Warner Bros has released a new theatrical banner for Samuel Bayer’s remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street. Check it out in full, after the jump.
Interview: Samuel Bayer, Director of A Nightmare on Elm Street
Posted on Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 by David Chen
I’ll be honest and say that when I first heard a music video director would be doing a remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street, one of the most beloved horror franchises of all time, I wasn’t too crazy about the idea. Sure, we’ve seen brilliant music video directors such as Fincher and Jonze go on to have very successful film careers, but just as often, we get overstylized filmmaking with no sense of how to make a 90-minute film cohere as a whole.
Then I read up a little bit more on director Samuel Bayer and I realized that the man has helped to define a generation of music videos, creating some of the most iconic images of all time. His music videos are stylish, visually interesting, bold, and unique. His commercials are attention-grabbing and beautifully shot and edited. If there are music video directors out there that can successfully make the transition into feature directing, Sam Bayer certainly has the potential to do so.
I had the chance to chat with Mr. Bayer for a lengthy interview. We discussed the making of his favorite music videos, what other movies he’s tried to direct over the years, why he’s remaking Nightmare, what he hopes to accomplish with his new take on Wes Craven’s classic, his next planned projects, and the legacy he hopes to leave behind. You can read the interview after the jump or download the interview via the /Filmcast below. A Nightmare on Elm Street is out in theaters on April 30, 2010.
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Samuel Bayer, thanks so much for speaking with us today at Slashfilm.com.
Thank you.
So, a lot of our listeners might know that you are going to be directing the new ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ film, but they might not know your music video work. I’m wondering if you could just talk a little bit about your career over the last 20 years, and how you got your start working in music videos.
Yeah, I was actually a painter, living in New York, and– this is back quite a few years ago– and to make ends meet, I worked on music video sets to make money. And this was back in the heyday of MTV, and music videos were very exciting, and this was when Fincher was doing stuff, and Michael Bay was doing commercial videos. And I don’t know, I just got it under my skin and got the idea that I could do videos, and moved out to Los Angeles in 1991, and knew somebody at a record company, and took them out to lunch, and bought lunch for them and didn’t buy it for myself. And when the person asked why I wasn’t eating any food and I said, “Because I can’t afford to eat, but I can afford to buy you lunch, and how about a job?” And so she gave me a music video to direct, and it was Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” That was the first thing I ever directed, and hopefully kids today remember what that is, and that started my career.
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Briefly: Actress Milla Jovovich revealed on Twitter that the teaser trailer for Resident Evil 4 will be attached to A Nightmare on Elm Street, which hits theaters on April 30th.
Set Visit Interview: A Nightmare on Elm Street Special Effects Make-Up Artist Andrew Clement
Posted on Thursday, February 25th, 2010 by Peter Sciretta
Back in June, I had a chance to visit the set of Platinum Dunes remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street with a group of online journalists. This week we will be publishing the interviews we conducted on the set of the movie. After the jump you can read our interview with special effects make-up artist Andrew Clement, whose 24-year career in Hollywood spans The Princess Bride to Army of Darkness to Blade to Spider-Man 3 to Cloverfield to Star Trek. In Nightmare, Clement’s job was to reinvent Freddy’s appearance as a less cartoonish, more real-life burn victim. Read the interview, after the jump.
A Nightmare on Elm Street Movie Trailer #2
Posted on Thursday, February 25th, 2010 by Peter Sciretta
Warner Bros/New Line Cinema has released a new movie trailer for Samuel Bayer’s remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street. The new trailer gives us a much better sense of the film than the teaser trailer. We finally get a better look at the look and style of the nightmare sequences, and we also hear a lot more from Jackie Earle Haley as Freddy Krueger, although we still don’t get a good look at his face. I appears they are trying to reveal as little of Freddy as possible, to make him more mysterious. I wonder if this is just a marketing strategy, or if the film hides the character in the shadows until the end of the second act? Having seen Jackie in full head make-up on set, I will tell you — he was terrifying to look at. It is also very strange watching Jackie Earle Haley in this trailer after returning home from a screening of Jason Reitman’s presentation of Breaking Away at the New Beverly Cinema, in which Haley appears as a young teenager.
