It feels so good to NEVER SLEEP AGAIN

Unlike other horror blogs, I did not receive a promotional copy of Never Sleep Again, the new Nightmare on Elm Street retrospective documentary from 1428 Films. No, I went online and ordered my own copy of the film, which after shipping and conversion to Canadian currency turned out to be an expensive purchase. Thankfully, Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy is worth every single cent. Clocking in at over two hours of content for just the first disc, this documentary is the literal definition of bang for your buck.

Hands down, Never Sleep Again is the most comprehensive, heart-felt, funny, and honest look at a horror film franchise ever released. And we need more films like this. Too often we become complacent with the truncated and shallow "making of" featurettes on DVDs or the pithy retrospective documentaries that accompany some "special edition" sets of influential horror and other genre franchises. Most often, these are after-the-fact promotional pieces that recycle the same old anecdotes we've heard again and again about the making of the films in question. Never Sleep Again, however, takes a running leap over these pitfalls and delivers what is truly the definitive look back at each Nightmare on Elm Street film (barring the recent remake), the Freddy's Nightmares TV series, and Freddy Kreuger's impact on popular culture.

Told through interviews with the major players in the film franchise (such as Wes Crave, Heather Langenkamp -- who is also executive producer -- and Robert Englund), the documentary also generates much of its charm through interview segments with the bit players in the series such as Ira Heiden (the Dungeon Master Wizard from Dream Warriors) and Leslie Hoffman (the Hall monitor in A Nightmare on Elm Street).

One highlight of the documentary is the look back at Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge. Several of the the writers, actors, and crew members profess to have had no intentions of making that film so full of homosexual themes, yet they are openly bemused by how every artistic decision they did make seemed engineered to take that gay subtext and make it pure text. Another highly entertaining part of the documentary is its coverage of Nightmare on Elm Street 4: Dream Master and the struggles and controversies between director Renny Harlan, his cast, and New Line producer Robert Shaye.

Most amazing of all, Never Sleep Again is not a documentary produced by New Line / Warner Bros. Entertainment. It's directed by Daniel Farrands and Andrew Kasch and distributed through CAV. On the one hand, this means you're not going to hear a lot of the licensed music from the Nightmare films or see an excessive number of clips from the film series. On the other hand, this gives the film freedom to be more fresh and inventive (as with its stop-motion opening and bumper sequences) and rely more on the interviews and behind-the-scenes footage and stills to tell the story of New Line cinema and its gamble on a little film called A Nightmare on Elm Street that would become a pop-culture sensation.

Finally, and most refreshing of all, this documentary's independence from New Line / Warner Bros. Entertainment means it has more freedom to offer critical or dissenting views about the franchise. While the documentary is clearly made with a love for the series, this is no puff-piece. Numerous writers, directors, and actors talk openly about the problems they had with the series or with the work of others in the series. Never Sleep Again does not shy away from the fact that many of these films began with incomplete scripts and no pretense on an executive level to make something artistic or meaningful (a beef Wes Craven has with every film in the series but his own).

Every installment in the series gets its fair share of exposure. Perfect to watch in installments or to sit down and watch all in one go, Never Sleep Again is a beautiful summary of the series's ups and downs.

If the new Nightmare on Elm Street remake (review) left a sour taste in your mouth, Never Sleep Again will clear the palate and remind you of what is so endearing and enduring about the nightmares Freddy gives us.

Buy Never Sleep Again: www.elmstreetlegacy.com

SCREAMWAVE #2

The screams keep on rolling when Aaron and Kris delve into their night terrors for a review of A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010). Then they go to "Earth and Beyond" in search of the truth behind the Myakka Skunk Ape photos.

DIRECT DOWNLOAD (49:30)
SUBSCRIBE on iTUNES

Original music by Nathan Fleet (www.nathanfleet.com)

Show Notes
Horror in the Hammer
Loren Coleman: Myakka Skunk Ape Photos
Bigfootencounters: Tracking Myakka's Wily Skunk Ape (Hoax)
Cryptomundo
The Zed Word: Zombie Blog
Monster Chiller Horror Theatre
Kristopher’s Portfolio

A Nightmare on Elm Street - 2010 (Review)

A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) 
Director: Samuel Bayer

If Freddy Krueger were real, he'd kill a majority of the people who see the remake of Nightmare on Elm Street.

