A mysterious spy with the droll pseudonym of "Rod Lane" has gotten his grubby little hands on a copy of the script for Platinum Dunes controversial remake of the 1984 Wes Craven classic, A Nightmare on Elm Street. Mr. "Lane's" review appeared yesterday on the fan site NightmareonElmStreetMovie.com, and I have to say, it isn't very encouraging.You can check out the spoilerific review in its entirety here. But for the attention span-challenged, here's the essential breakdown:
- The characters are apparently stereotypically shallow teenage movie cliches.
- The movie is filled with lame, forced references to modern technology such as podcasts and blogging, smacking of out-of-touch screenwriters trying to connect with young viewers.
- The Tina/Rod relationship, and their eventual fates, is basically retained, although their names are changed.
- Nancy is now a loner goth chick.
- The story now revolves around Nancy and her boyfriend's quest to find out who Freddy is, and how to stop him.
- Along the way, there is a red herring subplot that suggests that Freddy may not be such a bad guy (a pointless endeavor, since we already know he is!!).
- The script is extremely bleak in tone, lacking not only the infamous wisecracking of the later sequels, but even the dark humor of the original.
- The Springwood parents' killing of Krueger is depicted as an accident.
The reviewer is far from impressed, and I must admit that his concerns give me pause as well. The main issue seems to be that the film is transformed needlessly into a mystery, with a pointless red herring subplot that only wastes time.
Thanks to Vault Dweller and fellow blogger Katiebabs for bringing this tidbit to my attention.
**UPDATE** Not long after posting this news, I received a message from Brad Miska of Bloody-Disgusting informing me that, thankfully, the script reviewed here is NOT the final one. In other words, changes have been made--and hopefully for the better!