The only Elm Street movies worth watching have Wes Cravens name in the writing credits, but since that amounts to three movies, the remainder are only palatable thanks to the participation of the man synonymous with Freddy Krueger, Mr Robert Englund. Well, screw those guys. Elm Street 2010 tries to start over, but it cant make the extremely familiar material seem fresh so it resorts to knocking off scenes weve seen before, including an ending that viewers will see coming from a mile away. Writing in Rolling Stone, critic Pete Travers attributed the films soullessness to its producer: Its the Bay touch you feel in the way actors register as body count, characters go undeveloped and sensation trumps feeling. A nightmare, indeed.
Ian Watson is the author of 'Midnight Movie Madness', a 600+ page guide to "bad" movies from 'Reefer Madness' to 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.'
