A Nightmare on Elm Street Blu-ray offers solid video and superb audio in this fan-pleasing Blu-ray release
A re-imagining of the horror icon Freddy Krueger, a serial-killer who wields a glove with four blades embedded in the fingers and kills people in their dreams, resulting in their real death in reality.
For more about A Nightmare on Elm Street and the A Nightmare on Elm Street Blu-ray release, see the A Nightmare on Elm Street Blu-ray Review published by Martin Liebman on October 5, 2010 where this Blu-ray release scored 3.0 out of 5.
You're not real. You're not real. You're not real.
The brutally awful remake that is A Nightmare on Elm Street will haunt viewers and shape their nightmares more so than the
disfigured slasher Freddy Krueger could
ever dream of accomplishing. Considering all of the recent studio
remakes of Horror movie legends, A Nightmare on Elm Street is easily the worst. It's absent the brutality, ugliness, uneasiness, and excess
gore of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre; the grittiness and atmosphere of Halloween; and the relative stability, flow, and fun of Friday the 13th. What should have been the best of the bunch --
considering the series' legacy, characters, themes, and ideas -- is instead a picture with absolutely no purpose, no rhythm, and no heart; it's
seemingly content to simply recreate the most famous scenes from the original film and plop them into the middle of a barely-cohesive narrative
supported by poor acting, terribly dull characters, sluggish pacing, generic atmosphere and music, and a Freddy Krueger who looks more like a
deformed space alien than, well, Freddy Krueger. Props to the movie for a few decent special effects and a fair bit of gore, but even the worst Saw movie can boast that much. What a disappointment.
Over there, behind you. Is that another negative review?
Several teenagers are slowly but surely coming to realize that, for them, the dream world is far more dangerous that the waking real world. Dean
(Kellan Lutz) has been complaining of visions of a badly burned figure stalking him in his dreams; his wild claims are dismissed as but side effects of
his medication, but when he seems to kill himself in a roadside diner, his friends begin to realize that he may not have been so crazy after all. Soon
enough, Quentin
(Kyle Gallner), Nancy (Rooney Mara), Kris (Katie Cassidy), and Jessie (Thomas Dekker) find that they, too, are being hunted in their slumber by a
disfigured slasher named Freddy (Jackie Earle Haley), armed with razor-sharp blades lining a right-handed glove. The fear of sleep begins to have
paralyzing effects on the teenagers; despite their best efforts, they must fight not only a deadly enemy but their very biology in an effort to stay
awake. They begin to piece together not only their connection with Freddy, but with one another, leading them to a shocking revelation that will
change their lives forever -- assuming they can survive their nightmares.
Much like The Karate Kid, A Nightmare on Elm Street had the
unenviable
task of recreating not just a cinematic treasure, but repopulating it with actors tasked with filling the shoes of several icons. The first -- and
most obvious -- solution to the challenge would be to not even make the effort and leave well enough alone. That's probably the opinion of most
film
fans, but every now and then, a remake works; The Karate Kid managed to capture the same essence as its
predecessor while supplementing, but not replacing, its legendary characters. Unfortunately, A Nightmare on Elm Street seems the
complete
opposite; here's a remake that's a train wreck from beginning to end, with every single element not only failing to impress but leaving the audience
detached from the experience and not at all caring for either the story or the characters. Not only does the picture fall heavily into formula --
teenagers are
killed off one by one to predictably bloody results -- but its efforts to re-imagine the best scenes from the original only fall flat and seem like cheap
rip-offs rather than loving homages. Each scene feels not like an essential part of a cohesive narrative but instead a random element that just so
happen to play a part in the building of a very basic plot structure. At least the editing is strong enough to ensure that previously-killed characters
don't suddenly pop back up
in the movie 30 minutes after the fact; with as terribly random as the movie seems -- it really doesn't amount to much more than a collection of
scenes crammed together -- the absence of any glaring editorial errors is about the best thing there is to say about this one.
