Movies
Nancy’s Mother Talks ‘Elm Street’ Remake and Keeping it Fresh
After doing this for roughly nine years, I’m finding there are two extremes when it comes to stars in franchise horror films. With the exception of Derek Mears (a mega-hardcore Friday the 13th fan), most stars have either never seen the source material, or straight-up lie and claim to be a huge fan. There’s typically no inbetween. The NY Post Pop Wrap caught up with Connie Britton, who plays Nancy’s mother in the forthcoming A Nightmare on Elm Street remake who reveals she had never seen the original (how? HOW?!).
“You are going to be shocked to hear this: I’d never seen “Elm Street” before we started shooting. Isn’t that funny?” adding that it was her intention to give her a fresh take on the character. “That was my intention, but also because I’m a scaredy cat,” she tells the site. ‘I’ve known Rob Zombie for a long time and he’s always been telling me, ‘Connie, you gotta make a horror movie!’ But I was still too chicken. But when I heard Jackie Earle Haley was doing Freddy, I thought that this was the time. But in retrospect, now that I’ve seen a good part of the original, it made no difference because what we do in the new one is so substantially different.”
Interviewer Jarett Wieselman also added, “I was interviewing Robert Englund the other day and he singled out your casting as one of his favorite elements of the reboot because you can elevate the classic role.”
Britton’s reply: “That was kind of my hope too. I’m not sure it we accomplished that though. The truth is, I don’t think the role is as well represented in the movie as it could have been. My sense is that the focus won’t be on my character as much as I previously thought, but we’ll see.”
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET arrives in theaters April 30, 2010
A contemporary reimagining of H.P. Lovecraft’s short story Herbert West: Reanimator is on the way, and Deadline has unveiled the first look at the new Herbert West and the pathologist drawn to his orbit.
Adam Simon (The Haunting in Connecticut, “Salem”) and Tim Metcalfe (The Haunting in Connecticut, Kalifornia) penned the script. The original screenplay and storyline come from Jade Sandberg Wallace.
Michael Grossman (“The Originals”, “Pretty Little Liars”) directs.
The new images introduce star Joseph Morgan (“Vampire Diaries“), who plays “brilliant surgeon and scientist Herbert West, who is obsessed with creating a serum to reanimate the dead.” Katie Cassidy (Speed Demon) stars opposite as the pathologist with a troubled past who joins his efforts.
Together, they prove that conquering death may be the ultimate sin against life itself.
The film’s official synopsis: “As a child, Herbert West watches his father Peter reanimate his dead mother Judith in a secret basement lab — only for Judith to mortally wound Peter and nearly kill Herbert before Peter shoots her. The trauma leaves its mark on Herbert, but so does one final image: his mother’s finger, twitching after death. Thirty years later, Herbert West is a brilliant, secretive surgeon still chasing his father’s obsession.
“Pathologist Kate Locke arrives in town and is drawn into his orbit — first through a spark at a hospital fundraiser, then through his secret lab, where he reveals a serum capable of reanimating severed tissue. Kate, hiding a dark past of her own, is thrilled rather than horrified, and moves into West’s mansion to work alongside him. Their early experiments on a cadaver succeed only briefly. West concludes that dead tissue is the problem — they need something fresher.”
Supporting cast includes Scott Aiello, Ira J Amyx, Randall Newsome, Emma Reinagal, James D. Bryce, Kathryn A Bentley, Jack Lancaster, Amy Holland Pennell, John Pierson, Mindy Shaw, Eric Dean White, Tristan Wilder Hallet, Adrienne Lamping, Aaron Crippen, and Drew Patterson.
Makeup artist Jeff Lewis (“Star Trek: Voyager,” “Star Trek: Enterprise”) and cousin Roger Lewis are heading the production via their newly established Woodlake Entertainment.
Lovecraft’s short story, first serialized in Home Brew magazine in 1922, is the first among his works to mention the fictional Miskatonic University. It was most famously adapted into a 1985 horror movie from Stuart Gordon, starring Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West.
Herbert West: Reanimator is set in Alton, Illinois, where production is now underway.
Herbert West: Reanimator. Photo credit: Matt Lief Anderson
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