Fast forward about 6 years, and I'm a preteen who's as nerdy as they get. So what do I do on my Friday nights? I go to the grocery with my mom, and then I proceed to sneak out to the video store next door (I miss Finklea's and video stores in general), and take advantage of their "FIVE MOVIES, FIVE NIGHTS, FIVE DOLLARS" deal. I'm pretty sure I rented the Nightmares enough to have owned the myself.
But I digress. It's been about 20 years now that I've devoured every and anything Nightmare related that I have been able to digest. I even stood by the Bayer '10 remake ... until I saw it and realized what a complete and utter waste that was. Rooney Mara can fuck off.
Now, here we Elm Street residents are, and a new reboot of the franchise has been jump started. The only bits that have been made public - and are probably what is only standing for the film - is that Orphan, Clash of the Titans, and contributor of a few Walking Dead eps writer David Leslie Johnson is penning the first script of what will probably be a dozen scripts. I love Orphan, and one of the eps that he wrote for WD was 'Chupacabra' where Daryl has to face some demons in order to be put in a right mindset. That episode always sticks out as one of the best when I think back on the series up to this point. Johnson's also been tapped to write the sequel to The Conjuring so this guy has to have a somewhat genuine grasp on the genre, at least. But what about on what makes a Nightmare film tick? Is he a lifelong fan of the series? What's he stance on writing it?
Many blogs and websites have overflown with suggestions, ideas, and ONLY ROBERT's since the announcement a few weeks ago. Every fan and person who thinks they're a fan has at least one suggestion on how things can be improved with this reimagination. Ha, even bloody-disgusting.com has a feature where one of their writers is in support of a female Freddy, and he stands by it wholeheartedly. I love imagination and reinvention but ....
Okay, so here I am, blogging for the first time in forever because the little boiler room in my heart began to light up. I'm going to become one of those people and put out into the internet what I think would make the film work.
* This is heartbreaking, and most of the fan reaction does not seem to come to terms with this, but about 98% of me has. Robert Englund will most likely not be returning as Freddy. He's stated numerous times that he is too old. He has teased fans oh so much with the 2 con appearances he's done appearing in Freddy makeup for photo ops, but aside from that, he seems pretty settled in never doning the latex again for film. The genius (which I mean in full literal of the term because his creation of Freddy is certified genuis) is 68 years old now. I'd imagine portraying Freddy again takes a lot of energy both physically and creatively and whole lot more -ly's.
But what if? What if the right amount of money spoke? Wait, I want to put it in a sense where it doesn't seem like Englund is just looking for money. What if the right amount of fan support? What if the horror gods put their hand down? What is some chord within Englund was struck, and he did decide to be Freddy again? Imagine the response. It would be like some a second coming. But it's pessimism time. If the film did well and warranted a sequel, would Englund really go for it a second time? Wouldn't the execs just go ahead and replace him with another actor? Wouldn't that lower the appeal? Yeah, it would.
* One of the things that really affected the impact that Freddy did not have in the remake was his appearance. The glove was right. The fedora was right. I would even go as far to say that Haley was almost right. What was not right was the makeup or lack thereof. In an interview done by John Squires from ihorror.com with makeup artist Bart J. Mixon, Mixon stated that the digital effects guys altered his final look for Freddy.
With this being a recalibration, reboot, remake, rewhathaveyou, Freddy doesn't have to look like the Freddy we all grew up with, but he should somewhat look menacing and relative. CGI is obvious, and it was blatantly obvious on '10's Freddy. Why not something completely organic and CGI free?
* It's been stated by many that aside from Freddy himself, people look forward to the insane dreamscapes that can be created within the Nightmare universe. Here's where a few dobs of CGI wouldn't hurt. Not rampant CGI, mind you. Look at the Roach Motel scene in Dream Master. That scene was primarily done with nondigital effects, and for me, it still holds up to this day.
This was another problem with the remake. There were no truly inventive nightmares. They had the opportunity to go balls to the wall, and instead we just got dullness. There is so much that can be done.
* The Halloween franchise is doing it. The TCM franchise is doing it. The new F13 franchise may do it. Hell, we're getting a sequel to Beetlejuice that is doing it. These films are going back to the original franchise's storyline, and they're adding more lore to it. Why can't Nightmare do this? I know the simple answer to this question is probably "But today's younger audience wouldn't understand this and that and who and where." But humor us! You can still give us a new group of teenagers, but you could also give us the characters that we've come to love. The house that we enjoy being inside.
There's still so much more that I could say on the topic, but for now, I'll just let the rest of the internet continue to do it. No matter what is done with the project, I will be there on opening night sucking it all in.
iHorror: Exclusive : Elm Street Makeup Artist Talks What Went Wrong With Remake Freddy
Bloody-Disgusting: 'A Nightmare On Elm Street' Is Getting Remade ... Again
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