A Nightmare on Elm Street 2010

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: It's a movie that starts slowly, and only starts moving us to the edge of our seat in the third act, adequate for a horror picture, but no more. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Too many more remakes as dull and bland as A Nightmare on Elm Street could kill off horror movies for good. Read more

James Rocchi, MSN Movies: ... Like watching a brilliant garage band's sparse, smart singles turned into loud, expensive, overproduced karaoke sing-along versions with the same notes and lyrics but none of the passion and power. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: Traffics in overly familiar scare tactics, setting up predictable false alarms and telegraphing in advance just when Freddy will pop into the frame and utter one of his labored witticisms. Read more

Stephen Garrett, Time Out: Jackie Earle Haley's Krueger is a blast, but the child-molester twist is more depressingly clinical than dream-logic harrowing. Read more

Jeff Shannon, Seattle Times: This new Nightmare is almost completely redundant, but Freddy's blades remain sharp enough to guarantee Haley's job security for at least a few years. Read more

Christy Lemire, Associated Press: The novelty has long since worn off, and cheap, generic scares are all that are left. Read more

Keith Phipps, AV Club: The film cops virtually every memorable image from the original, but loses the depth that gave them power and the sense of place that grounded them. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: Using blasts of shrill, high-decibel noise in place of actual scares has become a common horror-movie tactic, the cinematic equivalent of botox, silicone, and penile-enhancement surgery. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: I've seen far worse horror remakes, but let's not grade on too much of a curve: This Nightmare offers dutifully grinding thrills of a routine sort. Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: The jump scares, given a little extra oomph by the ever-looming possibility of a double wake-up, do what they're supposed to do. They make you jump. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: A Nightmare on Elm Street may be the most unneeded movie of the year. And that's saying something. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: I did jump a few times, and I liked Haley's dour malevolence, but overall, the new Nightmare on Elm Street is a by-the-numbers bad dream. Read more

Christine Champ, Film.com: Freddy's back -- and he's slicker and more sinister than ever. Read more

Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: As an exercise in "re-imagining," to use Hollywood's favorite rehash euphemism, this Nightmare is mostly stale goods. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: The remake has dumbed-down its source to a genre it always transcended: the slice-and-dice, snip-and-quip gore film. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Haley's a fine actor, but he was far scarier in the suburban drama Little Children. And Englund's unpredictable presence is definitely missed. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: To the audience suckered into paying to see this, here's why your generation sucks. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Welcome to 2010, Freddy Krueger. You were scarier in 1984. Read more

Richard Roeper, Richard Roeper.com: Stylish remake isn't as good as the original, but it has enough genuine scares to merit a mild recommendation. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: I stared at A Nightmare on Elm Street with weary resignation. The movie consists of a series of teenagers who are introduced, haunted by nightmares and then slashed to death by Freddy. So what? Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: It's the Bay touch you feel in the way actors register as body count, characters go undeveloped, and sensation trumps feeling. A nightmare, indeed. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: This moody, lifeless movie rips off lines, scenes, dream sequences and character kills from Craven's film ... while draining them of energy, suspense and meaning. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: People have dreams and either get their guts ripped out or don't get their gets ripped out. And then, after 90 or so minutes are used up, the movie finds some weak pretext for ending. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Like a cover band with more stagecraft than talent, A Nightmare on Elm Street looks good recycling "greatest hits" moments but fails to capture the excitement of the original. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: The result of the new Nightmare is, at best, a kind of stand-off between predictability and competent execution. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: There are a lot of things wrong with this remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street, not least of which is that it was made at all. Read more

Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine: The new Nightmare is a straight, shiny, honorable remake. Read more

Nigel Floyd, Time Out: This is the worst yet from Michael Bay's horror production company Platinum Dunes, which also brought you rubbish re-makes of Halloween and Friday the 13th. Read more

Dennis Harvey, Variety: While the 1984 film has aged, its now-familiar jolts still pack more punch than this pic's recycled ones, which sometimes register so tepidly as to cause snickers. Read more

Jen Chaney, Washington Post: All we can think of is how much we miss the Robert Englund Freddy. Man, that guy knew how to have a killer good time. Read more