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[Horror Queers Podcast] A Talented Cast Can’t Save the Misguided ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ Remake

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4 years ago

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Snoozey Mara.

April wound up being a crazy month as we bounced around the 80s with April Fools Day and Poltergeist II: The Other Side, and took detours to check on Patrick Bateman for his 20th Anniversary and smoke a little reefer with 2005’s movie musical. Trace and I are wrapping up the month with easily the worst film of the lot: the much-derided (justifiably so) remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010).

In this contemporary retelling of the Wes Craven classic, the teens on Elm Street – including game actors Katie Cassidy, Kyle Gallner and Thomas Dekker, plus a sleepwalking Rooney Mara – must battle Freddy Krueger (Jackie Earle Haley), the man who sexually molested them as children before being burned alive by their parents. But was Krueger really guilty? (Yes) And are their parents, played by Connie Britton and Clancy Brown, really that terrible? (Also yes).

We’ll just say this: thank heaven for Speedos!

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get a new episode every Wednesday. You can subscribe on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeartRadio, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Libsyn, Google Play, and RSS.

Episode 71 – A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)

Just in time for its tenth anniversary, the boys head to Elm Street to revisit Platinum Dunes’ worst remake. This film is a disaster for several reasons: from its condensed production timeline to its unmemorable set pieces to its extremely miscast leading lady, Snoozey Mara (credit the Halloweenies podcast for that gem!).

What’s extra frustrating is how likable the rest of the cast is! Jackie Earle Haley is trying his darnedest to bring something new to Freddy Krueger while poor Thomas Dekker (our queer connection) only gets to play angry and Katie Cassidy should have been the Final Girl. Then there’s Kyle Gallner, who not only rocks a speedo, but is forced to carry the entire back half of the film by himself!

We dig into all of the dirt, including first time feature writer Eric Heisserer’s candid complaints about changes to the screenplay, the three big set pieces that were shot, then excised and aren’t included in the Blu special features and, finally, the film’s extremely poor handling of its child molestation storyline, which is never given the attention or care that such a delicate topic demands.

Cross out the remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street!

Coming up on Wednesday: Just in time for their special day, we’re celebrating the joys of motherhood by revisiting Paul Solet’s creepy indie horror film, Grace (2009)!

– Joe & Trace

P.S.  Check out this month’s article on 1981’s Looker and get ready for 1986’s Nazi revenge flick In A Glass Cage. You can find all of the old articles here. 

P.P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for bonus episodes! With no new horror films in theatres, May is dedicated to Possession films, starting with an audio commentary on 2013’s Evil Dead (Unrated Cut)!

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Joe is a TV addict with a background in Film Studies. He co-created TV/Film Fest blog QueerHorrorMovies and writes for Bloody Disgusting, Anatomy of a Scream, That Shelf, The Spool and Grim Magazine. He enjoys graphic novels, dark beer and plays multiple sports (adequately, never exceptionally). While he loves all horror, if given a choice, Joe always opts for slashers and creature features.

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Podcasts

The Double ‘Othering’ of David in ‘An American Werewolf in London’ [Horror Queers Podcast]

Published

3 days ago

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April 15, 2024

By

After concluding March with Raja Gosnell’s Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (listen) and James Whale’s The Invisible Man (listen), we kicked off April with a discussion of  Anthony Minghella’s The Talented Mr. Ripley (listen).
Now we’re checking off another classic with John Landis‘ 1981 werewolf film, An American Werewolf in London.
In the film, American best friends David (David Naughton) and Jack (Griffin Dunne) are horrifically attacked while backpacking through the UK Moors. Jack is killed and David spends a month recuperating in the hospital, where he befriends attractive nurse Alex (Jenny Agutter) and kindly Dr. Hirsch (John Woodvine).
On the cusp of his release, the mangled corpse of Jack visits David, warning that on the full moon he will become a lycanthrope unless he kills himself. But David is unable to accept his fate and a series of terrible murders follow.
As the bodies (and the comedy) pile up, the question becomes: what will David, Alex, and Dr. Hirsch do to stop the deaths?
Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get a new episode every Wednesday. You can subscribe on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeartRadio, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, and RSS.
Episode 277: An American Werewolf in London (1981)
Try not to wolf out because we’re talking about John Landis’ classic, An American Werewolf in London (1981). Backpacking along with us is Xero Gravity, who went on a werewolf binge and has recommendations!
Up for discussion: Alex’s underdeveloped character, urban set pieces, dirty movie theaters, and British rural horror.
Plus: a queer reading of David and Jack’s relationship, Jewish horror, an unsexy sex scene, and extended tangents about werewolf anatomy.

Cross out An American Werewolf in London!

Coming up on Wednesday: We’re undergoing a risky experimental treatment for a “different” kind of child with Netflix’s 2019 title, Eli.

P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for over 302 hours of Patreon content including this month’s new episodes on Hannibal S01E04, Late Night with the Devil, The First Omen, Femme, Abigail and a brand new audio commentary on the original The Omen (1976).

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