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''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' is a 2010 American
supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...
slasher film A slasher film is a genre of horror films involving a killer stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools like knife, chainsaw, scalpel, etc. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a ...
directed by Samuel Bayer (in his feature directorial debut), written by Wesley Strick and Eric Heisserer, and starring Jackie Earle Haley, Kyle Gallner,
Rooney Mara Patricia Rooney Mara ( ; born April 17, 1985) is an American actress. She has received various accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, ...
, Katie Cassidy, Thomas Dekker, and Kellan Lutz. Produced by
Michael Bay Michael Benjamin Bay (born February 17, 1965) is an American film director and producer. He is best known for making big-budget, high-concept action films characterized by fast cutting, stylistic cinematography and visuals, and extensive use o ...
and Platinum Dunes, it is a
remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the sa ...
of
Wes Craven Wesley Earl Craven (August 2, 1939 – August 30, 2015) was an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and editor. Craven has commonly been recognized as one of the greatest masters of the horror genre due to the cultural imp ...
's 1984 film of the same name, as well as the ninth overall installment of the ''Nightmare on Elm Street'' franchise. The film is set in a fictitious town in
Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...
and centers around a group of teenagers living on one street who are stalked and murdered in their dreams by a disfigured man named
Freddy Krueger Freddy Krueger () is a fictional character and the primary antagonist in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' film series. He was created by Wes Craven and made his debut in Craven's '' A Nightmare on Elm Street'' (1984) as the malevolent spiri ...
. The teenagers discover that they all share a common link from their childhood that makes them targets for Krueger. ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' was originally to follow the same design as Platinum Dunes' other remake, ''
Friday the 13th Friday the 13th is considered an unlucky day in Western superstition. It occurs when the 13th day of the month in the Gregorian calendar falls on a Friday, which happens at least once every year but can occur up to three times in the same year. ...
'', where the writers took the best elements from each of the films in the original series and created a single storyline with them. Eventually, they decided to use Craven's original storyline but tried to create a scarier film. To that end, they decided to remove the one-line quipping Freddy, who had become less scary and more comical over the years, and bring back his darker nature. The writers developed the character to be a child molester, something that Craven wanted to do originally in 1984 but changed to a child killer instead. Freddy's physical appearance was changed with the use of
computer-generated imagery Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is the use of computer graphics to create or contribute to images in art, printed media, video games, simulators, and visual effects in films, television programs, shorts, commercials, and videos. The image ...
to be closer to that of a burn victim. Because of the positive experiences Platinum Dunes' producers had in the area, ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' was filmed primarily in Illinois. Craven expressed his displeasure when he was not consulted on the project.
Robert Englund Robert Barton Englund (born June 6, 1947) is an American actor and director. He is best known for playing the supernatural serial killer Freddy Krueger in the ''Nightmare on Elm Street'' film series. Classically trained at the Royal Academy of ...
, who portrayed Freddy in the previous eight films, voiced his support of the remake and the casting of Haley in the role of Freddy. ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' had its world premiere at Hollywood on April 27, 2010, and was theatrically released in North America on April 30, 2010, by
Warner Bros. Pictures Warner Bros. Pictures is an American film production and distribution company of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group division of Warner Bros. Entertainment (both ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery). The studio is the flagship producer of l ...
and
New Line Cinema New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after ...
. The film received generally negative reviews from critics, who criticized its writing, acting, and the film's lack of depth and empathetic characters, but praised Bayer's direction and faithfulness to the 1984 film. Despite this, it grossed over $63 million at the domestic box office and over $117 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing film in the franchise.


