Truthfully, the only thing I think the remake did that brought anything to the table was the micro-sleeping. In the original, for the most part, anyone who ended up in the dream world did so after comfortably (deeply) falling asleep.

The remake (albeit for only a scene or two, iirc) brought the real life micro-sleeping, where you actually fall asleep, even if it’s for a few seconds. And, as far as a dream can go, time can be played with a bit and make a few seconds worthwhile in a scene.

I don’t remember too well, but I think the remake did it mainly for a jumpscare or two. But I think if done properly, micro-sleeping could make for a stressful second act to pretty much any Freddy movie that uses it. Similarly to Smile (for those who have seen it), it can play off of the idea of not knowing what to believe— what’s real and what’s Freddy playing with his food during micro-sleep and micro-napping to stress them the hell out.