Original vs. Remake: A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984 and 2010)

After comparing the original and remake of Friday the 13th last year, I felt it would be appropriate to finally due another Original vs. Remake, and to have it be on another genre classic: A Nightmare on Elm Street. Like the Friday the 13th post, I'll take a look at the antagonist, lead character, supporting characters, kills and story in order to determine which is the better film. Lets start by focusing on one of the most iconic villains in cinema history, Freddy Krueger, and compare both the 1984 and 2010 versions.

Best Villain: Wicked, frightening and unforgettable, Robert Englund's portrayal of the Elm Street killer turned Freddy into an instant horror icon. Featuring a dusty fedora hat, an old striped jumper and a glove fashioned with steak knives, Freddy haunts the dreams of Elm Street's teenagers. Out for revenge against the parents who burned him for his crimes, Freddy stalks the teens one by one, until only the brave Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) remains. The film does a great job of keeping Freddy's appearance a mystery, as we never get a clear look at his horribly disfigured face until the end. He says very little, but his creepy voice and unpredictability ensures Freddy remains scary throughout the film. His backstory is told be Nancy's mother, where she reveals Freddy was a child murderer, but got away on a technicality in court. By only telling and not showing us this, it leaves it up to the viewer to imagine just how horrible Freddy was before becoming the monster we see, which is makes for an even more unsettling atmosphere whenever he appears.

The remakes chooses a different angle, and one which feels far less effective in comparison. Freddy (now played by Jackie Earle Haley) is shown to have been a grounds-keeper at a school the teens attended as children. The film implies that Freddy wasn't a child killer, but instead a paedophile. A scary enough idea, but the rest of the film's approach to Freddy isn't up to the standards of the original. Freddy is shown in full detail mere minutes into the film, immediately removing all intrigued as to how he has been re-imagined for the new film. He also talks far too much (as was the case in the sequels to the original), and has a voice that sounds similar to Christian Bale's as Batman. He also repeats some of the wisecracks from the sequels, which is one of the things that transformed Freddy's character from an intimating figure to a joker. With the remake trying to go for a more serious approach akin to the original, including these lines feels out of place, and therefore lessens the effect of Freddy being scary. 

Winner: Original.

Best Lead: Nancy is our protagonist in both the original and remake. In the original, Nancy is a comforting friend to Tina (Amanda Wyss), who is suffering from nightmares. After Tina's death, Nancy becomes Freddy's next target, and she rises to the challenge and ultimately no longer fears him. There is a clear evolution of her character throughout the film, as she tries her best to tell her parents, but eventually realises she'll have to be brave and try and defeat Freddy herself. Heather Langenkamp is very charismatic and likeable in this role. She does a good job in playing both the innocent teen at the beginning of the film and the tough survivalist at the end. 

In the remake, Nancy is portrayed by Rooney Mara and, like Freddy, is vastly different to her 1984 counterpart. More socially awkward and lonely, Nancy has very little connection to the other characters. That is until she meets Quentin (Kyle Gallner), a boy also suffering from nightmares, and she forms a bond with him. Nancy is given more of a connection to Freddy in this film, having been abused by him as a child. This makes the confrontations between her and Freddy more personal, but there is little impact as the character is very downplayed. Nancy isn't very charismatic, so when she finally takes revenge on Freddy there is not a great deal of satisfaction. Seeing how she is the film's lead, this idea to have Nancy be a bit of a bore doesn't make for all that great a character, especially compared to the original.

Winner: Original.

Supporting Characters: Like the original Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street's supporting cast had a future star amongst them. Here, it is Johnny Depp in one of his earliest roles playing Nancy's boyfriend Glen. Glen, whilst rather clumsy, helps Nancy in her struggle against Freddy even though he doesn't seem entirely sure about the whole thing. We also have the previously mentioned Tina, Freddy's first victim in the film, along with her boyfriend Rod (Nick Corri). All of these characters spend time with one another, and so their friendship plays a key role when Freddy begins his murder spree. After Tina's death, Rod is immediately suspected as the murderer, and their friendship is greatly tested. The performances are strong, and there is enough focus on their relationships to create an attachment to them. Nancy's parents Lt. Don Thompson (John Saxon) and Marge Thompson (Ronee Blakley) are also given plenty of interaction with Nancy. Though they have their flaws, they are good natured people, and so aid Nancy in whatever way they can.

