Yes, I know what you’re thinking; another year, another  Hollywood slasher remake. A trend that started back in 2003 with the generation Y version of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, it definitely seems that Hollywood has run out of new things to explore in the genre,  instead just needlessly rehashing the classic films that helped to define the genre all those years ago. Really though, why bother?

Going into this remake of Wes Craven’s 1984 hit A Nightmare on Elm Street, I was thinking exactly that. In fact, I still am. But it could be worse; while director Samuel Bayer’s take is not exactly ground-breaking,  I was pleasantly surprised to find that there were still some fright-filled fun to be had in Freddy Kruger’s return to Elm Street.

Anybody who grew up in the 1980s or has an affinity for chills, frights and blood, lots and lots of blood, will be familiar with the storyline.  The film opens on a dark and rainy night, an obvious premonition for what is to come. In a diner is Dean (Kellan Lutz) who looks like he hasn’t slept for days (which we soon find out is indeed the case). He’s meeting Kris (Katie Cassidy), and tells her about a recurring nightmare he’s been having about being hunted by a man in a red and green striped jumper; a clawed glove on his hand. Also in the diner are mousey waitress and lonely high school student Nancy (Rooney Mara), and school jocks Quentin (Kyle Gallner) and Jesse (Thomas Dekker). Although nothing is made explicit, you get the feeling that they all know each other, and not simply because they go to the same school. It seems that they are united by something that they would prefer to forget, or more likely are all reluctant and embarrassed to admit to. One by one, they each begin being haunted in their dreams, and in their lives, by the same disfigured and burned man, Freddy Krueger (Jackie Earle Haley), and together make a pact not to fall asleep, in fear of being killed in their dreams. As the movie progresses and each teen is slowly killed off (each in a gorier and more spectacular way then the last), Nancy and Quentin start to remember something, or more importantly someone from their past; something that has been covered up by their parents (Clancy Brown and Connie Britton) that binds the teens together that has now returned for vengeance.

In his first outing as a feature film director, Bayer along with screenwriters Wesley Strick and Eric Heisserer provide enough information about the characters and storyline to steadily maintain our interest, making sure nothing is explicitly stated or revealed too soon. Not one really for heavily-laden flashback narratives, I was pleased that Bayer didn’t rely on this technique when revealing the ultimate motive of Krueger’s hauntings. This was another aspect of the narrative that was also unexpected in an otherwise undemanding film; the back story that connected the teenagers with Krueger, which is something few slasher films bother to explore.

As with all recent horror remakes, Elm Street is home to its own bevy of genetically blessed teens. Representing each cliché of Hollywood’s high school stereotypes, the film includes characters such as the pretty blonde, the artistic loner and the misunderstood jock. While many of the characters are not in the film long enough to fully wow us with their talent, though they do get ample opportunity to showcase their lung capacity, in their short screen times the young cast manage to give engaging, if not predictable, performances that actually makes this one of the better-acted slasher films in recent memory. I especially liked Kellan Lutz, (the Twilight movies), who in what is essentially a cameo performance (his role in the film is quite like Drew Barrymore’s in Scream) managed to surprisingly portray a psychologically tortured teenager, afraid and struggling to understand the meaning of his dreams.  Also performing well are Katie Cassidy (Taken, Melrose Place), whose ability to scream rivals that of original scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis, and Rooney Mara (Youth in Revolt), who transforms from a lonely introvert to the unlikely heroine of Elm Street (even though she doesn’t actually live there).  It takes a brave actor to resurrect one of the slasher genre’s greatest villains, and luckily for the audience, Jackie Earle Haley is that man. No stranger to playing creepy, socially ostracised characters (his Oscar nominated performance in Little Children is superb) Haley once again proves that he has the unmatched ability to bring humanity to every role he plays, and in the role of Krueger, manages to convey to the audience a monstrous man hell bent on revenge, all the while making us understand the motives behind his actions.

Ultimately, A Nightmare on Elm Street is a mildly entertaining, paint-by-numbers slasher film. Given that Freddy Krueger’s iconic visit to Elm Street is something we’re all familiar with, one must question why it needed retelling it in the first place. While I do give Bayer’s film credit for providing Krueger with a meatier back-story, the film never really wow’s the audience with something new. I must admit, there were times when I was on the edge of my seat, squirming at the amount of bloodshed on display. But once they were over, I was bored by the film’s lack of ambition, and much like the characters, had to fight to stay awake.