Wes Craven's New Nightmare
You know that thing when people say a movie is ahead of its time (™ & © Heather Wixson)? This is the kind of movie they're talking about. While it's not completely successful, this meta exercise in terror really does have a fresh, exciting idea at its core, an idea that I would love to see other franchises tackle as well.
It seems Hollywood has had enough of cranking out Nightmare On Elm Street movies, and when they stop it awakens something evil that torments Heather Langenkamp (star of the original and third Nightmare) and her family. I really love the concept and the way Craven blends the "real" world with the movie world. The last act is a bit problematic for me as it devolves into more of a typical Nightmare movie, but even in that it's still head and shoulders above most of the other entries in the series. Also, while I understand the need to separate the "real" Freddy from the movie Freddy, I'm not a huge fan of Nightmare veteran David Miller's make-up in this one. I like the muted color palette (goofy green hat aside) and even the robo-claw but the overall look is very plastic-y and overdesigned so it makes it difficult to buy Freddy as a real-world threat. Those are just nitpicks, really. It's a clever movie that's definitely worth a look, especially for fans who grew tired of "funny" Freddy.
I wish more franchises would take chances like this and think outside the bun when they're on their seventh entry or so, but alas this made about $30 in theaters ($7 of them mine, I'm proud to say) so it was not to be. Too bad.
No comments:
Post a Comment