Nightmare Prequel

With all of the prequels that have been released over the past few years, most of which were bad (I'm looking directly at you George Lucas), it's crazy that there hasn't been a Nightmare on Elm Street prequel yet.

Now I know that supposedly there is talk of one, but until there is definitive proof that one is upcoming I have the right to bitch and moan about the lack of one so far. Freddy Krueger is to horror films what Darth Vader is to Science Fiction films. He's the cool bad guy. Sure he was a child molester and murderer but we want and need a film that tells the whole story as to how he became what he is.

Ok, so the child molestation angle would have to go in today's world, and rightfully so seeing as how it is an occurrence that happens much too often in real life. But, the film could still explain that he was a child killer without being graphic and leading to copycats in the real world. Besides, just the story of why a man would grow up to make a glove with razor sharp knives for fingers and end up getting torched by the neighbors is just too good to pass up.

The snippets of his past we have seen in the movies have made us want more. Please, whoever is in charge at New Line, give us this one crumb. As long as there isn't any Jar Jar Binks, we'll be happy.

BayFormers: A movie so bad a robot would cry.

As a longtime Transformers fan (Going strong since 1984), I was originally stoked about the feature film to be released on July 4. How could it go wrong? You have a 20+ year back story, recognizable characters and Steven Spielberg producing.

It seems that all three of those are the reasons my excitement for this film has left me. Spielberg has put Michael Bay at the helm of it, even after admitting he had no interest in the characters or the plot that has made Transformers the piece of Americana that it is. Only after being told he could do it as an "aliens invades earth" type of movie did he agree to it.

The characters are what drive Transformers. Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Jazz, Megatron and Starscream: These are what people wanted, true to life versions of the characters we grew up with. It's understandable to make a few changes, and I have no problem with Megatron being an alien spacefighter instead of a gun or Bumblebee being a Camaro instead of a Volkswagon Beetle but to turn Megatron from a humanoid type of robot to a chrome version of the Predator just doesn't work. I won't even get started on the new version of Starscream, whose character has always been of a "pretty boy" who is vain about his looks being turned into a mechanical monkey/wasp hybrid.

These aren't the characters we know. This isn't Transformers. This is just another example of Hollywood taking something that people hold dear to them and changing it for the sake of change.

I've exchanged instand messages with one of the screenwriters for the movie and we have talked about that. I can't blame him for changing the story to fit what the director wants, after all, there are a lot of people that would kill to write a script for Bay and Spielberg. If he didn't do it, someone else would. I do have to give Roberto credit for facing the people that are against what he wrote, that takes guts and I applaud him for it.

I will go see it. A lot of people will go see it. But I will go see it knowing that I am not seeing the Transormers I grew up on and have wanted to see in a live action film for 23 years. No, I will go in and pay my seven dollars and sit down in the dark theater and try to enjoy BayFormers.