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Never Sleep Again

Despite Richard's enjoyment of it, I have no major interest in seeing Sam Bayer's 2010 version of A Nightmare on Elm Street. Even though I have a coupon to see the movie for dirt cheap, I'm not looking into available showtimes this week. Something about a remake that essentially recycles the original film shot-for-shot and explains all backstory not found in the original (and is not Rob Zombie's take on Halloween) just doesn't interest me.

But there's an upswing for me: a desire to watch the original film again.

I did not see any Nightmare On Elm Street movies until I was a freshman in college, but I knew who Freddy Krueger was well before then. I couldn't avoid seeing him in commercials, be it for another Nightmare sequel or for FrightFest at Astroworld. I knew what he looked like and was quite often scared of him. That's what a good franchise horror villain should do, right?

Aside from Wes Craven's New Nightmare, I have not seen any of sequels, but I do have some interest in Part 3 solely because of Frank Darabont's involvement. I'm pretty sure I'll watch the pilot episode of his forthcoming The Walking Dead before that happens.

Yet all the roads kept leading back to the original. Be it a friend who posted a blurry picture of himself in front of Nancy's house to seeing John Saxon in the original Black Christmas to getting a better understanding of Wes Craven's work and intentions, I've had reminders of the original Nightmare all along.

I now have a copy of the original on Blu-ray and I will break it out and watch it soon. Being the only horror film fan in the house, I'll have to watch it alone. But I'm pretty sure I'll have no problem falling asleep that night.

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