The premise is a familiar one if you’re familiar with the original series. A group of teenagers is haunted by a disfigured man with knives for fingers. In their dreams, he attacks and tries to kill them. Unlike other serial killers, Mr. Krueger attacks people in their dreams but if he kills a person in their dreams they are dead in the real world as well.

According to the remake’s website, the new “Nightmare” is a “contemporary re-imagining of the seminal horror classic.” I have not seen the original in several years, but from what I remember this film heavily borrows from its predecessor, but this one’s not likely be remembered as fondly.

In the new “Nightmare,” the action starts quickly as teenagers start getting attacked by Krueger after they fall asleep. These teenagers have no idea who this mysterious figure is and no one in the town seems willing to tell them. Slowly, these young characters start to delve into the past to find out who this man is and why he has come after them so viciously. At the same time, other teens are being killed one by one.

Unfortunately, there is very little character development or growth. Viewers will likely not care who gets attacked next or what happens next because there is nothing really interesting about any of the characters. For most of the movie, they do not even know who’s attacking them so they’re unaware of the logic behind the murders. The movie just drifts from scene to scene without any real purpose, other than to show teens falling asleep and getting violently attacked.

The trailer, which was released several months ago, seemed pretty promising. It showed a man being chased by a crowd of townspeople into an abandoned building. In a dramatic sequence, the townspeople light the building on fire and the man is seen inside the building ripping off his coat revealing a distinct Freddy Krueger sweater as he cries out in pain. Unfortunately, that is one of the few background sequences shown. Instead of dwelling on what made Freddy Krueger Freddy Krueger, the story focuses more on the typical serial killer stuff.

If you think about the story’s concept, it’s a solid one. A disfigured man attacks, not in the dead of night, but in nightmares. How can people defeat a man who only attacks you in your sleep? How long can you stay awake before your body shuts down? It sounds like an interesting concept—a man who attacks people in their dreams.

Unfortunately, this movie is just a nightmare.

I originally projected $51.25M for the 4-day weekend on Friday night, amd some analysts have the new Jason Voorhies saga sailing higher basec on early rerturns (I am now projecting $47M for 4 days). The combination of Valentine’s Day and a school holiday Monday for President’s Day make predicting the movie’s long weekend haul a tricky call, but regardless, this is great news for Warner Bros, which has the domestic distribution rights, Paramount, handling international distribution, and Platinum Dunes.

Platinum Dunes partners Brad Fuller and Andrew Form

Friday the Thirteenth director Marcus Nispel was always the first choice for this project. “We had success with him on Texas Chainsaw Massacre. What this required was a great look, and he always delivers that. You can get a guy who makes it look pretty, but doesn’t make his days,” Fuller told me. “Marcus always delivers on time.”

I have characterized Friday the Thirteenth as a reboot, but Fuller isn’t entirely sure. “Legally, it’s a sequel. If you have to give it a name, it’s a sequel to the first movie,” but he quickly follows with “I don’t know what it is.” Probably F13 is best described as something between a reboot and a re-imagining.

This movie was never going to be a darling with critics (28% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), but there are some positive notices.

“The series reboot is much the same, but it’s easily the most effective — and scary — entrant in the franchise.”
– Adam Graham, DETROIT NEWS

“Quibbles aside, Jason Voorhies has become almost a modern-day Dracula or Frankenstein’s monster – a figurehead of horror, despite some of his regrettable screen incarnations. It’s refreshing to see a movie take him seriously again.”
– Derek Donovan, KANSAS CITY STAR

“In addition to being awesome, it all just feels kind of celebratory, even reverent, like a tribute to what teen slasher films are all about.”
– Cammila Albertson, TV GUIDE’S MOVIE GUIDE

Harry Manfredini composed the score for the original FRIDAY THE 13TH, but wasn't invited to participate in the reboot

Some hardcore fans were upset that composer Harry Manfredini, who wrote the score for 1980’s original, was not invited to be part of this reboot. “Steve Jablonski has done the score for every one of our movies.” Fuller says. In the end, “we pulled out a lot of the score and went with ambient sound,” and, for my money, it amps up the tension perfectly.

Michael Bayer will direct the reboot of NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, but who will play Freddy?

Platinum Dunes, comprised of Michael Bay, Andrew Form and Fuller, will next tackle a reboot of Nightmare on Elm Street, and they have settled on Samuel Bayer as director, who will be making his feature debut. “He’s done a bunch of amazing commercials and videos, and we offered him a ton of jobs, “ says Fuller. The production company had a picture in development at Universal called Fiasco Heights with Bayer attached, but when Frank Miller’s The Spirit flopped at Christmas time, the project lost steam. They began looking for another project for Bayer and along came Freddy.

Fuller says that his company’s goal for Friday the Thirteenth has always been to surpass the $80M generated by its 2003 version of Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It should safely get to the $80M-$90M range in the US, and the producer tells me that he expects to start thinking about a sequel as soon as Tuesday.

Steve Mason is on Facebook and now also on Twitter.