I never did watch the original A Nightmare on Elm Street until at least ten years after its release.  By this point, the series had jumped the shark, and was having Freddy Kreuger — I dunno — becoming a baby or something.  Watching the original Nightmare reminded me of Freddy Kreuger’s dark roots, long lost by the sixth and supposedly final Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare.

A brief Nightmarish history, as far as I can remember:

1. The original movie is scary as hell, features Johnny Depp, and they call the in-somnus killer “Fred Krueger.” He’s actually a scary villain who haunts and kills us at our most vulnerable—WHEN WE’RE ASLEEP.
   
2. In Freddy’s Revenge he enters the awake world through this kid — ostensibly to kill more people — and it looks painful and they start calling him Freddy.
3. I think Dream Warriors may have been half decent, where Freddy says funny things while killing off the last of the Elm Street kids. Plus, more Heather Langenkamp.
4. In The Dream Master, I dunno, Freddy somehow comes back again and tries killing more people, but I guess some chick stops him by releasing all the souls he’d killed or whatever, I don’t think I ever watched this one.
5. The fifth movie is the one where Freddy tries to be reborn or something but some other chick saves the day and the kid she has is just a kid. I don’t remember watching this anymore.
6. Okay they stuff him with a pipe bomb to kill him! He’s dead! Freddy’s Dead! Finally! I don’t think I could have taken any more!

Each movie got progressively worse, and Freddy (née Fred)  Kruger got progressively less frightening.  By the sixth film, there was no fear left.  I think we all breathed a big sigh of relief when he was destroyed in The Final Nightmare, because we wouldn’t have to deal with him anymore.

And please don’t get me started on the TV series.

The legacy of Fred Krueger was back in Wes Craven’s New Nightmare, bringing Heather Langenkamp back to the series once more and turning reality sideways when they tried to make a new movie. It had a few good moments,and took the character of Freddy Krueger serious once again.  Freddy vs. Jason, the classic match-up viewers have been screaming for since the mid 80′s, ruined the character even more, though that film was a great hour and change for other reasons.

As with all ‘good’ things, coupled with the current 2k trend of remaking movies, they’re redoing this one. They’ve even gone so far as to hire Michael Bay to produce it. And we all know the awesomeness of which Michael Bay is capable.

And yet, I find myself very intrigued by this new film. This new film stars Jackie Earle Haley (very notably from Watchmen and Shutter Island) as the new Freddy Krueger and leaves behind the wise-cracking element that made the original sequels both a pleasure and pain to watch.

The trailer looks creepy. Will the entire film hold up to the promise? And will we get to see cameos with Heather Langenkamp, Robert Englund, or Johnny Depp? I severely hope so, though I doubt we’ll get to see Heather Langenkamp or Johnny Depp appear somewhere in these films.

A Nightmare on Elm Street is scheduled for release on April 30, 2010.

OK really fast, how about the Kurgan being Freddy’s creator?  I think I flipped in my seat when I saw him leap out of the car at the start of the trailer.