Shane H. Weathers
Slasher remakes are rarely heralded as peak cinema. In a particularly fickle fandom, usually the best they can hope to achieve is a small cult following of people who enjoyed the new direction they took, such as with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Marcus Nispel, 2003), Black Christmas (Glen Morgan, 2006), Halloween (Rob Zombie, 2007), and Friday the 13th (Marcus Nispel, 2009). Most of the time, they are outright reviled and considered an affront to both the original film and to movies in general: Psycho (Gus Van Sant, 1998), Prom Night (Nelson McCormick, 2008), Sorority Row (Stewart Hendler, 2009), My Bloody Valentine 3D (Patrick Lussier, 2009), and Black Christmas (Sophia Takal, 2019). In the latter category for most loathed is Samuel Bayer’s A Nightmare on Elm Street, the 2010 remake of Wes Craven’s 1984 classic of the same name and the most recent, as of 2025, of the nine Elm Street films. Bayer’s version not only exists in the “reviled” slasher remake category but is often the first film mentioned. The film sits at a 14% on Rotten Tomatoes, the lowest of the nine Elm Street films, with the following consensus: “Visually faithful but lacking the depth and subversive twists that made the original so memorable, the Nightmare on Elm Street remake lives up to its title in the worst possible way” (see Rotten Tomatoes). Rankings of the Elm Street films, from media outlets as well as fans, have often felt the same, with the film at the bottom or the near bottom of the lists (see Entertainment Weekly, IndieWire, Collider, and Game Rant).
Upon the film’s original release in 2010, I recall enjoying it, if not outright loving it. Reflecting on this film fifteen years after its release as, still, a slasher fan but now also a scholar, I still can’t fully comprehend the vitriol aimed at this film. Let me preface this by saying that this remake is by no means the best that the ANOES series has to offer; it ranks fifth out of nine for me. But when compared to the several uninspired and lackluster sequels it followed, as well as several of the aforementioned remakes, it does not deserve to feature at the bottom of any rankings. While fans always remain free to have their own opinions of a film, in this anniversary retrospective, I offer a defense of the critical massacre of the film and an invite to horror fans to reevaluate it.
To begin with the bad: yes, the CGI is difficult to watch at times, especially in the new version of the iconic scene of Nancy (Rooney Mara) laying on her bed as Freddy Krueger (Jackie Earle Haley) appears through the wall. Kris’s (Katie Cassidy) death is needlessly comedic due to quick edits and an emphasis on sound design when she’s rolling around on the ceiling. The scene where Jesse (Thomas Dekker) leaves Nancy’s house following Kris’s death features an egregious edit where Jesse abruptly appears on Nancy’s front lawn; I even teach this scene during the editing lecture of my introductory film class as an example of what not to do. The film also certainly could have benefitted from a John Saxon-like character to serve as a foil to Mara’s Nancy.
However, aesthetically, the film also shows signs of genius throughout. The scene of Kris falling asleep in class and appearing in the dream world has elicited impressed gasps from every person I have shown it to.
The transition from the photo of the pre-school class to the flashback of the photo-taking is fantastic. The edits as Nancy backs away from Freddy, alternating between the pharmacy floor and the dream realm, does the best job in the entire franchise of highlighting the thin boundary between the two worlds. While the film may over-rely on jump scares, the overall horror of the film works most of the time. The video footage Nancy watches of Marcus Yeon’s (Aaron Yoo) death, in which he slowly falls asleep while recording a warning about Freddy on his laptop before his head slams into the camera is one of the better scares in the series. Alongside Gwen Holbrook’s (Connie Britton) death in the final moments (a presumed dead Freddy smashes through a mirror with his claws, piercing through her skull) and the death of Dean (Kellan Lutz) in the opening of the film (killed with a throat slit by Freddy in his dream, which is made to look like a suicide in front of Kris in the real world) before the cut to the title card, these kills are the most memorable of the film and are some of the better kills of the slasher remake cycle.
A common criticism of the film is that the performances feel sluggish. While there may be an element of truth to this, in the context of the film, it makes sense. The original film’s performances felt energetic and youthful in the best possible way, with Heather Langenkamp providing one of the most iconic slasher characters in cinema history. But in reality, what would teenage characters that have been beaten down by a dream demon and are terrified of falling asleep act like? Probably exactly like what we get from Rooney Mara, Katie Cassidy, Thomas Dekker, Kellan Lutz, and Kyle Gallner. This is not to say that they provide better performances than the 1984 film, which may not even be possible, but to say that the lethargic nature of the performances feels closer to character acting than bad acting. Are the characters as interesting? Not at all. But are they the worst horror characters ever? Nope. Are they the worst batch of Nightmare characters? Not even close. We may be taking for granted how special and extraordinary a film like A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) truly was and expect more than is needed to make a good slasher film, especially within the same series.
