A Nightmare on Elm Street **

What a creepy little critter we have here! A film based on a paedophile haunting beautiful teenager's dreams because he molested them when they were 5?! Now that is what a horror film is made of. Sadly, the acting and the general theme of the film was so cheesy you couldn't take it seriously at all. The entertainment does run solidly throughout however!

If we take this is a serious horror, it holds all the elements you'd expect; a horrible murderer, gore and a few jumpy scenes in the dark. But the fact that this is so stereotypical of the genre means it becomes more comedy than shocking. It's not necessarily a bad thing, considering you are kept wondering what line will be said next by the horrible character of Freddy Krueger (played by Jackie Earle Haley). A personal favourite of mine is a scene in which a poor girl is subject to his abuse, swimming in blood and he claims "How's that for a wet dream?" When you see the film in this light, if you interpret it as a form of easy, Hollywood mainstream entertainment it's perfect!

The cinematography isn't anything to blow you away. It just steadily moves you on whilst holding quite a shocking theme running throughout - That being the killer favours children. And because this is a running feature, the kids playing their roles are genuinely quite creepy. But this is by no means a classic in terms of horrors, the original is. However, the dream sequences were done very well. You really believed they were dreaming with the switching of settings and mise-en-scene.

I do have to mention, the acting is pretty awful. They were cast on looks, not acting ability. You're never moved by their comments or feel any connection to them whatsoever. And this goes for the whole film in general. Nothing really comes across as shocking apart from the idea of it. And as for Freddy, he's more of a comedian than anything else with his exaggerated voice, claw like movements and sexual advances. (Please don't slash me in my sleep)

Anyone who dislikes remakes will not like this. It has beautiful teens running from a scary man. Overall, see it if you want something a little stupid and nothing too thought provoking. It's not very scary, you just have to take it as laugh.

P.s. I LOVED this film because its a proper silly horror, but it's not a good film at all.