The recently released remake of “A Nightmare on Elm Street” does horror right, paying homage to what made the original so good and memorable but builds on it in ways that are uniquely brilliant.

The original, “A Nightmare on Elm Street” written by Wes Craven, was a great movie for its time (1984). But, in this day in age it doesn’t hold up very well.  For starters, there aren’t nearly enough scares.  Also, the story doesn’t really make all that much sense when you really think about it.  Nonetheless, it was a great premise and featured one of the coolest villains in movies of all time.

Flash-forward to nearly 30 years later, and we have the remake of the movie that started the nightmare series.  Fortunately, almost all of the flaws present in the original are fixed in this interpretation.  There are plenty of moments that ratchet up the suspense and anticipation, leave you hanging for what seems like an eternity, and then makes you jump out of your seat when you start to feel secure that nothing is going to happen.

There were definitely some memorable scenes in the original film that are still present in this new release.  However, there are several scenes where it is clear that everything is directed to mimic the setup in the first movie. Throughout the movie you will often think that you know exactly what is coming next, but then Freddie does something totally different from what happened in the first film.

It’s things like this that makes this newer movie stand out on its own.

And perhaps the biggest improvement is in the telling of the story.  There aren’t any dropped threads, and the plot seems believable.  The story is able to clearly explain why Freddie can’t die, why only some kids have these dreams, and who Fred Kreuger was before he died.

While this movie does most things right, the only thing the original did better was in the portrayal of the characters.  I am not saying that the acting was horrible—which it most certainly was not—but something about the original just seemed a bit more real.  It’s hard to explain, but for some reason the original crew was more likeable.  However, this is just a minor complaint, as it does not detract from the overall experience in any way. 

It is worth mentioning that there is one character who is undeniably more convincing than the original—Freddie Kreuger.  He has so many great lines that the combination of dialogue and acting really portrays him as a sick and twisted sociopath.  This movie really makes clear that Freddie is someone to fear.

If you are a fan of classic horror movies, then you would be doing yourself a disservice by not seeing this movie.  It has everything that made the horror movies of old special, but builds on it in the right way.  In fact, if you are even remotely a fan of the horror genre, then this is one nightmare you will be glad you had.