A Nightmare on Elm Street star Kyle Gallner has clarified comments that were misconstrued as him dissing the 2010 movie. The actor, who would go on to star in other horror projects including this year's Scream and Smile, had an early role in the film, which was a reimagining of the 1984 supernatural slasher classic of the same name. Gallner played Quentin Smith, a member of the swim team who becomes instrumental in helping the final girl Nancy Holbrook (Rooney Mara) figure out why they are being haunted in their dreams by the knife-gloved killer Freddy Krueger (Jackie Earle Haley).
On Twitter, the YouTube channel Beyond the Mask asked fans to challenge themselves to say something about the generally reviled Nightmare on Elm Street remake, which Gallner tweeted, "they had this local Italian place bring food in for the craft service truck and the meatballs were killer." The tweet went viral among horror fans, with readers assuming that the comment was meant as shade toward the film. However, Gallner followed up that tweet to say it was misinterpreted and that he was merely "sharing behind the scenes greatness." He also went on to reveal other tidbits, including the fact that he was accidentally cut for real while filming a Freddy scene and that he was allowed to keep the Speedo he wore for his swim practice scene. Check out both posts below:
Why Fans Hate A Nightmare On Elm Street 2010
2010's A Nightmare on Elm Street featured a group of up-and-coming stars, including Gallner, Mara, and The Twilight Saga's Kellan Lutz, along with more established stars like Haley and Friday Night Lights' Connie Britton. It was also a commercial success, making $117.7 million at the box office off its $35 million budget. In spite of this, it became the worst-reviewed entry in the franchise among fans and critics alike. It holds a dismal Rotten Tomatoes score of 14% and fares a little better on Metacritic with a generally unfavorable score of 35.
There are several reasons for the film's incredibly poor reception. The first is a rather obvious one – it's a remake of a minted horror classic. Considering how much enduring love there is for the original Nightmare on Elm Street and the Freddy Krueger legacy it spawned, a modern retelling of the same story was unlikely to fare well. There was also the matter that Krueger was being recast for the first time. Unlike masked killers Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers, Freddy is tied inextricably with a single actor, Robert Englund, who played him in all eight Elm Street films before 2010 as well as two seasons of the anthology show, Freddy's Nightmares.
There was little chance of a positive reception for a new Freddy Krueger unless he was absolutely perfect, but the film around the character also failed him. 2010's A Nightmare on Elm Street screenplay took him to a much darker place, adding molestation elements on top of his murderous tendencies, which hurt his backstory severely. For all those reasons and more, no new Elm Street film has materialized in the decade nor changed since the remake's release.
Source: Kyle Gallner/Twitter