8 Horror Movie Re-Castings That Were TERRIBLE

4. Jackie Earle Haley - Freddy Krueger (A Nightmare On Elm Street)

A Nightmare on Elm Street Freddy Krueger 2010 Remake
New Line Cinema

Platinum Dunes made it their mission across the 2000s to remake every single horror property you loved as a kid, mostly to little acclaim.

Their reimagining of A Nightmare On Elm Street required something of a defter touch though. That's because when it comes to slasher Freddy Krueger, so much of his success can be attributed to actor Robert Englund's impressive, sinister charm, and as such fans were eager to see who the studio had tapped to fill his deep boots.

Initially it seemed like they'd pulled off the impossible as well. Jackie Earle Haley was given the role, just off the fan-pleasing turn as Rorschach in Zack Snyder's Watchmen. At the time, my younger self thought this was perfect, and it was unclear how the filmmakers could fail with such talent in tow.

Rest assured they managed it somehow though.

It turned out that Haley wasn't the fit we all expected, and combined with the poor script and shocking CGI burn effects was nowhere near as menacing as he could have been. Unsurprisingly then, once Freddy himself was botched, plans for sequels went down the drain.

Contributor

Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.