Even the otherwise strong special effects and gore elements serve
no real purpose other than as a means of recreating scenes from the original. They, too, seem cold and routine, and while they're fairly slick in
appearance and maybe even slightly more seamless than the practical effects used in Craven's original, they simply don't do anything for the
movie other than to give it more of that feel that it's just a wannabe clone rather than a respectful homage to the original. They're just another
example of the way the film feels as if its its simply going through the motions and banking on making money by capitalizing on the name of the
movie and recreating its general appearance, but leaving out the unseen and underlying spirit that made that first picture a genre classic. On that
same
note, this edition of A Nightmare on Elm Street is populated with -- to be kind -- bad characters that look good but are absent the
intangibles that allowed the audience to get into the heads of the characters from the original picture and fear,
cower, and scream right along with them. The acting is awful, and that raises the old
chicken-or-the-egg question: is the acting bad
because the characters are dull, giving the actors nothing to work with; or does the poor acting cancel out otherwise strongly-written characters?
The former is the obvious answer, but it's not as if this version of Nightmare is populated with Oscar-worthy actors hindered only by a bad
script. This remake is just awful all around, and in a case such as this, it's usually better to root for the bad guy, except that this take on
Freddy Krueger is flat-out lame next to Englund's series-defining portrayal. That the makeup makes the Horror icon look like more like an alien
burned in a
spaceship crash than he does Freddy Krueger doesn't
help, and the playfully terrifying menace that was Englund's take on the character is replaced by a dull performance supported by a few
groan-inducing lines meant to recapture the trademark Krueger humor. About the only things worth rooting for in A Nightmare on Elm
Street are the end credits and the hope that there's not a sequel.
A Nightmare on Elm Street's 1080p Blu-ray presentation looks nice enough but contains a few nagging problems that linger throughout the
movie and drag its overall score down several notches. On the plus side, the transfer appears nicely filmic, retaining a moderate layer of grain
throughout. There's no evidence of noise reduction, and detail holds up well, though both the picture's slightly soft texture and mostly dark
elements don't allow for eye-catching textures. Fortunately, detail is strong enough, as evidenced by the way the image handles the usual suspects --
facial detailing and clothes -- but also in the way it delivers on several more nuanced elements, such as accumulated raindrops on a glass door or the
texturing of carpet. Colors are muted and give way to a dark and slightly green-tinted image, but appear stable and true to the film's intended visual
scheme. Blacks are deep and accurate, but flesh tones capture a decidedly reddish tint. Aside from the bouts of softness, A Nightmare on Elm
Street's Blu-ray transfer is also home to semi-regular but very minor compression artifacts, as well as intermittent banding, the latter noticeable in
its heaviest state during a boiler room scene midway through the film. A Nightmare on Elm Street looks fine throughout, but it suffers through
a few problems that shouldn't be quite so readily evident on a fresh-from-theaters high definition release.
A Nightmare on Elm Street slashes onto Blu-ray with an impressive DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack. This is a very full and satisfying listen
that opens with creepy and well-implemented music that floats through the soundstage with a dreamlike quality and is punctuated by a hauntingly tight
and foreboding low end. The music feels spacious and threatens to engulf the listener in the terrifying dream world; it never plays too loudly but that
slight subtlety and delicate surround support seems just the perfect tone-setter for the movie. The surround channels come to life throughout and
deliver some heavier and more pronounced discrete effects, including the obligatory thunder and rain that drench the soundstage and send
several shaking blasts into the living room. When a character is sent bouncing off of her bedroom walls, the thud with each hit is perfectly reproduced.
Slighter but no less effective sounds also find their way into the mix; creaky attic floorboards or the din of a bustling high school hallway are nicely and
realistically realized. Dialogue is fine, save for Freddy's voice which often sounds detached from the rest of the track and always seems like an element
taken from another soundtrack and plopped into this one. Otherwise, this track delivers a full-powered sonic assault that makes excellent use of the
entire 5.1 configuration in the way it maneuvers sound around the soundstage while also ensuring that pinpoint effects placement and a few audible
surprises support the film in a way that makes this the disc's best asset.
