"A Nightmare on Billy Bob's Street?"

I'm a huge fan of the "Nightmare on Elm Street Films" and all their ridiculous sequels. So, when I heard about the remake they were undertaking for it, I wasn't too surprised since every other big film that comes out now is a remake. After the recent remakes of "A Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and Rob Zombie's "Halloween" were modest hits, they soon after announced a "Friday the 13th" remake, followed by the "Nightmare on Elm Street" redo. I always liked the Freddy Kruger character because he had another element to him than Michael Meyers of Jason Voorhees. They were a couple of grimey, mechanic suit and mask-wearing goons, who had no personality other than their messed up childhoods which led them to torture teenagers.

Freddy on the other hand, was a child murderer who was burned alive by his fellow townies. He then came to teenagers in their dreams and murdered them through a series of ridiculous situations from turning a kid into a marionette puppet by ripping his veins out of his forearms, to having a girl turn into a human sized roach stuck in a gigantic roach motel. That's creativity right there. And Robert Englund, the modern age's Humphrey Bogart of horror, played him with uncanny wit and humor, while at the same time, scaring the holy hell out of you.

This is where this remake differs from his counterparts, Jason, Michael, and Leatherface in that they really needed to find someone who has the chops to play Freddy not only as a scary goon with a pizza face, but also have that psychotic wit to him which makes you laugh every once in a while. The man they have hand picked for this role is none other than...Billy Bob Thornton, as IMDB.com and other various film websites are reporting. Wow, I never saw this coming, and at first I was thinking, what kind of super crack/hallucinogenic drugs are these producers on, Billy Bob Thornton?? But the more you think about it with those characteristics of Freddy, the psycho killer with the dry sense of humor, Billy Bob does fit the bill. Also, he's probably the highest caliber actor that would agree to make the film that at the same time best fits the role. So, Billy Bob lovers and haters will bask in the glory of watching him strut around in the red striped sweater with the knife glove in our nightmares, or relish him being killed by the townspeople and ultimately defeated by the teens in the end. If nothing else, it will at least be interesting to watch.

Even original Freddy, Robert Englund called Billy Bob an "excellent choice" for the role. Granted, Englund is not exactly an A list casting director or Oscar winning producer, but if anyone knows who has the chops to be ready for Freddy, it's him.

Note: I don't know what's more hilarious, Billy Bob's shirt in the picture above, or the fact that he's at the Grammy Awards.