I’ll be honest — I’m really not sure what to think about the voice Jackie used for the character. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad they are making Freddy scary again — I always found it sad that the character devolves into an R-rated Looney Toons character in the later installments of the original series. Despite my hesitations (the recorded video on the laptop, some of the dialogue and performances of the co-star teenagers), I’m looking forward to this remake more than any of the other films Platinum Dunes has released thus far.
Watch the trailer now, embedded after the jump. I want to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
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Set Visit Interviews: Nightmare On Elm Street Stars Rooney Mara and Kyle Gallner
Posted on Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 by Peter Sciretta
Back in June, I had a chance to visit the set of Platinum Dunes remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street with a group of online journalists. This week we will be publishing the interviews we conducted on the set of the movie. After the jump you can read our interviews with the kids in this new remake: Rooney Mara and Kyle Gallner. We caught up with Rooney and Kyle in a little roundtable interview area off to the side of the set. Read the full interview after the jump.
Set Visit Interview: A Nightmare on Elm Street Producers Brad Fuller and Andrew Form
Posted on Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 by Peter Sciretta
Back in June, I has a chance to visit the set of Platinum Dunes remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street with a group of online journalists. This week we will be publishing the interviews we conducted on the set of the movie. After the jump you can read our extensive interview with Platinum Dunes producers Brad Fuller and Andrew Form.
As the head executives of Michael Bay’s genre production company, Fuller and Form have produced The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2003 remake, and 2006 prequel The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, as well as The Amityville Horror 2005 remake, The Hitcher, Horsemen, The Unborn, and the Friday the 13th 2009 remake.
We caught up with Brad and “Drew” in a little roundtable interview area off to the side of the set. Read the full interview after the jump.
A Nightmare On Elm Street: New Poster, Photos, and Trailer News
Posted on Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 by Peter Sciretta
You may have noticed that on Monday we published our set visit report for Samuel Bayer’s remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street. You will also see on set interviews with the cast and crew of the film throughout the week. The reason we’re running everything this week is because this is the week our embargo broke. And it seems to time nicely with Warner Bros’ next phase of the film’s marketing release, as a new poster has just been revealed, and a new trailer will hit later this week. Did I mention that we also have four new photos from the film? All this and more, after the jump.
Set Visit Interview: A Nightmare on Elm Street star Jackie Earle Haley
Posted on Monday, February 22nd, 2010 by Peter Sciretta
Back in June, I has a chance to visit the set of Platinum Dunes remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street with a group of online journalists. This week we will be publishing the interviews we conducted on the set of the movie. After the jump you can read the short interview with actor Jackie Earle Haley, who plays Freddy Krueger in the film.
Haley was nominated for an Academy Award for playing a child molester in Little Children, and just appeared as a crazy mental patient in Martin Scorsese’s upcoming Shutter Island. Most readers probably know him as Rorschach in Zack Snyder’s adaptation of Watchmen. To me, Haley possesses the perfect balance of creepiness and intelligence needed for the character of Freddy.
We caught up with Haley in his trailer, after he had just undergone four and a half hours in the make-up trailer. We also got a few more words for Haley, on set, in between takes. Read the full interview after the jump.
On Thursday June 25th, I had the opportunity to visit the set of Platinum Dunes’ remake/re-imagining of A Nightmare on Elm Street. The film is directed by Samuel Bayer. Many of you might not immediately recognize the name, but Bayer is the man responsible for many of the classic alternative videos from the 1990’s (Nivana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit, Blind Melon’s No Rain…etc), and Nightmare is his feature directorial debut. And Academy Award-nominee Jackie Earle Haley takes over as Freddy Krueger.
Throughout the week I’ll also be posting interviews we conducted on the set with the producers Brad Fuller and Andrew Form, director Samuel Bayer, stars Jackie Earle Haley, Rooney Mara, Kyle Gallner and even some of the behind the scenes crew, like special effects make-up artist Andrew Clement. Instead of writing up a boring block of text talking about my experience visiting the Chicago set, I’ve recorded a video blog with Frosty from Collider. You can watch both our preview blog and full set visit video blog, embedded after the jump.