A Nightmare on Elm Street features an honest assortment of extra goodies. First up is WB Maniacal Movie Mode, another of Warner's
exemplary supplements that chronicles the making of the movie through a picture-in-picture window. This is an extensive supplement that runs the
same length as the film and with only the
occasional gap. It features the filmmakers and cast candidly discussing their thoughts on the picture, including the inspiration of the original and the
effect it had on their lives, swapped scenes, Freddy's appearance and the mixture of practical and digital effects, set construction, special effects
artistry
and the replication of the original film's key visuals, costume choices, editing decisions and pacing issues, and plenty more. The passion for the film
and the
material is evident; it's too bad the end result wasn't as strong as it should have been, but regardless, one can't help but find some appreciation for
the
film and the filmmakers after watching this extra. It's very well put together and much more fascinating than the movie itself; viewers are
encouraged
to check it out.
Also included are several brief Focus Points (1080p): Makeup Makes the Character (3:34),
Micronaps (2:38), The Hat (2:31), Practical Fire (2:32), The Sweater (2:20), The Glove (2:24), and The
Victims (3:51). Next is Freddy Krueger Reborn (1080p, 13:54), a piece that looks at the icon that is Freddy Krueger; the differences
between this
remake and the original; the dark nature of this picture; casting Jackie Earle Haley; designing the characters' costume, weapon, and makeup; and
framing and lighting the character in the movie. Also included is BD-Live functionality, an alternate opening (1080p, 1:11), a deleted scene (1080p,
0:58), and an alternate ending (1080p, 6:12). Disc two features both DVD and digital copies of the film. The latter, sampled on a fourth-generation
iPhone, delivers a stable image that features strong details and a color scheme that's balanced and nicely reflective of the picture's intentionally dark
visuals.
Compression artifacts are visible but not overwhelming. The soundtrack is crunchy and lacks definition; dialogue is choppy and muffled while sound
effects and music play as a bit tinny but are nicely spaced between the two small headphone channels.
A Nightmare on Elm Street is arguably one of the worst studio films of 2010 and easily the least of all the recent 1980s Horror icon remakes.
The
picture never finds a flow, instead playing as little more than a string of scenes copycatting the original and assembled in such a manner that they
construct the flimsiest of plots that manage to get across that Krueger haunts dreams and kills teenagers but offers little else of substance. The picture
attempts to create a backstory
for both murder and victims that go back several years, but it falls by the wayside thanks to shoddy filmmaking, an absence of cohesion, poor acting, a
generic script, and lazy direction. Even the film's gloomy atmosphere only screams out "cliché" and fails to add any sense of creepiness or urgency to
the picture. Worst of all is the new but certainly not improved Freddy Krueger. A remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street should have been good;
this
movie isn't. Warner Brothers' Blu-ray release of A Nightmare on Elm Street features a good at-a-glance but nevertheless somewhat problematic
1080p
transfer, a high quality lossless soundtrack, and a decent enough selection of extras. Horror fans will at least want to rent; the temptation to see the
movie is too much to resist, but chances are hardcore genre fans, admirers of the original, and casual viewers alike will all leave this movie
disappointed.
A Nightmare on Elm Street: Other Editions
1-disc
Blu-ray bundles with A Nightmare on Elm Street (1 bundle)
One, two, Freddy's coming for you. Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has officially announced the wide Blu-ray release of the five-disc, seven-film A Nightmare on Elm Street Collection, currently available as a Best Buy exclusive and from third party sellers. Freddy ...
Warner Home Video has announced that it will release the New Line production A Nightmare on Elm Street on Blu-ray on October 5, in a BD/DVD/digital copy combo pack. The BD of this remake of the Wes Craven horror classic will exclusively include WB's Maximum Movie ...
A Nightmare on Elm Street Blu-ray, Forum Discussions
