Alright, maybe not that much fun. Finding a middle ground between the cartoon ridiculousness of Freddy's Dead: A Final Nightmare and the banal 'realism' of the reboot is key, as is not overdoing Freddy's wisecracking nature. But where his peers are furiously lopping off heads and numbly cutting throats, the joy of Fred is that he enjoys what he does - whether its turning a kid into a pizza and piercing his head like a meatball (really) or casually slaughtering the irritating boy wizard of Dream Warriors. What we need after the dull torture-fests of recent years is a colourful, surreal nightmare with personality and a sense of fun. The best bit of Bayer's remake? The Everly Brothers song which played over the end credits. It's the little touches like that which should characterise a Nightmare On Elm Street movie, not looking depressed in a boiler room until its time to die. What do you want from a New Nightmare? Agree with these suggestions or suggest some more down in the comments.
A film critic and professional writer of over ten years, Joel Harley has a deep and abiding love of all things horror, Batman and Nicolas Cage. He can be found writing online and in print, all over the Internet and in especially good bookstores.