He wouldn't kill them because he's angry that the remake is uninspired and unimaginative (although it is). He wouldn't kill them because the actors are flat and mopey (although they are). He wouldn't kill them because the film  rips off iconic visuals and scenes from the original movie while simultaneously sucking all the dread and surreal dream-like qualities out of them (which it does). No, Freddy would slaughter people attending A Nightmare on Elm Street 2010 because most of them are going to be asleep.

A Nightmare on Elm Street is a tired and unsuspenseful collection of jump-scares stuck together by melodramatic acting from lifeless characters. Except for Jackie Earle Haley as Krueger, who turns in a truly unnerving performance as a supernatural child rapist, this remake is more of a sedative than a a nightmare jolting you out of your seat.

SYNOPSIS

After the apparent suicide of one of their classmates, high-schoolers Kris (Katie Cassidy), Jesse (Thomas Dekker), Nancy (Rooney Mara), and Quentin (Kyle Gallner) discover they are all having dreams in which they are being tormented by a mysterious burned man wielding a menacing bladed glove. Also, they soon realize, if they die in their dreams then they die in reality. With time running out, they begin to uncover the mystery of the dream-world killer's identity by following the clues left in their dreams -- clues that suggest these teens share a forgotten childhood past being covered up by their parents.


Rating: 1.5 / 5 Blonde Yawns

I'm fairly unforgiving of remakes. If you are going to remake a film and an iconic character that still hold up today (the original Nightmare is still an effective and atmospheric film), you better be prepared to bring something new, fresh, and inventive to the remake. The new A Nightmare on Elm Street fails at almost every chance to be fresh and new. Whole sequences and scenes are ripped off from the original film whereas the new dream-world visuals (a bedroom covered in snow and a burned out class room) are pretty unremarkable.

 

This dazed expression is pretty much the look Nancy

wears for the entire movie, regardless of the situation

The film is also riddled with structural and script problems. We begin the film focused on Kris (played by Supernatural's Katie Cassidy). Cassidy's a decent actress, and it's her character who we identify with and follow. She witnesses the first death of the film and suspects it's more than suicide, so she begins to make connections between her dreams and clues that she and her classmates share a common past with Krueger that they do not remember. But, if you've seen the trailers or any of the promotional stills, you know she's brutally murdered in her sleep ala Tina's death in the original Nightmare. The first half-hour of the film suggests the movie's going to be Kris's story, but then the film shifts focus to Nancy (who has so far been little more than a side-character). Played by Rooney Mara, Nancy is flat, mopey, and completely bland. Unfortunately, she and Quentin, her puffy-eyed emo love interest, become our main characters for the rest of the film. Perhaps this wouldn't be so bad with a better script, but the dialogue is exceptionally flat and tedious. Lots of exposition. Lots of repetition. No flare of wit or endearing sincerity. Bor-ing. The film takes itself way too seriously without the acting chops and atmosphere to back it up.

"Aaaaaaah! I dreamed I gave up working on Supernatural for
the role in an uncharismatic remake. Oh shit."

IS IT SHOCKING?

The only light in this tepid remake is the disturbing performance by Jackie Earle Haley as Freddy Krueger. Before we talk about Haley's successes, however, I need to explain that for the majority of the film he's not really allowed to shine as brightly as I think he could. You see, for the majority of the film's running time, Krueger is used as a simple jump-scare monster. Krueger can appear at any time and in any place while the teens are "awake" because the film introduces the plot device of "micro-naps." Essentially, the idea is that the longer the kids stay awake, the more often their brains will fall into "micro-naps" -- a state of waking sleep -- in an attempt to recharge the brain. Therefore, like a Japanese ghost from something out of The Grudge, Freddy is then used as a device to deliver about a bazillion lame jump-scares.

Eventually, however, we get some prolonged exposure to Freddy in the third act as he torments Nancy in the dream world. And he is FUCKING CREEPY. In the original films, it was suggested that Freddy was a child rapist, but there's not avoiding this fact in the remake. Freddy is presented in an incredibly sexual and leering manner. He's sadistic, cruel, and menacing. He still finds time to crack some dry quips, but the real shocking part of this movie is how far the filmmakers pushed Freddy as a sick, heavy-breathing pedophile. This, and only this, really makes the film worth seeing. Freddy has never so effectively made me fear the touch of his blade.

