Hey everyone. Capone in San Diego here.

Just chiming in as I count the hours down until all hell breaks loose at Comic-Con tonight and tomorrow morning. There's already a sizable line outside the massive Hall H, with females of all ages awaiting their beloved NEW MOON panel tomorrow afternoon. I'll be there too, so you won't have to miss a second or decibel of it.

But I'm not here to talk about vampires; I'm here to talk about pedophiles with crispy faces and a homemade glove with metal claws. I'm here to talk about Freddy Krueger and the reboot of the NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET franchise. A few weeks back I was lucky enough to visit the Chicago-based set of the new ELM STREET, which spent a couple months in various Chicago-area locations. This particular visit was to an empty warehouse on the West Side of the city, inside of which were several active sets, shooting what we were told would be scenes from the last few minutes of the film. This is not my Official Set Visit Report, which unfortunately won't come until much closer to the film's April 2010 release. But since there's a strong chance that attendees of Warner Bros. Comic-Con panel will get their first glimpse of the new Freddy Krueger (as portrayed masterfully by Jackie Early Haley) at the Friday morning panel, the online journalists who were on that set visit are being allowed to preview what we saw and heard without giving away too much.

Regarding those shadowed photos that have come out in the last day or so, anyone who thinks Haley's version of Krueger is a carbon copy of Robert Englund's is in for a bucket of ice-cold water dumped on your head. Yes, the sweater and fedora (made by the same company that made all the hats for PUBLIC ENEMIES, by the way) are pretty much how you remember them, but when we got our first glimpse of Haley in full Freddy makeup, there were two very shocking things that hit me: How realistic the makeup looked (without giving away too much, I'll ask you to remember exactly how Freddy got his unique "look") and the subtle differences on the original look this new version offers. Is it a better look? Will people take the new face of Freddy to heart? I truly have no idea. Let's just say that I almost (inadvertently) got into an argument over how I felt about the new look with the Platinum Dunes guys, and it wasn't because I didn't like it.

The other aspect to the film that most people are wondering about is, obviously, any changes or additions to the plot. Since this IS Platinum Dunes, of course there is a Freddy backstory, but I'm actually on board with this one. Freddy is not some silent, faceless monster (okay, he's a little faceless). At one point he was a man, and he has an interesting story that I think will work as part of this film. One of the sets we glimpsed was Krueger's workshop, complete with a TV/VCR set up and loads of blank video cassettes (my mind wondering what kind of sick shit this guy watched, and then I spotted a copy of ORCA amid his collection--ew!). In addition to Freddy's background, we also get a little history concerning his child victims and their parents, which, again, I'm okay with, especially since past and the present are tied together in this film.

We also saw a dream sequence that involved some pretty rad make-up tricks, a pick-up shot from another scene that showed Freddy at his most ferocious and murderous, and got a chance to talk to all of the cast members on set that day, including Haley, Rooney Mara (Nancy), and Kyle Gallner (as the Depp-ish Quentin). Behind the scenes, I've got interviews with first-time feature director and veteran music video legend Samuel Bayer; production designer Patrick Lumb; props man (and designer of Freddy new claws) Bill Dambra; makeup wizard Andrew Clement; and, of course, Andrew Form and Bradley Fuller of Platinum Dunes. It was a great visit, and I can't wait to tell you about it and see what the makers have to show at Comic-Con this year.

More on this later...

-- Capone
capone@aintitcoolmail.com