Old Nightmares

MovieBob

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Old Nightmares WIP

One, two, Freddy's coming for you...but before he gets here, let's look at where he's been.

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Da Joz

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May 19, 2009
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Not many people know but Wes Craven taught at the college where I got my bachelors, Clarkson University, and the inspiration he got for nightmare on elm street was from an old building that used to be part of main campus on the real elm street in Potsdam, NY where Clarkson is located. I have been in this building at night and I must say I don't recommend doing that, it's freaky as hell.
 

Jared

The British Paladin
Jul 14, 2009
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Its been dragged along a bit. I loved it when he first came about, but these days (And also goes for old fashioned one too which have been dragged forward like Jason). They just feel...out of the times
 

qbanknight

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as shit as freddy vs jason was, there was some fun to it in the end with freddy jason cage match
 

uppitycracker

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Quite the good description of the Freddy movies. The original Nightmare on Elm Street was one of my favorite movies for so long, the only horror movie that actually scared me as a kid. I'm so pissed, still, that they've remade it.... I have no faith or hope in it, and I hope it bombs as rightfully as it deserves.

On another note, I went to see Kick Ass the other night. It amazed me that out of all the trailers, there were only two that were not of remakes. One was Prince of Persia, and the other was that spin-off from Forgetting Sarah Marshall. WTF is going on with the movie industry?!?!?!
 

CaptainCrunch

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Jul 21, 2008
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In it's defense, New Nightmare wasn't that bad. Think of it in terms of "Singin' in the Rain", and it really starts to shine when compared to all the other sequels.
 

Sovvolf

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Mar 23, 2009
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I enjoyed New Nightmare, probably one of the best in the series, though that's not saying much. The series is pretty shit, wasted potential of a good character. I really, really enjoyed Freddy vs Jason, I thought it was good dumb fun. Dream Warriors was also pretty good too. My problem with the Freddy series is that it was a of potential, Dream Warriors could have been fantastic with the whole fantasy character dreaming thing going on... but it stop on being pretty good. The fourth movies concept was good too, it just wasn't well executed.
 

Not G. Ivingname

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Nov 18, 2009
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At least Freddy's series didn't get as silly as Jason, being brought back to life by everything from Random lighting strikes (on nights without rain) to rubbing up against underwater electric lines, to the FBI who thinks it is the best idea just to freeze the guy, and let him go out into space becoming ROBO-JASON!
 

shogunblade

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Believe it or not, but during my young teenage years, I found myself getting involved in the movies. As a result, I ended up buying the entire series on DVD, even the crappy 3-d Version of Freddy's Dead. I will admit, it does suck, but compared to most slashers, it's actually a little bit more fun than most.

New Nightmare is amazing, not the best, but if you thought Freddy lost his touch, it's still kind of brings you back, and it shows that before Craven started doing schlock along the likes of Cursed and Pulse, the man had a creative touch.

Freddy has been my favorite for years, though unfortunately, he had to get remade. I'm not sure if I support Jackie Earle Haley playing Freddy, just because it sounds like he was channeling the Rorschach voice without the developed persona (plus, how cool would Rorschach versus Freddy really be? I'd buy tickets to see that fight) but I'll stick to the original series.

On a Side note: Freddy V. Jason V. Ash - When will we get this movie? It's already a comic book.
 

afaceforradio

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Jul 29, 2009
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The original Nightmare on Elm Street is one of my favourite horror films to date - the rest of the series got sillier and sillier (although New Nightmare wasn't half as bad as, say, The Dream Child... ugh) but the first one even today gives me a fun sense of being chilled.

I'm not looking forward to the remake at all, in fact I don't even know if I'll bother watching it at all...
 

snowman6251

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Nov 9, 2009
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Horror movies should not have sequels, period. I can't think of a single one that worked, ever.

28 Days Later, awesome. 28 Weeks Later, decidedly average.

The Grudge, I liked the Japanese one. The Grudge 2, lol.

The Exorcist, awesome. The Exorcist 2, rofl.

The Omen, awesome. The Omen 2, lmao.

Its a pretty consistent pattern.
 

Red Priest Rezo

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Feb 6, 2009
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I'm probably a rare type of NoES fan - I like parts 4-6 (especially 6) more that first 3. I LOVE how they made Freddy into a dark comedy instead of a not-so-scarry horrors.

Other than that I have to agree with everything.
 

MetaKnight19

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I think that's a pretty fair analysis of the Freddy movies. The first movie was great, the second movie *ugh, the second movie*, I kind of liked the third one, if only for the television death scene which was quite funny. But after this film I think it went down the 'comedy horror' path rather than actual 'scary horror', if you could actually categorise it as 'scary horror'.

The fourth movie was decent at best, although the way Freddy dies (again) is quite awesome. The fifth movie was dull incarnate, and the sixth movie was just a comedy (thanks to the death scenes and some of the dialogue) with some of the death scenes feeling like an acid trip, specifically Spencer's death if anyone recalls that. Freddy vs Jason was OK, but I didn't feel like it was a movie I would watch again out of choice.
 

