly addressing the implication that he was a child molester as well as a murderer.

But it's clear within minutes that this dour, lifeless take on Craven's film either doesn't understand what makes the franchise work, or - worse yet - is made by people who don't actually care, and are content to just churn out product. The material, and the fans, deserve a whole lot better.

Production house Platinum Dunes had already remade (amongst others) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Friday the 13th; this was the film that finally put the brakes on their horror remake production line, so for that at least we can be grateful. Nor has Bayer directed another movie, which is no big loss on this evidence.