Another Nightmare

Ok, if you know me you know I'm a huge horror fan.  Books, movies, I love it all.  I grew up in the 80's with all of the Freddy, Jason, Micheal, Pinhead, Chucky, etc. movies.  Freddy from A Nightmare on Elm Street was always my favorite.  I loved his one liners, but even though they were full of comic moments I always thought he was the scariest.  Why?  I'm glad you asked.  While all the other guys were scary if you allowed yourself to be lost in the movies, you were still able to tell yourself they weren't real but only a man in a mask.  Freddy on the other hand, came to you in your dreams.  Anything can happen in dreams, and everything is real in that world.

When I heard Hollywood was in the process of remaking the original Nightmare on Elm Street (the one that started it all, the one responsible for launching Johnny Depp's career), I had mixed feelings.  I was excited that I would get to see one of my favorites experience a new life with a new audience.  But I was also worried that it wouldn't do the original justice.  Who else can possible be Freddy when for 25 or more years no one but Mr. Robert Englund had embodied the character.  Then I heard the role would be reprised by the same man to play Rorschach in the Watchmen movie.  That seemed promising, and once again I was hopeful.
So now I have seen the revised Nightmare on Elm Street.  I have to say I was not totally disappointed but also not impressed.  They changed up the story line quite a bit, making you believe the children were the bad guys for a little while and possibly Freddy was innocent after all.  While it was interesting to see someone else's take on what I consider a classic, I don't understand the special effects.  They tried to remake the same scenes from the original that were shocking in the 80's, revamping them with CG.  The girl being pulled up the wall and across the ceiling, the blood erupting from the bed, Freddy stretching the wall paper around his form. All of these scenes were so amazing in the original because they found away to do them that was real.  Doing these scenes in CG only succeeded in giving the film a cartoonish feel, cheapening the effects and taking me out of the film all together.  I found myself laughing at how even though technology has come such a long way, it isn't better just quicker.  The effects from the 80's were hands down better.  The movie itself wasn't bad.  What brought it down for me were the effects.  I own all of the other Elm Street movies, but I don't see myself purchasing this one.