Deacon Cole

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I have not seen the new movie, but I did recently watch all eight of the original films. Watching the entire series like that can really take it out of you, man. I do have to say the movies are not as good as they've been made out to be, Freddy is not very funny at all and most of the time he wasn't scary either. Like most of the 80's horror movies that have been remade lately, these are low-budget schlock with a couple good ideas in them that could have been made into something special in a remake. It's just too bad the remakes are being made with even less wit and creativity. Personally, I gave up on these horror remakes with Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and I didn't even see the original. I have seen a couple other remakes since that one, but usually out of boredom and it was a choice between, say, the Fog remake or Dr Quinn and I made the wrong choice.

In any case, here are my top three Nightmare movies in no particular order. Actually that are in release date order, which I guess is also chronological order. But you know what the hell I mean.

A Nightmare on Elm Street. What can I say? It's the original. It may be the only time in the series proper where Freddy comes close to scary. It's undermined by the low budget and bad acting, but for what it is, it works. It seems pretty tame these days. Keep in mind I'm not a horror movie buff and I'm jaded enough to not be impressed by this movie. But as the original, it does put forth the original idea and does something with it. The better sequels then tried to do something original with that same premise, few did.

Wes Craven's New Nightmare. Not part of the cannon, per se. Ten years after the original Nightmare and two years before his Scream series, Wes Craven made this strange horror outing where Freddy begins terrorizing the cast and crew making the Nightmare on Elm Street movies. This one is probably the scariest of the entire franchise. Throughout there is a constant feeling of dread that comes from Freddy Krueger even when he is not on screen. In fact, I'll say especially when he isn't on screen. Like the shark from Jaws, Krueger works better when he is unseen but you know he's there. Watching. Waiting. The original tried for this unease but fell a little short for some reason, but this one is right on the money. However, to fuly appreciate it, you need to see the original first. Watching these two movies back to back would make for a decent movie night, in fact.

Freddy Vs. Jason. This one is just plain fun. The makers of the Friday the 13th series likened their product to a funhouse ride and this movie is pretty much that, but it is fun. Crossovers like this rarely happen and they rarely work. (BTW who the hell watch the first Alien vs Predator enough to convince them to make another one?) But this one does. Personally, I liked Jason Voorhees better. He's filmed with flash that I doubt is in any of his actual movies, including the recent one, but I like it. I may even go watch it again after posting this. It's not scary at all, but it's fun watching these murderer ply their trade and the script is just clever enough to keep it from being totally stupid. Maybe my expectations were low, but I was pleasantly surprised. And come to think of it, my expectations weren't that low because I had read a review where the reviewer was pleasantly surprised. Usually that means I won't be, but I was anyway.

What of the other five films? By and large, they are all forgettable.

Some say A Nightmare On Elm Street: 3 Dream Warriors makes a trilogy with the original and New Nightmare, but I was disappointed in that one. It didn't seem to go anywhere interesting. I found it dull and plodding like Prince of Darkness.

The others are really not even memorable enough for me to really comment upon aside from Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare. This movie was schizophrenic. At times it almost gets up to the original in terms of tone and dread and then it takes a sharp left turn into goofy. Watch it to see a young Breckin Meyer die by video game. It's so stupid you'll forget to laugh.
 

Tireseas_v1legacy

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Sep 28, 2009
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To be honest, I've never been into horror, especially '80s horror, but I do respect the genre for its position in cultural history. When I see Wes Craven talk about horror, he makes it a very respectible pursuit for any up-and-coming director and almost elevates it to an artform. All of his films are essentially testiments to it (or at least the franchise starters). That said, I just wish '80s horror movies stayed dead and buried (pun intended).

Right now, it looks like US cinema is going through a similar glut of horror movies that nearly killed the genre in the first place, which was the cinematic version of the video game crash of the same era. Everyone and their mother is making a horror movie, most of them bad with the occational gem that either fails to preform or falls into the franchise trap. There's also the remake problem, of which Platinum Dunes is the figurehad of our wrath. I don't think I need to get into the nature of that problem.

All in all, horror simply falls into the same trap the rest of cinema falls into: movies that are good, movies that make money, and the extremely small area where those two groups overlap.
 

PhiMed

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Nov 26, 2008
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I've heard several people refer to the 2nd one as the worst, and I just don't see it. While it wasn't great, and it certainly didn't rise to the level of the first (or Wes Craven's New Nightmare, for that matter), I felt that 4, 5, and 6 were SOOO much worse. In fact, the 2nd deserves special recognition, I think, for having such a different storyline.
 

EmperorZoltan

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Apr 9, 2008
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This ones directed at you, Mr. Bob.

I'm curious, what exactly leads to an overarching hatred of Michael Bay so much? I mean seriously, are there some latent homosexuality desires you're working through here, cause all I'm seeing is ill defined "hatred" that reeks of overcompensation. Noones asking you to prove you don't have a crush on Michael Bay anymore Bob, this isn't fourth grade and he doesn't have cooties.

