A Nightmare on Elm Street
A reboot of the horror franchise featuring Freddy Krueger (Jackie Earle Haley), the twisted burned pedofile who wears a glove made of knives and hunts high school teens in their dreams takes to the theatres this weekend. In this go around, two classmates, Quentin Smith (Kyle Gallner) and Nancy Holbrook (Rooney Mara) are in a race against time to figure out what it is that Freddy is after, where he came from, and perhaps how he can be stopped. But can the two stay awake long enough to actually do away with Freddy? 
Now, first of all it should be noted that as remakes or reboots of classic horror flicks go, a lot is expected by fans of the genre to make things newer, scarier, and full of more suspense. Knowing this, sadly, it seems this offering just can’t pull it off. Sure there are a few paint by number scares, and there are plenty of nods to previous incarnations of Freddy which fans may or may not appreciate. And, to Haley’s credit, he certainly handles the role admirably as only the second actor to wear the glove and hat, it’s just unfortunate the material he’s given to work with just seems trite and under whelming. Appreciated though is a more developed backstory to Freddy’s character but it isn’t enough to make up for the short comings of the rest of the storyline which keeps drawing from the same well only to pull up stale water; what should be shrieks and laughs instead turn out to be snickers and sneers. Better luck next time. Maybe a rental later for the curious. A Nightmare on Elm Street is rated R.