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A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)
A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)
2010 | Drama, Horror, Mystery
5
5.7 (22 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Back in the 80’s, razor-fingered Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) became an iconic figure of horror and mainstream pop culture with the film “A Nightmare on Elm Street”. Thanks to great special effects, macabre humor, and the charismatic Freddy, audience flocked to theaters and launched a highly successful series that spanned several films. Eventually the series ran its course, but the title character remained a mainstay of horror fans everywhere. Last seen in “Freddy Vs. Jason”, the terror of teenagers’ dreams has returned in a new take on the film from the Platinum Dunes production team, the same team behind the successful relaunch of the “Friday the 13th Series”.

The new film stars Jackie Earl Haley as the title character, and once again he is dispatching the teens of Elm Street in all manner of bizzare and grisly fashions in their dreams. Soon the town is full of dead teens and their insomniac peers anxious for an answer to the madman. Their parents are no help as they are quick to downplay any questions about Freddy and quickly disregard any concerns raised by their kids, even when the body count continues to rise. As their numbers dwindle, a group of friends starts to uncover the reason behind the unresloved deaths and band together to solve the mystery of Freddy Krueger and survive.

Freddy is only able to menace the teens in their sleep, so they take all manner of precautions in an attempt to stay awake and plot a defense, but sleep is something one can only postpone, never fully avoid, which means Freddy is always lurking, just waiting for his chance to strike.

What follows is a fairly by-the-numbers horror film that is sadly is lacking much suspense and horror. I was a big fan of the series and I found myself wanting to watch the original Wes Craven classic rather than what was unfolding on the screen. Haley does a great job as Krueger, blending menace with gallows humor, but Englund left a very large Fedora and razor gloves to fill and Haley comes up lacking. I also missed the elaborate effects that defined the series, greatly underwhelmed by this film’s attempts. The gore, suspense, and thrills were restrained compared to the previous films.

This is not to say this is a bad film, but the generic cast headed by Thomas Dekker gives us very little to root for and left me wanting more. Here is hoping that the next offering gives fans more of what made the series so popular and less of the formulaic predictability that has become so common in horror.
  
First off, I want to thank the authors for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review; please be reassured that receiving this book for free in no way influenced my review in any way.

What a fantastic read that was!

Excellent characters, brilliant and unique story line, gripping and full of suspense … what more can you ask for? Well, throw in a serial killer and a deadly flu virus and you have Silent Fear! But that’s not all … the Morcans write in a way that immerses you into the story so that you become absorbed into the lives of the characters and the dire situation they have found themselves in through no fault of their own.

I have to admit that it was quite daunting to find my Kindle copy was 708 pages long!! That’s one heck of a beast, however, you quickly forget that as you are swept along from chapter to chapter with ease picking up the subtle clues dropped along the way that you don’t initially recognise as being clues until the excellent twist at the end when all is revealed.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good whodunnit or mystery or thriller or serial killer story or … actually, anyone who loves reading a great book and I would urge you to check out the Morcans other works some of which I have been lucky enough to have also read- see my blog for the links - <a href="https://readingstuffnthings.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/silent-fear-by-lance-james-morcan.html">Reading Stuff 'n' Things</a>.
  
HG
Holy Guacamole
Dan Harmer | 2011
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This book blended many different styles of fiction literature all into one book. First, the foodie aspects are prominent, and many of the dishes described had me drooling. I would have loved this book if it was nothing more than a romance blended with gourmet cooking. But, then it grows to contain aspects of suspense, drama, mystery, and unpredictability. I really could not guess where the authors were going with each turn of the page, and it kept me riveted right to the end. Impressively, with as much as was involved in the plot, everything seemed to fit together reasonably well and still felt believable.
Bonnie Miller is the gourmet chef of the plot, but carries enough emotional baggage to scare away most people. Trace Domingo is an aspiring chef with an attraction to Bonnie that overrides anything she can throw at him, which leads to his being dragged along on a wild adventure to sort through Bonnie's baggage. Despite Bonnie's often-cold demeanor, I like how her character develops throughout the plot as she works through her issues. Trace is appropriately supportive and understanding, but his character does not change much from beginning to end.
I also found interesting much of the background information that was worked into the story to represent the local areas used in the plot, such as the food and the politics. The details about the orphanages was especially heart-wrenching, and I love what Bonnie does to contribute aid to them.
This book was both enjoyable and surprising, and I am glad that I was given the opportunity to read it.