Now I know I've set myself up as a little trollish here, but the point has to be made: What possible point are you trying to make by raging against a filmmaker who's productions are at worst diversions, and at best all out fun? The way you go out of your way to rage at this guy (I cite your review on Transformers 2 in particular here) gives me the impression you had more fun projectile vomiting than watching his movies. Hell even in movies that AREN'T his, such as the new Nightmare, or 2012, you make sure to save some screen time in your review for your latest round of Bay Bashing.

Lets go through the list of movie's he's been at the helm of as director, and take a quick glance at the films hes been incharge of:

Bad Boys: So good. Why you hatin'?
The Rock: Hands down one of the greatest action movies ever made. And I don't even like Nicholas Cage!
Armageddon: So much fun! Over the top, action packed, loved it.
Bad Boys 2: TBH cant remember it. But for the fun of it I'll rent it later tonight. Might even put on an episode of Movie Bob on the computer screen, face it towards the TV, so in a way you'll be watching it too!
The Island: Ewen MacGregor and ScarJo? Sci-fi logans run plotline? Great stuff!
Transformers: Why the hate? SERIOUSLY WHY?! It was action packed, fun, and delivered on every level I could possibly expect from a popcorn action movie. And yes, I was a children of the 80s as well and grew up on the original cartoon, and managed to get past the fact that they didn't recreate the magically appearing container on the back of Optimus just fine.
Transformers 2: Not as good, a little too frantic, but enjoyable nontheless.

In conclusion; His movies aren't works of Art, they sure as hell aren't deep or meaningful, and to be perfectly honest none of them make it onto my top 10. But damnit if I don't enjoy them anyway. So I hereby present to you, Mr. Bob, this challenge: Break down EXACTLY what is so wrong with Michael Bay, going through his career step by step, tell us what you'd do differently if you were in the directors seat of any of his movies, and once and for all prove you just don't have a secret crush. Methinks thou doth protest too much.
 

Eleima

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Feb 21, 2010
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Those weren't great films, but boy did Freddy give me nightmares as a child... Thanks for the trip down memory lane, but some others have already said, the only "true" Freddy Krueger movie is the first one. It's a classic 80s horror movie, and all the more effective because we don't see Freddy all that much. Fear of the unknown: works every time. (That, and Freddy had that burned, disfigured face and that metal-clawed brown leather glove of his.)
 

MovieBob

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EmperorZoltan said:
So I hereby present to you, Mr. Bob, this challenge: Break down EXACTLY what is so wrong with Michael Bay, going through his career step by step, tell us what you'd do differently if you were in the directors seat of any of his movies, and once and for all prove you just dont have a secret crush. Methinks thou doth protest too much.
Works for me...

Bad Boys: I like this one. Bay's late-90s MTV visual sensibility works for making what's basically a generic buddy-cop story diverting enough (he's already doing the "always move the camera" bit, but subtley), but basically Will Smith (at that point in his career) and Martin Lawrence have a good chemistry; and it was fun to watch what were then a pair of TV sitcom stars acting like macho action heroes.

The Rock: There's about a half-hour of good movie here... unfortunately it's scattered in bits throughout a Die Hard wannabe. It overuses the "old man who kicks your ass" thing with Connery, and it doesn't do the "hey, let's put weirdo Nic Cage in an action movie!" gag as well as Con Air did. He hadn't started over-editing yet, but in the hand-to-hand fight scenes you can already see that Bay has next to no sense of scene geography. It's a C+ movie.

Armageddon: This movie sucks. There's no longer way to say it. A cast of solid character actors is wasted, the romance story is terrible (animal cracker sex!!??) And once they get to space it's IMPOSSIBLE to tell what's going on at any given moment. Again, a total lack of action-geography: Where are things coming from? Where are they going to? These guys are standing around - on an INCREDIBLY fake-looking asteroid set - and the camera is bouncing around like crazy trying to make it look like something is happening.

Bad Boys 2: AWFUL movie... but I like it for it's awfulness. Bad dialogue, cheezy music, idiotic action scenes, mildly racist, one cliche after another, it's like a SPOOF of bad action movies, except it doesn't know it's funny... which somehow makes it funnier. "THEY'S THROWIN' DEAD PEOPLE AT US!!!!!"

The Island: All the same directing/cinematography problems as the other movies, but starts with a good story idea... that it totally abandons after about a half-hour so it can become a generic chase movie that thinks it has some profound B.S. to say about about the eeeeeevils of science. Criminal waste of Djimon Honsou.

Transformers: Story makes no sense. Action scenes incomprehensible. Completely misunderstands point of franchise. Awful comedy. Awful drama. Megan Fox cannot act. Badly designed mecha. Too much emphasis on uninteresting humans. Shamelessly steals from Men in Black and ID4. There is not a single good thing in this movie.

Transformers 2: See above, plus this one also has The Twins. Oh god, The Twins.