The remake's supporting characters are all somewhat based or direct copies of the original's. Names are changed (Tina is now called Kris and Quentin is the male companion for Nancy instead of boyfriend Glen) and they don't share the close friendship bond. Instead, Jesse (Thomas Dekker, the remakes equivalent to Rod) uses the death of Kris' boyfriend in order to get back together with her. The makes him a very unsympathetic character, and so I didn't care when he was killed off. The fates of the original's characters are too heavily copied here, which makes the film very predictable. It was a surprise that Tina was killed off so early in the original as she looked like she was going to be the film's lead character. Here, Kris is the focus early on, and so we know that she won't last long, which makes the supporting characters in the remake overall less engaging.

Winner: Original.

Best Kills: After establishing characters, the logical next move for a slasher film is to start killing them off in various gruesome ways. The original Nightmare on Elm Street was one of the first slasher films to feature surreal and imaginative death scenes, with Freddy able to manipulate the teens' dreams to form horrific images. Tina's death is the most disturbing, with her being thrown against the walls and being slashed by Freddy, but with the audience never seeing Freddy himself. Then there's the famous scene when Glen falls asleep, and is killed by Freddy by being dragged through the bed. The next thing we see is a cascade of blood firing out of the bed, much to the shock of Glen's parents. Visually disturbing and endlessly surprising, the kills in the original film broke new ground for slasher films, and are still some of the best moments in the entire Nightmare on Elm Street franchise.

Like with the supporting characters, the kills in the remake are direct copies of the original, with a few exceptions. Kris' death is exactly the same as Tina's, though less horrific due to its predictability. The other deaths are surprisingly dull, with Freddy appearing just to quickly slash his way through his victims. There is little atmosphere when this happens, and so the kills cease to be frightening. Only one of the deaths is notably violent, but it happens right at the end and again follows the character formula from the original. With a lack of new ideas and not putting a unique enough twist on the copied kills, this is one of the easiest categories to decide a winner for.

Winner: Original.

Best Story: Whilst having a fairly simple story, the original Nightmare on Elm Street has a good amount of depth to it. Freddy's motive for killing the teenagers is to get revenge on the parents that killed him. Freddy's murder is kept a secret by the parents, which causes friction when Nancy learns the truth. For a film where gruesome murders are at the forefront of the story, its good to have believable drama between the human characters as we can then sympathise with them and hope they survive by the end of the film. Keeping Freddy's appearance a mystery until later on is a smart move, as he appears more frightening when we can't see clearly what he looks like. There are also strong creative choices on how the dreams are depicted, with it never being clear if the teens are awake or asleep, and with them able to bring things from their dreams into the real world. The film devotes much of its time to the characters, which means that Freddy remains mysterious and allows plenty of build up to his appearances throughout the film.


Though echoing  the original in most aspects, the remake tells the story of A Nightmare on Elm Street very differently. Much of the film deals with the origins of Freddy and his link to the Elm Street teenagers, something that was explored in part six of the original series. This, combined with not developing the teen characters, makes the drama very unbalanced. We know more about Freddy than we do any other character, and so can't connect to the others in a way that makes us feel anything when they are killed off. I appreciated the direction of changing the backstory slightly, as it suggests a fresh approach to the series, but the overall pacing of the film is a mess. There is also a very anti-climatic showdown with Freddy, especially compared to how the original handled the climax. Here, instead of Nancy learning to no longer be afraid of Freddy (thus taking away his powers), Nancy brings Freddy into to the real world and sets him on fire after slashing his throat. A far less interesting and meaningful resolve, and one which only cements which film not only tells the story better, but which is the superior film in every aspect.

Winner: Original.

Overall Winner: A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984).