My Soul to Take

A serial killer is sent to a fiery death but his body is never found, and 16 years later someone begins murdering, one by one, the seven teenagers who were born the night he supposedly died. Is the “Riverton Ripper” still alive, or has his murderous soul inhabited somebody else? Writer-director Wes Craven revisits (and rehashes) his own biggest hit, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and does a rather better job of it than the remake earlier this year—but not by all that much. Craven’s writing starts out over the top and just keeps climbing, while the murders are handled with more restraint than we’ve come to expect from him (is he getting mellow with the passing years?). Max Thieriot plays the central teen; chief interest is guessing which of the others will get it next. The movie’s in 3-D, which adds little.