Not even Chris Hansen can protect you from this predator

Avoid A Nightmare on Elm Street in the theaters. It will be on DVD soon enough. I can justify seeing Haley's performance on DVD, but the idea of spending $12-$20 to see this boring mess in the theater is the real nightmare. Don't make the same mistake I did!

Let the Right Remake In

This article originally appeared in the December-January 2010 issue of the zine Scream Scene, but as we move closer to the release of the high-profile Nightmare on Elm Street remake, I thought I'd repost it to explain how I feel about horror remakes

As I settled in with a few beers to write an opinion article for this issue of Scream Scene, I learned that the American remake of the brilliant and beautiful Swedish vampire film Let the Right One In had just gone into production. Entitled Let Me In, the American remake of Let the Right One In moves the location from Sweden to America. According to the filmmakers, the movie will “forge a unique identity for Let Me In, placing it firmly in an American context.” In other words, they are going to dumb it down and play to the lowest common denominator as usual. Just look at what Rob Zombie did to Halloween.

I was so pissed off at the thought of what an American version of Let the Right One In might look like that I couldn’t bring myself to write anything that wasn’t a beer-fueled tirade. So, to take my mind off the infuriating number of horror remakes coming out of Hollywood, I went riffling through my DVD collection to find a good and original movie to watch. As a result, I came upon one of my favorite movies of all time: The Fly. David Cronenberg’s The Fly. The Fly remake.

It was then that I realized that, at my core, I am a blustering hypocrite when it comes to remakes. For all the spite I throw at horror remakes, some of my favorite sci-fi / horror films are remakes. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), The Thing (1982), The Blob (1988), Night of the Living Dead (1990), Dawn of the Dead (2008)—I consider all of these films to be good or great movies. So what does this mean? Am I actually in favor of remakes?

Let’s be clear: I still don’t like the idea of remakes. Worse than sequels, remakes are often cash grabs that allow major studios to recycle ideas, plots, and characters with little originality or innovation. Often times, such as with the upcoming Hellraiser and Nightmare on Elm Street remakes, the original films still stand the test of time and don’t require a remake, reboot, or “reimagining.” Thankfully, when the remakes of high-caliber films turn out to suck, at least the original films are still accessible to the public. The same cannot be said for foreign-language films remade in North America. For example, Spanish-language horror film REC was remade into Quarantine in 2008. Quarantine’s characters, plot, pacing, and even sets were almost exactly the same as those in REC, yet the remake failed to replicate the original’s charm. Sony could have just released REC to the public if they weren’t afraid audiences would be turned off by subtitles. Therefore, not only does Quarantine get to make bank off the story and characters from the original film while assuming an American audience needs a “dumbed down” story, the original writers Jaume Balagueró, Luis Berdejo, and Paco Plaza remain virtual unknowns. REC was released by Sony several months after Quarantine hit DVD, but the REC DVD was released to little promotional fanfare.

I have a significant beef with remakes, yet I’ve come to realize that as much as I hate the idea of remakes it’s not fair to attack remakes themselves until they’re released. While the majority of remakes have been tepid and shallow, every remake has the potential to be another The Fly or The Thing. Despite every instinct I have otherwise, Let Me In may turn out to be an even more dazzling and beautiful take on the vampire genre than the original Let the Right One In.

Regardless, there are three things fans can do to offset the effect of terrible remakes.

1.) Don’t go see every horror remake that comes out. If you do, you help fuel the remake hype machine with your dollars. Even if you’re disappointed upon leaving the theatre, you’ve helped turn a shitty movie into “The #1 Movie in Canada” for a weekend. Wait to hear some word of mouth before you fork over your hard-earned cash.

2.) Support independent and foreign horror. At the same time as I caution you against indiscriminate consumption of horror remakes, do not be content with Hollywood’s attempt to sell you stuff you’ve seen before. If you want to take a risk, take a risk on something foreign and independent when you go to the video store. There are a host of great independent features and foreign films that deserve to be seen. Even if you don’t like the films, at least you’re rewarding originality

3.) See the originals. Whether you like or dislike a remake, take the time to seek out the original film. It may be old, it may be foreign, or it may be independent, but if a remake was intriguing enough to get your butt into the theatre or to get a DVD into your player, seek out the original film(s) .

In short, I’ve learned not to rage against specific remakes until I’ve seen them. I like too many horror remakes to say that all remakes suck.