35
Metascore
25 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 67Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanIt's not every day that one of our rogues' gallery of iconic psycho killers gets to be played by a creepy and fascinating actor -- in this case, Jackie Earle Haley taking on the role of Freddy Krueger.
- 50Orlando SentinelRoger MooreOrlando SentinelRoger MooreJackie Earle Haley, the fans' choice to take on the role of Freddy Krueger in the remake of the 1984 boogeyman blockbuster A Nightmare on Elm Street proves stunningly, rousingly…adequate…for the job.
- 50Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsChicago TribuneMichael PhillipsBy today's standards, it is only medium-bloody, though it's more than usually grim, its young protagonists sullen enough to qualify for the "Twilight" movies. Yet it affords precious little sadistic pleasure, partly because it "dares" to lay out more directly the pedophiliac demons plaguing Freddy the serial killer.
- 50Miami HeraldRene RodriguezMiami HeraldRene RodriguezFreddy simply isn't as scary as he used to be, even though Jackie Earle Haley, taking over from Robert Englund in the role, plays Krueger essentially straight, keeping the one-liners to a minimum.
- 40Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzArizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzCall it what you want, but the best word to describe it is: unnecessary.
- 30The Hollywood ReporterMichael RechtshaffenThe Hollywood ReporterMichael RechtshaffenThe back-to-the-beginning approach unimaginatively goes through the motions, offering scant justification for its boring existence, at least from an artistic point of view.
- 30VarietyDennis HarveyVarietyDennis HarveyWhile the 1984 film has aged, its now-familiar jolts still pack more punch than this pic's recycled ones, which sometimes register so tepidly as to cause snickers.
- 25Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertI stared at A Nightmare on Elm Street with weary resignation. The movie consists of a series of teenagers who are introduced, haunted by nightmares and then slashed to death by Freddy. So what? Are we supposed to be scared?
- 25The A.V. ClubKeith PhippsThe A.V. ClubKeith PhippsDirector Samuel Bayer, a veteran commercial and music video director responsible for Nirvana’s “Smell Like Teen Spirit Video” back when the original Nightmare series was still a going concern, brings a slick visual sense but not a hint of vision.
- 20Chicago ReaderJ.R. JonesChicago ReaderJ.R. JonesUsing blasts of shrill, high-decibel noise in place of actual scares has become a common horror-movie tactic, the cinematic equivalent of botox, silicone, and penile-enhancement surgery. Producer Michael Bay and director Samuel Bayer deploy the tactic so regularly in this remake of Wes Craven's 1984 classic that after a while I just plugged my ears.