The Elm Street remake fails miserably not on how bad it contrasts with the original, but how it fails horribly on its own ideas. Like the ’84 version, Elm Street 2010 is about kids sharing dreams of a clawed killer pissed off from a past injustice. Where it differs — and this is very important — is on the triggering motive behind the initial crime. The Krueger of the remake is a pre-school janitor who came under the torch when the students accused him of molestation. Where the film is interesting (not better than the original, but interesting) is that the kids talk about how Krueger is the result of repressed memories. Recurring nightmares as the result of repression is actually an interesting new path into the series, especially when it gives the children a direct bond to Krueger and his motivations.

The film gets more interesting still when one of the kids realizes they accused Freddy falsely: he was an unjustifiable murder. It’s a good twist that brings a new wrinkle to Freddy’s origins. But then not more than five minutes pass when the filmmakers realize that that’s too controversial, so they about-face and make Krueger a molester again. And here is where it gets jaw-droppingly bad: Krueger says he’s murdering them one by one because the kids told on him. They broke their social contract with the man molesting them, when it was their “secret” and now he wants them to pay for it.

What. The. Fuck.

The initial sin now is not revenge on parents who ignore their own imperfect laws. It isn’t the shared hysteria of repressed memories and guilt for getting an innocent man killed. It isn’t even as simple as how something horrible from your past invades your present life. It’s “you will be punished for telling the truth and stopping the molester that was harming you.” And that’s about the most irresponsible, most dangerous message anyone — let alone a Hollywood movie — can send anyone.