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Nightmare's new Freddy defends his new face
Early reviews of Freddy Krueger's new look have been mixed, based on a glimpse in the recent teaser trailer for the reboot of A Nightmare on Elm Street, compelling producer Brad Fuller to say things aren't final yet.
Now we get the new Freddy himself, Jackie Earle Haley, defending the new makeup, which we're told will be more realistic.
We see only a glimpse of Freddy's face in the trailer for the upcoming Nightmare on Elm Street movie, but Haley thinks we'll love it. SCI FI Wire talked to Haley on the red carpet for the Scream Awards at the Greek Theater in Hollywood last night, where he told us how much time it takes to make him into the stuff of nightmares.
"It's so cool," Haley said. "Andrew Clement [the makeup artist] did an awesome job redesigning the makeup. You know, you can imagine since they're making it, going back in time and starting over. Robert Englund did such an amazing job of owning Freddy Krueger, you know, we need to pay homage to that but at the same time be a little bit fresh and new, while still being familiar. So Andrew and Sam [Bayer, the director,] kind of created a new look for this guy that I think is awesome. Of course, we've got the hat and the glove and all that stuff. It should be awesome."
Haley said the process takes three and a half hours, start to finish. "It started at six and a half hours, because they 'art it in' [i.e., play around with it]," he said. "At first it's all about art, and once it's like, 'Oh, this is what it is,' we got it down to three hours and 20 minutes, I think. And then an hour to get out. And that's before I even step foot on set. I've got a four-and-a-half-hour day of makeup."
Sounds like enough to make anyone into a mass murderer. A Nightmare on Elm Street opens April 30, 2010.
By divephotog at 2:36 PM ON 10/19/09
Heck... He will be revised even more by the time they get to Nightmare on Elm Street, rather #1600 Penn-Transylvania Ave...
Kinda like the joke line from the movie - "the premier of Rocky 5.... Thousand".
Me, I won't bother, even on the small screen, so who cares... :D - kh
By GrumpyOldMan at 3:17 PM ON 10/19/09
With all due respect to Mr. Haley, the time he commits to the make-up and the respect he has for the character don't make up for the putty-face look and the burn victim voice.
I think the director started going wrong when he decided for realism in a supernatural thriller. Yes, there's plenty of material on what people look like when they survive fires. But Freddy did not survive!!!!! If you want realism then he should be a walking pile of ashes and charred bone. The current 'remake' lookes like he survived and got some pretty good skin grafts as well.
Oh yeah, and Robert Englund was allergic to the original Freddy make-up, so in addition to the ours of prep and removal, he also got full-body breakouts of hives for his effort. Now that's commitment to a role!
By Kikstad at 3:27 PM ON 10/19/09
I miss the sinister smile. It's not Freddy Kreuger if he's not cracking jokes, in my opinion. He was funny and scary at the same time. The trailer looks like they're going to play it completely straight and abandon the gallow's humor that was a strong point in Robert Englund's portrayal of the character.
By R.B. Huckleberry at 3:47 PM ON 10/19/09
The Freddie makeup looks fine. If they copied Englund's makeup, we'd be howling about how it isn't Englund in the makeup.
By The Doctor at 4:30 PM ON 10/19/09
I think peoople are blowing this way out of proportion. Unless you've seen some super secret trailer the rest of us haven't what can you even tell about the makeup? It's very dark lighting and only quick flashes of him. I don't like or dislike it yet, I don't feel we've really got a look at it.
By Ra-Amun at 4:53 PM ON 10/19/09
give me a new voice....a good freddy laugh...and the piano tune & i might be happy
By ryan23 at 6:34 PM ON 10/19/09
Well if Dokken isn't on the soundtrack, it's not Elm street.
Why is the dude having to defend it? Is anyone really worried they won't make this thing better than it was? It's not like they are redoing Citizen Kane. The trailer I saw looked like a decent movie, if it looked like an old Elm Street in 2009/10, it would look ridiculous.
By Photoboy at 7:13 PM ON 10/19/09
I'd be interested to know how Fuller can claim the make-up isn't final when they've shot the whole film. Unless he plans to re-shoot all the Freddy scenes or use expensive CGI to change the face I think it's pretty damn final.
When the script for the first Bayformers leaked, Bay tried to claim the script wasn't final yet the film released was identical to the mess in the script.
I suspect the producers are just lying about changing things in the hopes that people upset about the make-up will come to see the finished film. I definitely plan to give the film a chance, but they shouldn't make stuff up to try and con people into seeing it.
By Captain America at 8:40 PM ON 10/19/09
Waaaiiittt... did he really go with the Scottish accent for Freddy Krueger?
Didn't anybody think to tell him that Frederick Krueger is a GERMAN name?
By zzbickyzz at 9:18 PM ON 10/19/09
Another remake...huge yawn..
Bring on Drag Me to Hell Part 2 or something else original.
By Sithboy at 11:28 PM ON 10/19/09
I'll probably wait for video on this, but I do love Clancy Brown!
By Red Mask at 5:49 AM ON 10/20/09
Give him back his faaaace!
By enak at 9:29 PM ON 10/23/09
i dunno, i think it may have a chance. as long as the dont screw it up like that other remake they just did for the "13th" time......
By arianna at 12:04 PM ON 10/24/09
I'll go see it just because it is a freddy movie. The face and the voice do have me concerned but I'm willing to give it a chance.
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arianna:
I'll go see it just because it is a freddy movie. The face and the voice do have me concerned but I'm willing to gi...More »