The Dark Janitor Returns: Should Elm Street Be Drained of All Fun?
A Nightmare on Elm Street is the latest remake from Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes shingle, a specialty horror label whose modus operandi is to take a low-budget cult-classic from the '80s, then have it "re-envisioned" by directors with good eyes for slick editing and camera work, but tin ears for tone, performance, and all those other harder-to-nail elements that masters like Sam Raimi and Wes Craven would bring to the proceedings. The result is a steady stream of forgettable shit: Marcus Nispel's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Friday the 13th reboots both needed to be dragged to a basement and cleaved, while the only scary thing about 2005's The Amityville Horror was the number of times it found an excuse to have Ryan Reynolds battle a home demon-infestation with his shirt off.
Which brings us to their next offering: A Nightmare on Elm Street. In its corner is Jackie Earle Haley as Freddy Krueger, who'll don the familiar sweater, hat and fingerblades made famous by Robert Englund, and who has the chops -- no pun intended; actually what the hell, pun fully intended! -- to bring some genuine psychological complexity to the bogeyman role. (His third in a row, it's worth pointing out, to feature a direct link between character and child molestation.)
But will Elm Street fall into the same traps as the subpar Dunes remakes that came before? At a Comic-Con press conference, Haley and director Sam Bayer -- a veteran music video and commercial director best known for Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" -- both stressed that the black humor of the original series would be drained from the remake.
"I think where Sam and I were coming from with it was darker, more serious, less jokey," Haley said. "Hopefully scarier. More intense."
Is there no room for some humor, one journalist asked?
Bayer responded: "If you're looking for a laugh, I don't think it's a funny movie. I personally don't think that if a character is wisecracking and killing you at the same time, that it's very funny. I'm taking this very seriously. I really do look at a movie like The Dark Knight as an inspiration for this, which is, I don't think people dress up in outfits, and fly through the sky, and have cars, and dress up as bats -- but Christopher Nolan made me believe it. And what I'd like to do is to have people believe that this could be real."
And there you have it: Perhaps the most frequently referenced "hip" directorial inspiration since Pulp Fiction, The Dark Knight has become something of a cultural touchstone for anyone trying to justify a suffocatingly self-serious approach to fundamentally ridiculous source material.
We asked if Englund shared any advice on the matter during the ceremonial passing of the glove. As it turns out, that moment still hasn't happened: "We were going to hook up at some point in time and were never able to get in the same city at the same time," Haley told Movieline. "We were going to have a dinner. But my manager and my agent for my birthday have gotten me an original Nightmare on Elm Street poster, so I'm going to hunt down Robert and get him to sign it, if he'd be so kind to sign it for me."
We're willing to put a crisp fin on the eventual inscription reading, "Jackie -- Make him yours. Best, Robert."
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Comments
Ugh. No doubt the violence will be a lot more brutal and less gory or imaginative. Horror and comedy can have a beautiful relationship, they often exacerbate the other when done right.
The first Elm Street is actually quite dark. Part 2 is when Freddy started getting a sense of humor.
Yet more proof that Dark Knight has ruined everything.
Most 'horror people' know that horror and comedy are roommates* at least. This movie might succeed at being grim (if that) but I'm not holding my breath on it being scary.
*I originally typed flatmates, and was given the Squiggly Red Line.
Did this guy even watch The Dark Knight? Without the Joker's mania the movie would have suuuuuuuucked.
I hate to be one of these guys who tries to e-vanquish some blogger who's opinion I disagree with--and this happens a lot when people bring up Dark Knight, for some reason--but, ah fuck it. The logic in this blog is pretty half baked and presumptuous, so I feel compelled to call you out.
It's a good thing filmmakers don't pay much attention to what blogs like this say--if they did, we'd get the EXACT same regurgitated shit when it comes to stories everybody's already familiar with (like Batman and Elm Street, which, if you've read the script for the remake, is a pretty goofy flick).
Why can't a director approach "ridiculous" material with earnesty? I'm sorry, did Nolan break some unwritten geek law by taking the material seriously and trying something different? You've seen the other takes on Batman that had lighter takes, so what's wrong with making it a little more adult (and it's not like Nolan turned Bruce Wayne into Travis Bickle, so I really don't see the big deal, anyways)?
Writers, and even fanboys, like you are the new movie execs--guys who want familiarity, rather than something new--and I know we're talking about long running franchises here, but so what? These stories have lasted for a reason, and that reason is that talented storytellers can change them and adapt them to what they want them to say. The different interpretations are what make characters like Batman and even Krueger, compelling.
But hey, if you want more Batman & Robins and Freddy's Deads, more power to you.
What Jerebo said. Craven's original film was quite dark. Freddy didn't begin dishing out corny one liners and ironic kills until the sequel machine began churning. I'm really glad they decided to keep the tone dark.
Jackie is a great choice for Freddy. I'd be willing to bet that the place where the casting is a mess is with Nancy. She's such a strong character in Craven's film..I just have a feeling they'll fuck it up.
I think the point of the article is that most of the horror remakes have gone the super serious route and come out dull and bad. Now the Freddie filmmakers are using The Dark Knight's success (both critical and commercial) to continue that trend. If anything, injecting a bit of humor at this point would feel original and new.
Except that this is precisely the instance where if they did that (inject humor), it would make it seem like they were being loyal to the franchise's awful sequels, not Craven's original story.
Enter Joss Whedon, I believe.
I've seen the "Chainsaw" remake twice, and I'm convinced it's a solid little horror film. Groundbreaking? Nope. Original? Hardly. But some ripe scares and a lovely turn by Miss Biel.
The rest of the aforementioned remakes are as bad as advertised. Let's hope "Nightmare" improves on the original for a change.
Agree that Texas Chainsaw redux was "solid". But necessary? Hardly.
And that was the best of Platinum Dunes' output. If you've suffered through TCM: The Beginning, The Amityville Horror or The Unborn, you know what I'm talking about.
While Jackie Earle Haley's about the best possible choice for Freddy, I can't say I've any real hopes that this will bring anything new or inventive to screens. The word "update" tends to mean casting teens with harder bods and including scenes with iPods.
This new Freddy is going to be the proud owner of a Zune. They knew it would make him a much more authentic villain.