20 Great Horror Roles Ruined By Terrible Acting
15. A Nightmare On Elm Street (2010) - Freddy Krueger
One of the many awful things about horror remakes is how often they undermine once-great characters, and it's now time to talk about one of the very worst examples. After all, we're not just talking about any horror character; we're talking about Freddy Krueger, one of the most captivating, iconic, and menacing characters in the history of the genre, played to devilish perfection by Robert Englund.
When A Nightmare on Elm Street was remade towards the end of the horror remake boom, Jackie Earle Haley was cast as Freddy, and on paper, this seemed like a good idea. Haley is an excellent character actor, and yet, as viewers quickly discovered, he wasn't right for Freddy. Well, perhaps he would've been with better direction and writing; we'll never know.
Regardless, while this version of Krueger had an intriguing and gnarly backstory, his nightmare form was just awful. Alongside the terrible make-up, he totally lacked the sardonic humour and playfulness that made the original so horrifying. Instead, he was just a generically angry villain, and Haley seemed totally lost in the role, resorting to growling his way through it.
Sadly, he's not the only character this awful remake ruined...