Plot

While at the Springwood Diner, Dean Russell falls asleep at the table and meets a severely burned man in seared clothes wearing a bladed gardener's glove on his right hand. In the dream, the burned man cuts Dean’s throat; in reality Dean cuts his own throat as his friends Kris Fowles and Nancy Holbrook look on. At Dean's funeral, Kris sees a photograph of her and Dean as children but cannot recall knowing Dean before high school. Kris begins to have nightmares about the burned man and then refuses to go to sleep for fear that she will die like Dean. Jesse Braun, Kris' ex-boyfriend, shows up to keep her company while she sleeps, but Kris meets the burned man in her dreams and is murdered. Covered in Kris' blood, Jesse runs to Nancy's house and learns that Nancy has been having nightmares about the same man —
Freddy Krueger Freddy Krueger () is a fictional character and the primary antagonist in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' film series. He was created by Wes Craven and made his debut in Craven's '' A Nightmare on Elm Street'' (1984) as the malevolent spiri ...
. Jesse is arrested by the police under suspicion of murdering Kris and is killed by Krueger when he falls asleep in his jail cell. As her friends die, Nancy questions everyone's connection to each other, given that none of them can remember each other before their teenage years. Nancy and her friend Quentin Smith discover that they attended the same preschool. Nancy's mother Gwen reluctantly tells Nancy and Quentin about Krueger, the preschool's groundskeeper who was accused of molesting the children, including Nancy. Gwen explains that Nancy was his favorite and that she came home one day and told her mother about the things Krueger did to her in a secret location. Gwen alerted the other parents, including Quentin's father Alan, but she tells the teenagers that Krueger escaped before he was arrested. Refusing to believe her mother's story, Nancy attempts to track down the remaining kids from the school but discovers that all of them have been killed. Following Jesse's death, only she and Quentin are left. Meanwhile, Quentin falls asleep during his swim practice and sees a flashback to the parents, led by Alan, tracking Krueger down and burning him alive. As a result of their
insomnia Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder in which people have trouble sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low energy ...
, Nancy and Quentin have sporadic
microsleep A microsleep is a sudden temporary episode of sleep or drowsiness which may last for a few seconds where an individual fails to respond to some arbitrary sensory input and becomes unconscious.International Classification of Sleep Disorders, , pa ...
s and become
hypnagogic Hypnagogia is the experience of the transitional state from wakefulness to sleep: the ''hypnagogic'' state of consciousness, during the onset of sleep. Its opposite state is described as the transitional state from sleep into wakefulness. Mental ...
, causing them to dream and hallucinate randomly. To try to stop Krueger, they decide to go to the preschool to learn what they can. On the way, Nancy is attacked by Krueger when she hallucinates, during which she pulls a piece of Krueger's sweater out of the dream world into reality. Quentin takes Nancy to the hospital, where he steals
adrenaline Adrenaline, also known as epinephrine, is a hormone and medication which is involved in regulating visceral functions (e.g., respiration). It appears as a white microcrystalline granule. Adrenaline is normally produced by the adrenal glands and ...
to help them stay awake. Nancy and Quentin eventually make it to the preschool and uncover Krueger's hidden room to find proof of his crimes; they realize that Krueger, now a
vengeful ghost In mythology and folklore, a vengeful ghost or vengeful spirit is said to be the spirit of a dead person who returns from the afterlife to seek revenge for a cruel, unnatural or unjust death. In certain cultures where funeral and burial or c ...
, wants revenge on them for disclosing his abuse. Nancy decides to pull Krueger out of the dream world and kill him in the real world. Quentin tries to stay awake long enough to pull Nancy out of her dream when she grabs Krueger, but he falls asleep and is attacked. Krueger goes after Nancy and explains that he deliberately left her for last so that she would be comatose. Quentin awakens and uses the adrenaline to wake Nancy, who then pulls Krueger into reality. They fight and Nancy uses a broken paper cutter blade to kill him before she torches the room with Krueger's body inside. She and Quentin escape and are rescued by the police officers and firefighters, who are unable to find Krueger's remains. After Nancy and her mother return home from the hospital, Krueger suddenly appears in the mirror's reflection. While Nancy screams, Krueger kills Nancy's mother before pulling her body through a mirror and disappearing.


Cast

* Jackie Earle Haley as Fred "Freddy" Krueger * Kyle Gallner as Quentin Smith *
Rooney Mara Patricia Rooney Mara ( ; born April 17, 1985) is an American actress. She has received various accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, ...
as Nancy Holbrook ** Kyra Krumins as young Nancy * Katie Cassidy as Kris Fowles ** Julianna Damm as young Kris * Thomas Dekker as Jesse Braun ** Bayden Coyer as young Jesse * Kellan Lutz as Dean Russell ** Max Holt as young Dean *
Clancy Brown Clarence John "Clancy" Brown III (born January 5, 1959) is an American actor. Prolific in film and television since the 1980s, Brown is often cast in villainous and authoritative roles. Brown's film roles include Viking Lofgren in ''Bad Boys'' ...
as Alan Smith *
Connie Britton Constance Elaine Britton ( Womack; born March 6, 1967) is an American actress. Britton made her feature film debut in the independent comedy-drama film '' The Brothers McMullen'' (1995), and the following year, she was cast as Nikki Faber on th ...
as Dr. Gwen Holbrook * Lia Mortensen as Nora Fowles *
Kurt Naebig Kurt Naebig (born 1963/1964) is an American actor who has made various appearances on '' ER'', ''Prison Break'', and made movie roles in '' Road to Perdition'', '' The Relic'', '' Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer'', and ''Howard Beach: Making ...
as Mr. Russell * Jennifer Robers as Mrs. Russell *
Christian Stolte Christian Stolte (born October 16, 1962) is an American character actor. He portrayed corrections officer Keith Stolte on the TV series ''Prison Break'' and Charles Makley in the film '' Public Enemies''. He starred as chief appraiser David Kim ...
as Mr. Braun *
Andrew Fiscella Andrew "Andy" Fiscella (born May 25, 1966) is an American actor who appeared in the films ''Quarantine'' and ''The Final Destination''. He also appeared in Ice Cube's music video " Why We Thugs". Filmography Television Music video 2 ...
as a Prison Inmate


Production


Development

In 2008,