A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010/New Line Blu-ray + DVD w/Digital Copy)
Picture:
B+ Sound: B+ Extras: D Film: C
Call it
what you want. A remake. A
reimagining. Or perhaps a really big
attempt to make money, but one thing is certain this reviewer is tired of new A Nightmare
on Elm Street films, Friday the 13th,
Halloween films or Exorcist rehash, after Exorcist rehash. The films after so long feel like a classic
car that has been gutted; on the outside it still has the title and is
beautiful, but nothing lies within. What
made these horror films so classic to begin with was their originality,
something all the remakes lack.
This 2010
A Nightmare on Elm Street is one of
the worst to date, doing Wes Craven’s legacy no justice. Whereas we all had a laugh here and there at
the stupidity of teens in horror films, as of lately they have just turned into
caricatures of themselves. There in lies
the problem with this film; it (like the later Nightmare films) dismisses the well timed horror and gore along
with dark comedy that Craven embraced for his masterpiece. This 2010 Nightmare is almost a frame by frame remake of the original,
borrowing the same story premise but missing the true heart and soul. The director had chosen to make this a film
that was darker than the original (which is a good choice), but seems to
flounder on that choice as he delivers executed wise cracks or puns. So in all Freddy is still tormenting the children
of Elm Street,
but it seems he did a better job in the 1980’s with Johnny Depp by his side…or
claw.
Unlike
the film itself, the picture and sound quality are actually very nice,
especially for such a dark, shadowy film.
The picture is presented in a 1080p/VC-1 encoded High Definition 16 X 9/2.40
X 1 that leans more toward the yellow, brown color scheme but also demonstrates
brilliant splashes of color especially red tones in relation to Freddy’s
sweater or blood. The shadowing (which
is very important to this film) is well done, never looking clouded or
unbalanced in relation to the scene. My
only complaint would be the level of detail is at times lacking, on top of the
blacks being weak here and there. The
sound is a nice DTS-HD Master Audio that is well balanced and lends itself
quite well to creating the horror atmosphere.
The bass is full and during the scariest sequences the soundscape is
alive and immersive.
The
extras are weak, weak, weak. The bonus
features offered are Freddy Krueger
Reborn that takes a look behind the scenes and how the creators changed up
Freddy’s classic look to better fit their vision; also included are Maniacal Movie Mode, Additional Footage,
Focus Points, and BD Live. In addition to the bonus features this set
includes a Digital Copy of the film as well as the DVD release.
The DVD
does not live up to the Blu-ray as it appears darky and murkier than the HD
quality, as well as not having the shadow delineation of the Blu-ray. The sound is somewhat flat and does not
demonstrate the crispness, the prioritizing or atmosphere of the Blu-ray.
I can not
fully recommend this film as the original remains a classic and this feels like
a bad knockoff. For fans of the series,
perhaps a once watch is in order, but don’t expect anything above and beyond.
- Michael P. Dougherty II
