Hey Whargarblers. You normally see a single writer doing movie reviews. Well today is a little bit different. This time I have the privilege of writing with Michelle Alexandria of Eclipse Magazine and we will be reviewing A Nightmare On Elm Street. I want to thank Michelle for doing this co-review with WhargarblTV.

Michelle, what are you thoughts on the movie?

M.A: Nightmare on Elm Street isn’t a horrible movie, but it’s a film that’s incredibly bland, unimaginative and you can’t help but watch and wonder, why? It’s slow, tedious, and kind of pretentious. All the talk about it really focusing on Freddy’s back-story was a lie. I kept waiting for something that would be materially different than the original and it never really happens

A.F: I myself thought it was a decent movie. It was definitely a different film from the previous elm street movies and had its own tone/feel to it. But of course I have to agree with Michelle that the movie did run slow at times and felt the pacing could have been a little bit quicker.

A.F:  With that said, how do you think Jackie Earle Haley portrayed Freddy?

M.A: I don’t have much to say about Jackie Earle Haley’s performance. I like my Freddy to have some personality, he didn’t and the makeup looked a bit fake and too “clean” to me. His bit with the clinking knives as he walked didn’t feel right. Kind of neat the first two times he did it, by the 4th and 5th, it was old. It seemed like the director realized he sucked the life out of Freddy so towards the end of the movie we start getting “jokes,” but they all fell flat, and came too late. Also it seemed like Jackie didn’t know what to do with the part. He was way too serious and when he finally spoke it was terrible. Just this weird growl.

A.F: Jackie was playing a totally different Fred Kruger. His character was more serious and I believe Jackie made this no secret at all. I think a lot of the hard-core N.O.E.S fans were expecting to see the exact same Freddy and that’s partly the reason why people aren’t liking the movie. I think the director was focusing on making Freddy more creepy and serious whereas the previous Freddy had witty comments. I myself am still trying to adjust to this different Freddy but I think his character can be worked with more.

A.F: What are your thoughts on the characters?

M.A: The movie didn’t bother to set up any of the characters or create a friendship amongst the kids and there is absolutely no chemistry or much interplay amongst the cast so when they finally got put out of their misery I just didn’t care.

A.F: I have to agree with Michelle. There wasn’t much interplay and the audience doesn’t see much of a solid relationship between the characters. After a character was killed, it was tough to feel sorry for them.

A.F: What did you think of the special effects?

M.A: The special effects in this were boring, bland and unimaginative

A.F: I felt the same way about the special effects and wasn’t that impressed.

A.F: Do you think this movie was worth seeing or a waste of time?

M.A: Waste of time, it may be ok on Blu-ray but I doubt it.

A.F: Do you have any final comments on the movie?

M.A: The problem with most remakes is that they are forced to justify their existence as being something that’s necessary and beyond being cheap money grabs from a sometimes creatively bankrupt studio system. I know I sound harsh; I could have liked this movie if it didn’t have the legacy to live up to. The sets, story, everything is competent enough but it fails to answer the question remakes must answer, “Why do I exist?” When you have much better stuff that people aren’t supporting like Kick Ass, The Losers, or even How to Train A Dragon (which is having no issues at the box office), why waste money on this?

A.F: This remake of N.O.E.S wasn’t the greatest; it could’ve been better. There were some repeats of the same scenes from the original N.O.E.S and some different scenes as well. Overall though, I was bored with what I saw; it was a decent movie but I wasn’t very entertained. If you haven’t seen this movie yet, I wouldn’t waste my time and money

A.F: I want to thank Michelle again for doing this co-review with WhargarblTV and please check out her website: http://eclipsemagazine.com/ I hope we’re able to do more  co-reviews in the future.

Keep checking back with the website Whargarblers for other postings….till next time!