The quote above comes from Jackie Earle Haley, who will terrorize the nightmares of teens as Freddy Krueger in director Samuel Bayer's remake of the classic Wes Craven horror flick, "A Nightmare on Elm Street." It is a role that was previously brought to life by Robert Englund, who chews scenery with the best.
"You know, I think my Freddy is just a bit more serious," Haley told MTV's Vanessa White Wolf during an on-set interview. As fans well know, later versions of Englund's take on Krueger skewed heavily towards slapstick horror as opposed to overt creepiness.
From the sound of things, the "Nightmare" remake will take horror back to its roots. Which isn't to say that Freddy the jokester will be absent if the rebooted series continues forward. "He's not much of a comedian," Haley said. "But I'm working on my tap dancing lessons, just in case they do a sequel."
A more serious Freddy isn't necessarily cause for alarm. Craven's original is pure horror, and the visual of Krueger -- fedora, striped sweater, bladed glove -- is central to that. As we've all now seen in the trailer, Freddy's appearance is pretty faithful.
"It's really important for us, as we're re-envisioning this, that there's a good, strong sense of new and fresh but there's still some recognizability," Haley said of the adaptation's faithfulness. "I think a lot of what was in that first movie is also in this movie, in terms of the structure of it and how it plays out."
There's more of course. As we've all seen in the trailer, the origin of the monster gets a closer look. "We delve into Freddy's background a little bit more," Haley explained. "It's a very similar background to what we know about him, but... I think it's going to be a unique kind of homage to Wes's original film."
Are you excited for the "Elm Street" remake? Or would you rather have seen this one left alone?
Comments