Ali
With the 2010 reboot unlikely to spawn sequels, the writer of the Jackie Earle Haley-starring “A Nightmare on Elm Street” has confidently taken taken to Twitter to open up about why the film stank like a three-day-old rat on a porch welcome mat.
Eric Heisserer, whose screenplay for the film ”Arrival” earned him a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination at the 89th Academy Awards in 2016, got his big break writing a remake of the classic Wes Craven film six years prior. With no sway back then, the then-newcomer had to simply sit back and witness his script be torn by to shreds by director Samuel Bayer, who clearly didn’t share the then newcomer’s vision for the film and seemingly ignored most of the beats, and entire sequences.
“the draft that we thought was going to be shot was different in many ways, some big and some subtle”, the writer said, responding to a question by Bloody Disgusting, on Twitter. “This happens a lot, but I still have memories of arriving to set and recognizing nothing from the script on the shooting schedule.”
Heisserer went on to give examples, including a creative dream sequence set in a moving vehicle that he thought would really hit.
Furthermore, the film – which the studio ultimately had billed as a ‘sequel’ – was intended as an out-and-out remake, says Heisserer, but billing it otherwise meant they didn’t have to credit Wes Craven for the story and characters.
Despite rumors that Robert Englund might be being prepped to return for a final sequel to the Craven “Elm Street” series, the wordsmith believes a new ‘remake’ is the way to go.
Check out the posts below..
Oh man. What a lesson for me in first movies made. I get why this was used as the standout example in the GIF, but oof. I wish the script I'd written, with the two NL execs as shepherds, would have been the movie. https://t.co/H5ajJjCQoo
— Eric Heisserer (@HIGHzurrer) March 17, 2019
As @bradmiska might remember, the draft that we thought was going to be shot was different in many ways, some big and some subtle. This happens a lot, but I still have memories of arriving to set and recognizing nothing from the script on the shooting schedule.
— Eric Heisserer (@HIGHzurrer) March 17, 2019
On my first day on set, a crew member told me, "In this intro scene for the two leads, we decided there wasn't enough dialogue for them at this party so we took some dialogue from page 87 and put it here."
— Eric Heisserer (@HIGHzurrer) March 17, 2019
In case you were wondering, this is NOT how it works. And that was one of so many things I saw undone. One of the New Line guys and I worked hard to sidestep tropes in the script. An example: Freddy appearing while two characters are driving in car.
— Eric Heisserer (@HIGHzurrer) March 17, 2019
"The trope we've seen a thousand times is: Freddy is standing in the middle of the road, and they have to swerve. Let's be smarter." And we were. He can appear anywhere, and we have the advantage that you don't know which of the two is dreaming — driver, or passenger.
— Eric Heisserer (@HIGHzurrer) March 17, 2019
So we had Freddy rise up in the back seat, taunt Quentin (driving) as he gores Nancy through the chair, blood spraying the windshield, Nancy screaming at Quentin WAKE UP and he snaps to realize he'd drifted off while driving and the two crash the car into a tree.
— Eric Heisserer (@HIGHzurrer) March 17, 2019
Now they both have concussions, to complicate matters when they realize the way to kill him is to fall asleep and then wake up once they have hold of Freddy.
What do I see on set that night? Freddy standing in the middle of the road.
— Eric Heisserer (@HIGHzurrer) March 17, 2019
And with so many scenes that pay homage to Wes Craven, and a story that stayed closed to the original, you'd think it would be considered a remake by everyone involved. But nope. For credit purposes, another writer got it classified as a sequel. Which infuriates me even now.
— Eric Heisserer (@HIGHzurrer) March 17, 2019
Why? Because it meant Wes Craven was not given story credit. For characters and a world he invented. For a plot twist akin to PSYCHO that was his idea — you don't realize Nancy is the heroine for the first act. I petitioned to have him included and lost.
— Eric Heisserer (@HIGHzurrer) March 17, 2019
All of this a really long-winded way of saying: Yes, this should be remade. I'm not advocating my script from back then, but just have it made by people who have a love and expertise of not just NOES but horror. There are some amazing voices today for it.
— Eric Heisserer (@HIGHzurrer) March 17, 2019
This is a bit toward the end, after the car wreck, when Nancy and Quentin have gone from being potential victims to actively pursuing Freddy, to kill him: pic.twitter.com/oNeMgKGd7T
— Eric Heisserer (@HIGHzurrer) March 17, 2019
