I’ve been trying to think of a way that I can return some link love for all those critics/blogs that I love to read. Since I love reading reviews of films that I’ve seen what I’ll do is each week whatever new release that I review here I will post what I think the General Consensus of the movie is by posting short snippets of many reviews here. Check it out below:
So here’s how this is going to work. Since I want to create an average score for the film (like my own blogosphere only version of RT or IMDB) I will only count reviews that have a rating. If your rating is letter graded then I will convert it using High School style grades (i.e. A = 9/10, B = 8/10, C = 7/10, D = 5/10, F = 3/10). I’ll definitely mention other, non-scaled reviews, but they won’t be calculated into the overall General Consensus.
Directed by: Samuel Bayer
Written by: Wesley Strick & Eric Heisserer
Starring: Jackie Earle Haley, Kyle Gallner & Rooney Mara
Release Date: April 30 (US), May 12 (JA)
Reviews
Not Rated Reviews
“One of the beauties of dream logic in movies is that you can do absolutely anything, limited only by your imagination. Sadly, what’s on display here is not very imaginative.” – Peter Martin from Cinematical
Rated Reviews
“There was no reason to remake the 1985 slasher classic, of course, except that “Halloween” and “Friday the 13th” had already been remade, and why not finish the set?” – Eric D. Snider. Grade: D (5/10)
“Haley’s Krueger is something of a departure from the iconic Freddy developed over way too many films. He’s not the prankster the first Freddy was, so in those moments when Freddy is given something sarcastic to say, it doesn’t fly.” – from GetTheBigPicture. Grade: 4/10
“The problem I’ve always had with NIGHTMARE flicks is that they tend to put me to sleep. As our main characters battle their own drowsiness, I fight against slipping into unconsciousness, head first into a bag of movie theater popcorn.” – Kate Erbland from Gordon and the Whale. Grade: 4/10
“Dedicated to jump scares more than any real sense of dread, the worst use of the cheap thrill comes in the form of “micro-naps,” a word one of the teens finds while researching insomnia on the Internet.” – Brad Brevet from Rope of Silicon. Grade:D (5/10)
“Part of the joy of Nightmare films for me was that Krueger, as the melted version, was such an asshole. He was a kind of campy pervert with a playfully bad mouth, but now he’s a real pervert with a mouth meant to insult. His campy playfulness is replaced with an evil tormentor streak. I found this incarnation to be a far more menacing threat.” – Robert Fure from FilmSchoolRejects. Grade: B+ (8.5/10)
“Freddy is not a good argument for a supernatural existence. He can live inside wallpaper, appear anywhere and has no need of physical existence, except, arguably, when he inflicts actual physical damage. Yet he’s such a bore, always growling away with his deep-voiced hahahahaha. If a man leads an interesting life, he ought to be able to make good conversation, is what I say.” – Roger Ebert. Grade: 2.5/10
“When it comes to what truly makes Nightmare an enjoyable experience, it’s the direction. Music video director Samuel Bayer has made a visual and technically impressive fever dream. This is a very competent film when it comes to both filmmaking and tone. There’s a clear vision that all connects tonally. It’s never too jokey, yet knows how to keep a consistent dark sense of humor. Nothing overly broad happens.” – Jack Giroux from TheFilmStage. Grade: 7/10
“Albeit from a couple of decent scenes, stay away from this one – at least until it shows up on cable.” – Andy from WAMG. Grade: 3/10
“If you’re going to reboot something, DO A FRESH TAKE ON IT. Stop doing stupid remakes and reboots that add ZERO to the character. I have these movies at home. Why in the hell would I pay money to see more of the same thing???” – El Guapo from LatinoReview. Grade:D- (4/10)
“The premise is this same, yes, but gone are the imaginative kills and wonderful villain that once made this franchise what it was.” – Kofi Outlaw from Screenrant. Grade: 4/10
“It’s not all Jackie Earle Haley’s fault; he makes a go at being grim and abusive, and occasionally projects some real feeling through his fire-ravaged makeup. He’s not always like a burned Rorschach. Haley’s Krueger is always twitching his knives, like he’s impatient to attack but holding himself back. That’s a nice touch. But he tosses off one-liners with scant enthusiasm, and rather than making this Freddy’s persona seem more sick and twisted, the combination of jokes and dire intent only feels like no one knew what sort of killer they were attempting to conjure.” – Russ Fischer from /Film. Grade: 3/10
“I walked in not knowing what to expect since I’ve forgotten what the Freddy movies were really like back in the 80s, but now I’m glad I’ve forgotten and look forward very much to the day that I will have forgotten this one too.” – me from here. Grade: 1.5/10
Avg. Score: 4.3/10