VOA标准英语2010年-Director Sam Bayer Re-Boots 'A Nightma

Jackie Earle Haley as Freddy Krueger in 'A Nightmare on Elm Street'

Freddy Krueger, one of the creepiest and most memorable¹ villains² from modern American horror films, is back on screen in a new and more grisly version of his tragic³ story in the 're-boot' of "A Nightmare on Elm Street"

"Do you think you can hurt me? Do you think you can turn back time? Do you think you can bring the dead back to life?"
"Who are you?"
"I'm your nightmare."

 

Who could forget the ghostly figure of Freddy Krueger: a disfigured face … long razor-sharp knives flash from his fingers … and his sinister⁴ way of turning the dreams of his victims into deadly nightmares.

The teenagers are puzzled that Freddy is in all of their dreams; and by the time they figure out why, it may be too late as, one by one, the specter kills them in their sleep.

Freddy drew his first blood 26 years ago in the original "A Nightmare on Elm Street," written and directed by Wes Craven, the former university literature professor who revitalized the horror genre⁵. The seemingly unstoppable Krueger character came back in six more movies (seven if you count "Freddy vs Jason," the 2003 production that pitted him against the hockey mask-wearing slasher from the "Friday the 13th" franchise⁶, Jason Voorhees).

Director Samuel Bayer on the set of “A Nightmare on Elm Street”

This time around, the "Nightmare" director is Sam Bayer, a star in the music video world making his feature film debut⁷.

"Sometimes, creatively, I think franchises⁸ need to be re-invented and Freddy had become a bit jokey …a vaudevillian⁹ kind of character; I don't know how much he scared people any more," he said. "So there's a 're-boot' element of what we've done with this movie. I want to scare a new generation of people with this movie and I want Freddy Krueger to be what I feel Wes Craven intended him to be, which is a real bogeyman, because I want it to be really scary.

Robert Englund played the murderer in the previous "Nightmare" films; but in this 're-boot,' Jackie Earle Haley takes on the role.

"This was Freddy Krueger," he said. "When I was considering this a voice in my head kept saying 'how can you not play Freddy Kruger?'

A former child star whose acting¹⁰ career was rejuvenated¹¹ by an Oscar-nominated performance in the 2006 drama "Little Children," Haley says his goal was not to make Krueger sympathetic, but to make him truly frightening.

"What I embraced was the bogeyman," he said. "To me Freddy has always been this serial¹² killer¹³. That's what he's always represented to me [and] I was just truly embracing the bogeyman in a campfire story."

Rooney Mara as Nancy in “A Nightmare on Elm Street”

Rising young actress Rooney Mara co-stars as Nancy, the teenager who solves the mystery of why the killer is ravaging¹⁴ her dreams and those of her classmates.

"Without giving too much away, I don't think you can go through something like that without it affecting you," she said. "We wanted that to be a part of her character, so I think our Nancy is much darker. She is disturbed and trying to figure out why she is the way she is and what happened to her. I think it really affects her." 

Mara's Nancy is among numerous nods to the original film and, of course, true to the genre, the characters get themselves into situations that have the audience shouting "don't go in there!"

"I think in any horror movie there are always going those moments of 'no! don't go up the stairs!' I don't think you can really escape that," she said. "I don't think you could escape it in real life if it was really happening to you. You're not making the best decisions in those moments."

The handsome and hapless young victims in "A Nightmare on Elm Street" include Kellan Lutz, Thomas Dekker, Katie Cassidy and Kyle Gallner. The screenplay is by Wesley Strick and Eric Heisserer and this new "Nightmare" is produced by "Transformers" director Michael Bay.
 

1 memorable   

adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的

参考例句：

• This was indeed the most memorable day of my life.这的确是我一生中最值得怀念的日子。
• The veteran soldier has fought many memorable battles.这个老兵参加过许多难忘的战斗。

2 villains   

n.恶棍( villain的名词复数 )；罪犯；（小说、戏剧等中的）反面人物；淘气鬼

参考例句：

• The impression of villains was inescapable. 留下恶棍的印象是不可避免的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some villains robbed the widow of the savings. 有几个歹徒将寡妇的积蓄劫走了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

4 sinister   

adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的

参考例句：

• There is something sinister at the back of that series of crimes.在这一系列罪行背后有险恶的阴谋。
• Their proposals are all worthless and designed out of sinister motives.他们的建议不仅一钱不值，而且包藏祸心。

5 genre   

n.(文学、艺术等的)类型，体裁，风格

参考例句：

• My favorite music genre is blues.我最喜欢的音乐种类是布鲁斯音乐。
• Superficially,this Shakespeare's work seems to fit into the same genre.从表面上看， 莎士比亚的这个剧本似乎属于同一类型。

6 franchise   

n.特许，特权，专营权，特许权

参考例句：

• Catering in the schools is run on a franchise basis.学校餐饮服务以特许权经营。
• The United States granted the franchise to women in 1920.美国于1920年给妇女以参政权。

7 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

8 franchises   

n.（尤指选举议员的）选举权( franchise的名词复数 )；参政权；获特许权的商业机构（或服务）；（公司授予的）特许经销权v.给…以特许权，出售特许权( franchise的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• TV franchises will be auctioned to the highest bidder. 电视特许经营权将拍卖给出价最高的投标人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ford dealerships operated as independent franchises. 福特汽车公司的代销商都是独立的联营商。 来自辞典例句

9 vaudevillian   

n.轻歌舞剧编剧者，杂耍演员

参考例句：

• Mary is a vaudevillian. 玛丽是一个杂耍演员。 来自互联网
• In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran cast vicariously as both victim and villain vicissitudes of fate. 一位谦虚的杂耍老手代苦难命运的受害者和加害者演出这个面孔。 来自互联网

10 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

11 rejuvenated   

更生的

参考例句：

• He was rejuvenated by new hope. 新的希望又使他充满了活力。
• She looked rejuvenated after plastic surgery. 她做完整形手术后显得年轻了。

12 serial   

n.连本影片，连本电视节目；adj.连续的

参考例句：

• A new serial is starting on television tonight.今晚电视开播一部新的电视连续剧。
• Can you account for the serial failures in our experiment?你能解释我们实验屡屡失败的原因吗？

13 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

14 ravaging   

毁坏( ravage的现在分词 )； 蹂躏； 劫掠； 抢劫

参考例句：

• It is believed that in fatigue there is a repeated process of ravaging the material. 据认为，在疲劳中，有一个使材料毁坏的重复过程。
• I was able to capture the lion that was ravaging through town. 我能逮住正在城里肆虐的那头狮子。