A troubled teenager named Dean Russell (Kellan Lutz) is having bad dreams about a man in a red and white sweater with a glove and blades named Freddy Krueger (Jackie Earle Haley) in which he talks to one of his friends at a diner named Kris Fowles (Katie Cassidy) about this man in which she encounters him killing himself while he falls asleep.
Next Freddy stalks Kris as well as her boyfriend Jesse Braun (Thomas Dekker) in their dreams as Kris is the next victims and Jesse is in prison framed for her murder. But he gets slaughtered by Freddy when he dreams of being on bail.
Nancy Holbrook (Rooney Mara) and her boyfriend Quentin Smith (Kyle Gallner) try to stick together and stay awake as they find out the history when they went to kindergarten in which Freddy was a landscaper at their school and spent time with the kids there in which he had a deep dark secret with them on how he was burned alive by the parents in which both Nancy and Quentin thinks that they might have lied to their parents about and now he's seeking revenge in their dreams.

There's a terrific shot on a rainy night exposing a 24 hour diner with the camera almost closing in as well as a good moment on a supporting character named Dean Russell acting like a deadbeat basketcase at the diner asking for a refill on his coffee along with a good shot on the waitress acting expressionless walking away into a room in which this really grabs attention to the set that something here isn't right as well as a good camera shot on Dean following her and then a good shot on Freddy Krueger standing behind him exposing his blades. There's a great surprise attack by Freddy towards Dean with him clawing his arm which makes you jump and then a nice anxious waking up by him at the diner and a good close up camera shot on his hand with a bloody claw mark revealed on him.
There's a good discussion with Kris Fowles approaching him at the diner table trying to talk to him as well as a good shot on Dean looking out of it and acting like a basket case telling her about this killer in his dreams and that he will die for real if he sleeps which seemed quite impressive.
There's a great moment with Freddy grabbing Dean in the diner pointing a blade to his neck as well as a shot on Dean standing up asleep grabbing a knife in a diner screaming and struggling with a good close up shot on him cutting himself wide with the knife.
There's a nice still settings taking place at a funeral which really adds on to the plot of the film and not rushing it at all which I found very necessary bringing on to the excitement later on with what will happen to the rest of these teenagers.
There's a good shot looking down on Nancy Holbrook with a shot on the wall of a head shape moving towards her done by Krueger himself which looked a little more updated for a horror feel to it than in the original one but yet doesn't look as dark and creepy.
There's a good moment with Kris in a burned up classroom backing away from Freddy with him evilly creeping up to her and bringing his blades to her telling her it won't hurt a bit.
Plus there's some okay nightmare sequences at the Springwood Highschool but yet some of the moments weren't too deep into the fast action on Krueger ready do away on his prey or even the similar dark like creepiness with these moments which was a bit of a disappointment. Yet there are some jumping moments which kinda makes up for that.
Too many remakes are my words and this was one of them. Of course it's exciting to go and watch a movie updated that you were fond of the original in which I find to be the best slasher film ever. I went to the theatre to watch this which was a full house and it starts off as very exciting and entertaining showing a diner as well as advertising a light saying 24 hours and coffee sales which makes it impressive. There's nice jumping moments at the first victim keeps dreaming about Krueger attacking which seems to be a totally different touch compared to the original in which it shows the character Tina in a boiler room running away from Krueger in her nightgown.
There's a good scene with Kris and a younger version of her pulling her to play hide and seek as well as the older one looking near a corner with Freddy counting and then evilly creeping up towards her about to strike at her along with a good shot on her waking up in bed having a still silent moment and then him suddenly attacking her in the room which has a great jumping feel to all of this.
There's also a good focus on the boyfriend named Jesse witnessing the death of his girlfriend killed in her sleep and hiding in the neighborhood which doesn't focus as much in the original which I thought looked necessary too.
There's lots of great takes on Jesse running away out in the neighborhood acting upset and scared as well as him entering a bedroom speaking to Nancy and trying not to sound anxious to tell others he didn't kill his girlfriend.
There's a good shot on Nancy taking off her clothes and going into a bathtub as well as a great shot on her lying there and falling asleep with Freddy's blade's rising up from the water. Very much a memorable moment in the original.
I did enjoy the one liners with the mother calling up someone telling someone that her daughter remembers Freddy Krueger's name which makes the story an unsolved mystery about to unwind.
The plot did take some time about Krueger's history with the children during a flashback sequence and how the kids got attached to him and the parents seeking revenge on him during a dream sequence with one of the kids watching at what they're doing to him which seemed a bit disturbing making you wonder if he was an okay guy after all and seeking revenge against children telling lies about him to their parents. This dream sequence almost reminded more of a similar one in Freddy Vs Jason.
There's a good shot on Jesse on the front of a bunk bed in a prison obsessing to himself not to go to sleep with a shot on another person below him telling him to shut up which makes you wonder if he's gonna kick his ass.
There's a nice moment with Jesse walking in the hall of the prison house as if he's on bail like he was told and then the room going dark with the corridors closing in on him which looked quite creepy.
There's a great flashback sequence with a nice close up shot on Freddy as a human being using a garden scraper upclose landscaping and spending time with the kids playing hide and seek.
However with the two teenage survivors unravelling their memories on Krueger's life with them is a bit of a disappointment as well as how the story almost ends which seems quite stale and it looked like whoever did this had a writers block wondering what to do next to make this remake different.
There's great shots on Quentin swimming laps in a pool with a good shot underneath the water on him swimming and then being pulled underneath and later on rising up in a pool outside near a boiler room acting like he's freezing half to death as well as good shots on locals chasing after Freddy along with him holding a door shut pleading to them which looks disturbing as well as good shots on these people ready to burn the place down. Then there's a great effects shot on Freddy being burned alive leaping out towards Quentin. Plus there's a good camera shot up close on him waking up and coughing on a pool floor with the camera shot zooming back.
There's a great shot on Nancy in a vehicle about to fall asleep with a nice jumping moment on Freddy grabbing her and trying to pull her out of the vehicle which looked quite brutal.
There's a good close up shot on Freddy maming Quentin as well as shots on corpses hung upside down while he's doing this.
There's also a good shot on Nancy running up some stairs as well as falling into the floor which turns out to be a pool of blood.
However the very end looked terrific with great special effects in which I won't give the story away.
Bottom line is the film is an updated version to the original with better effects and it can seem scary at times but the story doesn't blend in too well like in the original and can be a comparable just above average remake like Rob Zombie's Halloween. But alot of the plotlines were very different than the original but not in a better fashion. The film can be fun to watch on the big screen but that's about it.

