New Nightmare on Elm Street

Well, I saw the new movie, as I promised. I liked the movie. I'm sad to see it getting such a low rating on Rotten Tomatoes, as I had a good time with it. I suppose people just can't help but front load their expectations for such a surreal film franchise. When a movie could have any imagery in it, you can't help but build up your anticipation for it to be something specific you'd like to see. And you get disappointed when you don't get it.

The fact is the movie does a good job of making Freddy the protagonist, even though he is a shadow most of the time. The trade-off is that it makes a poor job of making any of the victims a protagonist. This seems like a flaw, but when you you step back, it becomes obvious that the MONSTER is the main character in a monster movie. Making a key victim or everyday-hero the protagonist is always unsatisfying in some way. We've just been taught that such structuring is appropriate.

In conclusion, I liked the movie. I don't think is surpassed the original or some of the better Freddies, but I enjoyed it and chalk it up to one of the better slashers I've seen.

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