Speaking of comparisons to the original, Jackie Earle Haley does not try to be Robert Englund’s iconic Freddy Krueger; his Freddy is his own. While remakes always invite (unfair) comparisons, Haley provides his own spin on the character that has already been altered in the writing. Craven’s original version of the 1984 film featured Krueger not as a child killer but as a child molester, and Wesley Strick and Eric Heisserer’s script takes this angle, with the revelation coming after a mystery narrative that questioned Krueger’s guilt; the expectation that the audience may think him innocent admittedly strains belief simply because of how sexually aggressive Krueger is in the dreams prior to this reveal. I think (and many have agreed) the innocence twist could have made the film stand out more on its own. Yet for the narrative choices made, Haley’s performance feels creepier and darker – and while he still has the occasional one-liner, he delivers them with the sinister aplomb needed from the most personality-driven slasher villain.
Continuing with the narrative, the film does just enough to differentiate itself from the first film without feeling like it’s disregarding the original. The addition of the micro-naps is one of the more interesting slasher plot points of the 2000’s, and it added a new dimension to the series that certainly merits a follow-up in a future installment. The reason given for the parents keeping the truth about Freddy from the kids is much better in this version (the “parents didn’t want you to know they were vigilante killers even though you are all dying” feels very much like an 80s contrivance, while “we didn’t want you to remember the abuse you experienced” feels more legitimate). That being said, I take issue with the ease with which Quentin and Nancy find Freddy’s secret “cave” in the school after the parents said they could never find it; either the parents didn’t actually try or the filmmakers needed to increase the time spent on the teens’ search. Also, the final confrontation, while serviceable, isn’t anywhere near as thrilling as some other ANOES conclusions.
There’s a charm to the fact that the film knows it is a remake of a classic, accepts it, and provides a thoroughly entertaining and at times frightening film rather than pretentiously thinking that it could somehow improve on the original. To that point, the film does not stray as far from its source material as several of its contemporaries did. In the other two of the “Big Three” franchises, Rob Zombie’s Halloween is a complete reimagining, with only its second half even remotely resembling the original. Marcus Nispel’s Friday the 13th feels more like a Texas Chainsaw film than a Friday film, probably in part due to the fact that Nispel actually directed the TCM remake six year prior.
Whereas Halloween (2007) and Friday the 13th (2009) felt nothing like their predecessors in their lengthy franchises, A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) feels like what Craven’s film may have been had it been made twenty-six years later, a time much less kind to slasher films and certainly less full of great ones. When looked at through this lens, it’s much easier to realize that Bayer’s Nightmare remake is a good slasher film. Not better than the original, or even necessarily great; but good. With fifteen years having passed to reflect on the legacy of the 2010 film, it is certainly better than it has been given credit for, even if it is not as special as the original. But then again, what could be?
References
Bayer, Samuel. 2010. A Nightmare on Elm Street. Warner Bros. Pictures: Burbank.
Chapman, Wilson. “‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ Ranked, from ‘Wes Craven’s New Nightmare’ to ‘Dream Warriors’ and More.” IndieWire (October 26 2023).
Craven, Wes. A Nightmare on Elm Street. 1984. New Line Cinema: Burbank.
Foutch, Haleigh. “Every ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ Movie Ranked From Worst to Best.” Collider (January 20 2022).
Hendler, Stewart. 2009. Sorority Row. Summit Entertainment: Universal City.
Hogg, Connor. “Nightmare On Elm Street: Every Film, Ranked.” Game Rant (October 29 2024).
Lussier, Patrick. 2009. My Bloody Valentine 3D. Lionsgate: Santa Monica.
McCormick, Nelson. 2008. Prom Night. Sony Pictures Releasing: Culver City.
Morgan, Glen. 2006. Black Christmas. Dimension Films: New York City.
Nispel, Marcus. 2003. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. New Line Cinema: Burbank.
—. 2009. Friday the 13th. New Line Cinema: Burbank.
Rotten Tomatoes. “A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010).” RottenTomatoes.com.
Simpson, Michael Lee. “Every A Nightmare on Elm Street movie, ranked from worst to best.” Entertainment Weekly (October 22 2024).
Takal, Sophia. 2019. Black Christmas. Universal Pictures: Universal City.
Van Sant, Gus. 1998. Psycho. Universal Pictures: Universal City.
Zombie, Rob. 2007. Halloween. Dimension Films: New York City.
Related: Talking Nightmare on Elm Street 1 & 3.
Shane H Weathers is a third-year doctoral candidate in American Culture Studies at Bowling Green State University. He specializes in genre theory and film series studies. He has previously published on the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the James Bond series and has forthcoming chapters on Rocky, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Russell Crowe’s performances in possession films. Shane is also the editor of a forthcoming collection of essays on the Texas Chainsaw Massacre series with McFarland & Company and is the book review editor for the Journal of Film and Video.
