The announcement that the mousy Jackie Earle Haley would be stepping in to Robert Englund's clown-sized shoes for the Elm Street remake certainly turned some heads. For better? For worse? How do you think it will shape the remake?
This is one remake I am going to boycott for sure! I was against it before it was announced that Englund would not be back, but this seals the movie's fate in my mind. Plus it is being made by Platinum Dunes, look how the butchered Friday the 13th.
I'm hoping that he does a good job in the role. That said, the rest of the movie is what I'm still on the ropes about.
From my point of view Robert Englund RUINED the character after the initial installment of the franchise. They could stick Freddy Prinze Jr. into the role at this point and it would be an improvement!
Overall, I'm not a fan of very many remakes, but although I loved some of the Nightmare movies when they first came out, I never bought a single one on DVD. I would certainly love to see Jackie Earle Haley in full Freddy makeup! He's definitely got the look from what I remember him looking like, and I doubt he'd even need very much makeup at all to pull it off. This could actually be something good, but it's really going to depend on a hell of a lot more than casting a capable actor in a classic role. Who would have thought that the same guy who gave us little Willie from V would be capable of pulling off the psychosexual child molester in the original Nightmare? I'm all for Jackie Earle Haley playing the part, but as far as how good the movie will be, we'll just have to wait and see.
We'll see how the movie turns out. I'm sure Haley will do a fine job. I agree with Maybrick - I thought Freddy was pretty cool in the original, and alright in the sequel. However, after that with all the stupid one liners I lost respect - whether or not that was Englund's fault or not I dunno, but he became one of my least favorite of all franchise "boogeymen".
I'll wait to decide as well. Outside of the original, I'm not a big fan of this series. Freddy was really evil and nasty in the original, but became nothing more than a cartoon character in the rest.
the original Nightmare is a classic in every sense of the word. but i think its nice to see someone new. but also we will have to see how the movie turns out too.
im in agreement with most here: this franchise is seriously in need of some new blood. recently watched freddy vs jason again, cuz i couldn't believe it was quite as bad as i remembered it to be. it was. and freddy was worse than a joke in it - he was a bore. haley was easily the best part of watchmen, and im interested to see what he can do with the role. whether he's good enough to make the movie good is another question indeed.
To me it will always be Englund and it will lose something without him. With that said I loved the first Nightmare on Elm Street and found it to be tense and scary while everything after that did turn cartoonish so Id be happy to see a Nightmare movie that returns to a more dark tone. I havent read much about this remake so I do not know if it is a straight remake of the original, a reimaging or if it is really going to try to be a unique addition. I am holding out hope this will be a decent flick but these remakes are so out of control right now....
I'm just a sukker for the franchise no matter who is in it so I will see it. I enjoyed F13 remake so I doubt i will be completely disappointed with this.
Like most, I'm not a fan of remakes. However I can appreciate some of them (ie the Dawn of the Dead remake was pretty damn good). While I would like to have seen Billy-Bob Thornton as Freddy (as it was rumoured early on), I think Jackie would definately make a menacing Krueger as well. He has the right look for it... Plus I'll always remember him as the little snot that got stomped to death by Donald Sutherland at the end of "Day of the Locust" lol. If he can bring that kind of nastiness to the role, I think this could work out. However, like most remakes, if they make the teens/victims look like underwear models, the film will be in trouble. Horror films are scarier when you can relate to the victims... and the kids in the original Elm Street were basically kids that could have lived on anyone's street... so it hit close to home.
Jury's out, but I always thought that guy from Prison Break, T-Bag (Robert Knepper) looked a lot like Freddy and the character T-bag was very freddy-esque. Haven`t seen watchmen and never heard of Jackie Earle before. I'm tired of battling against remakes so bring the travesties on (we still have to suffer through hellreaiser remake and who the hell knows other classics being remade).
I enjoy the series but Freddy became a fucking joke quite quickly. Haley as Freddy sounds like a great idea to me, frankly. But, yes, remakes typically blow so I am not expecting a lot.
Without Robert Englund, I don't hold out a lot of hope for it. Freddy Krueger isn't the type of character that "just anyone" can play to perfection. It's not like Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers or Leatherface where any stuntman can put a mask on and lumber through the film as a silent, stalking killer. Freddy requires the right kind of personality. And honestly, I don't think the Elm Street series became a complete joke until Nightmare 5: The Dream Child in 1989. Parts 1-4 were really solid IMO.
Wow. I'm surprised to see how little love there is for the Nightmare franchise (not just the first one) on a horror board. Like any long-running series, the sequels are going to be hit-and-miss. I think some of them, especially Dream Warriors and New Nightmare, are really solid. A scary, less gimmick / joke Freddy was one of the strengths of FvJ. I always thought that casting a new Freddy would be the trickiest part of a NOES remake. He's such an iconic character, and unlike Jason and Michael, is linked to a single memorable performer. After seeing Watchmen, I'm confident that JEH will make an excellent Krueger.