Coming Attractions: NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (2010)

 

NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (2010): As if they've all been some kind of a dream, twenty-six years - twenty-six! -  have come and gone since Wes Craven's disfigured nightmare-made-flesh, Freddy Krueger, terrorized young Johnny Depp's downtime when Nightmare on Elm Street first hit theaters back in 1984.  Now, over a quarter-century later, Freddy proves he really is a child of the Eighties; he's about to be re-made.

Technically, of course, he already has; but as no film is truly complete until seen by its first audiences, fans of the Elm Street series have just two more months until Freddy's 'Back' to scare them again - for the very first time.  First, because Nightmare on Elm Street 2010 is the first Elm Street film where it won't be Robert Englund wearing the villain's striped wool sweater.  Instead, it's Jackie Earle Haley - Rorschach from last year's classic Watchmen - who'll become the Freddy Krueger that makes the life of the film's famous heroine, Nancy Thompson, a living nightmare. Rather appropriately, Nancy, the character that actress Heather Langenkamp made semi-famous, will also have a new, younger face.

Considering these and other changes to the original story, the new Nightmare is, essentially, a modernized, re-imagined version of what's come before - but the movie's producers have been very careful to position Freddy's next venture as anything but a 'remake.'  Before being greenlit, plans were considered to make this movie as a prequel to the original film, or even as a sequel to 2003's Freddy vs. Jason mash-up, but both projects fell through in favor of director Samuel Bayer's current reboot. (We should also add that Michael Bay of Transformers fame is the film's Executive Producer.)

New Line Cinema's edginess about 'remakes' undoubtedly affected  the new Nightmare's advance promos.  Save for the film's teaser we've got for you above, few other visuals have been forthcoming. But with just two months to go until opening night, we expect studio day-dreaming to turn lucid any day.  And despite whatever worries may have plagued the suits and ties in Hollywood, Freddy Krueger shows no signs of fading from view.  A just-held survey conducted by SFX, the popular science fiction and horror magazine, found Freddy Krueger to be the Number One most popular horror villain of all-time, and the new Nightmare On Elm Street action figures (seen HERE) by NECA and Mezco went over big during last weekend's New York Toy Fair 2010. 

Survey and toys aside, it's whether or not the new and future Freddy will give a new generation of movie-goer's nightmares that will decide if the 2010 remake deserves a repeat.  As it's past our bedtime, we'll reserve our judgement for now and put the question to our dabblers instead. What say you, abbracadabbling? Is Nightmare On Elm Street worth losing sleep over? Get us your Back Issues and tell us EVERYTHING!!! For more Nightmare On Elm Street 2010, visit the movie's official website HERE.