The acting is very well done in which I almost didn't picture Jackie Earle Haley (Freddy Krueger) portraying this role when I saw him acting inncocent in shows like Breaking Away but he knew how to speak coldly and menacingly too that he proved worthy as a versatile character actor. Yet he doesn't meet up to Englund at the same time. He showed a good innocence during flashback sequences though as when he was alive and acting very deceiving. He also shows some good brutal blocking when he needed to be forceful.
Kyle Gallner (Quentin Smith) brought some descent energy to the role of his character as the lead teenager in the film by acting paranoid and anxious too. He brings out alot of intensity as well as behaving like a basket case too by what he has to go through by acting totally out of it in a certain scene of the story. Also does a great job acting anxious and aggressive towards an onscreen principal. Nice moment with him crying in pain while being mamed. He was convincing enough to portray this part and seeming to study his role clearly too.
Rooney Mara (Nancy Holbrook) seemed not too bad portraying this role but this character is different than the part Langenkamp portrayed in the original but going through some of the similar situations. She tried to show a tough attitude but at the same time her energy wasn't at it's peak like this character was meant to be. Yet does a nice job cussing towards the killer showing a great aggressive attitude while doing this. Oh well you can't always win. However, she does well with her intense behavior towards her onscreen parent demanding to know who Freddy is which looked powerfully performed. She does another nice job by trying to beg on onscreen nurse not to put her to sleep.
Katie Cassidy (Kris Fowles) I found to be the best supporting actress in the film showing great upsetting emotions and trying to act brave as well. She knew how to cry on set and made it look like she really was that upset to the picture along with doing well by screaming in terror in many scene's of the film. She brought out alot of great characterisitics and hardly ever slowing down to what she had to do in each scene of the film. However there's a certain scene in the film when she tries to run back to her house that her reactions to this looked a bit phony.
Thomas Dekker (Jesse Braun) does a good job with his anxious attitude while trying to act calm after a horrifying incident. Also does a nice job while getting obsessive to prevent himself from falling asleep too.
Connie Britton (Dr. Gwen Holbrook) certainly became an attraction to the camera as the parent to the lead female in the film but wasn't portraying an alcoholic. She was very good and clear with her lines as well as really coming across powerfully at times when she needed to be. She portrayed a perfect key role to the film.
There's a special appearance by Clancy Brown (Alan Smith) in which I had to mention as he does well portraying a serious school principal in the film and delivered his part very well and often liked the parts he portrayed since I've seen him play an asshole stepfather in Pet Semetary 2 but this times takes on a challange portraying a different type of family man who seems more descent. Does well with his firm and serious mode while having a heated argument. Way to go Brown!!!!

There's many peoples chests clawed by the blades with a violent bloodshed
A guy cuts through his neck with a knife in a diner
Freddy tears through his blades through a guys chest
A wrist is chopped off
A throat is sliced open
Eyes are poked out of a face by Krueger through a mirror

The music sounded neatly done with some brand new sounds including some low stormy sounding violin playing plus many times a sound of a woman chanting in harmony. There's some of the odd traditional theme music too like in the original flicks. Plus there's great banging and screeching sound effects too which works incredibly well by making you jump alot. The music was put together by Steve Jablonsky

[first lines]
Dean Russell: Can I have another? Hey. Can I have some more coffee, please?

Freddy Krueger: You really shouldn't fall asleep in class.
[scratches chalkboard]
Freddy Krueger: Hi, Kris.
Kris Fowles: [backing away from Krueger] Who are you?
Freddy Krueger: [walking towards Fowles] You look just as beautiful as ever.
[raises his glove]
Freddy Krueger: You have nothing to worry about. This wont hurt one... little... bit.

Quentin Smith: We were wrong. He's not after us because we lied. He's after us because we told the truth.
Nancy Holbrook: He brought us here so we could remember what he did to us.

Jesse Braun: Just don't fall asleep. If you die in your dreams, you die for real.

Nancy Holbrook: [Cuts off Freddy's hand] It hurts now, doesn't it? That because you're in my world now, bitch.