FREDDY VS. JASON (2003)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
It was bound to happen and in 2003, it finally did. After years of countless rumors and rewrites, the pairing of the slasher horror titans had finally been unleashed. "Freddy vs. Jason" was not bad and had some creative ideas, though it is your basic gory slasher flick. On the other hand, when it comes to Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees, how can you expect anything less?This time, burn-scarred Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) explains how he persuaded goalie-masked Jason Voorhees (Ken Kirzinger, replacing Kane Hodder) to go to good old Springwood (the home of Elm Street) and start carving up teenagers so Freddy can be blamed for their deaths. Although this idea may sound convoluted, it is promising since the town has chosen to forget Freddy Krueger's existence (most of their teen population had been eliminated in past movies) - any one teen that can dredge up his name is placed in a mental institution. So if nobody fears him, nobody can dream about him. Jason merely hacks his way through the town and a rave with his machete, accruing a high body count. But now that Freddy's intended victims are being slaughtered by Mr. Voorhees, Freddy decides to have a physical match with Jason in his dreams.
"Freddy vs. Jason" has all the basic ingredients of your average slasher flick - there are gallons of blood, a high body count, gratuitous female nudity, a shower scene, a number of incendiary, zitless, horny teens and a delectably witty stoner sequence. Since this is not only a sequel to "Nightmare on Elm Street" but also "Friday the 13th," you can count on some outlandish dream sequences and the cliched "Who's there?" scenes, not to mention a number of false alarms. Only until the final half-hour are we treated to what we have been clamoring for - an intensely violent match between Freddy and Jason in the boiler room that exceeds expectations. Let's just say that it is crudely funny and inventive (including a clever flashback to Jason's early days as a bullied, deformed kid) - who could ever win such a match? Suffice to say that both get their just desserts (a comic-book sequel called "Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash" followed).
I have never been a fan of "Friday the 13th," seeing only the first two sequels and the interminable "Jason Goes to Manhattan." I have always enjoyed "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and its numerous sequels and found that Freddy Krueger always had more charisma and personality than the robotic Jason. Still, for Elm Street fans, there are only a handful of the creative dream sequences that have become a hallmark of the series, and Freddy's repartee is kept to a minimum. Jason seems to have more screen time, slashing and pummeling his victims with his machete. The intended teen victims all seem older than they should be and only exist to be carved up by either of the horror icons (though it is pleasing enough to see Jason Ritter and Monica Keena together). The one slasher victim that bears a little more interest and soul is Katharine Isabelle (the slutty werewolf in the cultish "Ginger Snaps") if only because she possesses a vitality the others can't match - too bad her screen time is limited. One stoner character, an obvious model of Jay from Kevin Smith's View Askew universe, has a great line after witnessing the rave massacre: "That goalie must have been pissed about something."
So if you like gory slasher flicks and would enjoy seeing Freddy kicking Jason's butt and likewise, then "Freddy vs. Jason" may be the movie for you (it is directed by Ronny Yu, who helmed the fiendishly funny "Bride of Chucky"). If you find the slasher genre disreputable and responsible for the decline of the western civilization, then stay far, far away.
