Bad dreams

Director: Samuel Bayer
Starring: Jackie Earle Haley, Rooney Mara, Kyle Gallner, Katie Cassidy

The teenagers of Springwood are living in fear. A strange, burned man with knives for fingers is killing them in their dreams. Unsurprisingly, no one wants to go to sleep.

Nancy (Mara) teams up with Quentin (Gallner) to try and get to the bottom of the disturbing mystery, learning that the man who haunts their dreams is called Freddy Krueger, and he has a connection to each of their pasts. If they can stay awake, Nancy and Quentin have to figure out how to stop this nightmarish murderer.

Wes Craven's original film was a landmark moment in horror and one of the most original and thought-provoking concepts to hit the slasher genre.

Unfortunately, this remake comes across as a cynical, calculated venture by corporate Hollywood and the results are both tired and predictable.

Visually obvious transitions between reality and the ‘dream world’ ruin any chance of surprise, while the new Freddy is nowhere near as threatening as Robert Englund’s classic character.

It’s all been seen and done better before. Perhaps Freddy is dead after all.

Genre: Fantasy | Horror | Thriller
Age Restriction: Rated R
Runtime: 95 min