Batman vs Superman? Captain America vs Iron Man? Move over, amateurs, it’s time for Freddy vs Jason.
That’s right, before we yearned for superheroes to be pitted against each other on the big screen, the hype was real for two heavyweight horror monster icons to go at it. Bring in 2003’s Freddy vs Jason. Directed by Ronny Yu, this film is the last time we saw Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger (until a recent brief cameo in the comedy series the Goldbergs). Whatever your thoughts are about slasher films, this movie had some amazing practical effects, and essentially was just a death match between these two horror movie icons. Freddy vs Jason was the 8th Nightmare on Elm Street movie and the 11th Friday the 13th movie. Kane Hodder did not reprise his role as Jason Voorhees, as he had wanted; rather stunt man Ken Kirzinger played the character. Yu wanted Kirzinger for the fact that he was 6’5″ and wanted a drastic height difference between Jason and Freddy Krueger. Englund is 5’9″. Hodder is 6’3″.
Before we get into the good stuff, check out our interview with Douglas Tait, who played Jason in a reshoot at the end of the movie.
Synopsis
So what brought these two together? Originally, it was meant to be a partnership. Freddy pulled Jason out of hell because he needed him. The people of Springwood are not dreaming of Freddy, therefore he has no one to torture and kill. Since Freddy only operates in the dreamworld, he can’t put the fear and hysteria back into the residents of the town. Essentially setting Jason loose, he hopes that Jason’s killing spree will make the Springwood people rumor Freddy’s return, and therefore start dreaming of Freddy. It works for a little while, but Jason is a killing machine. He doesn’t think like Freddy and soon all the victims that should have been Freddy’s become Jason’s. Forcing then, the two to be against each other in a no holds bar death match between them.
While I may not be a fan of modern horror, I love slasher films. Freddy facing off against Jason was like a dream come true and I watched this movie more times than I could count. Freddy vs Jason did a great job weaving in the mythos from both worlds and explaining how the two come together. While the film primarily took place in “Freddy’s World”, we do visit Camp Crystal Lake and the scene there was terrifyingly intense that it even scared me a little. It’s been years since the original Nightmare on Elm Street and I loved how Freddy Krueger became a secret that all the older people in town agreed to keep hush-hush. Even if that meant deeming others crazy and forcing them to live in an insane asylum, as they did to a few characters.
We even have the introduction of drugs that were agreed upon by the elders in the town, so that their children wouldn’t dream. It was an overbearing, extreme way to try to keep them safe from Freddy Krueger. Freddy vs Jason incorporated old horror movie tropes (think Scream or the first Scary Movie), while also introducing technology to make Freddy’s dream sequences terrifying. It may have been 2003 and we have more advanced CGI now, but it was a major improvement when compared to what we had seen from the 80s.
Freddy vs Jason: Who Won?
Of course, I couldn’t care less what was happening to the “normal people” of this movie, I just wanted to see Freddy and Jason. But, Kelly Rowland had some great scenes in this movie and I always wondered why Jason Ritter didn’t get more work after this. Monica Keena was, for the most part; your run of the mill lead actress in a slasher film. Regardless, though; she had some great scenes with Englund. The ending too, with the humans deciding to fight back against Freddy and Jason? Perfect. I still don’t think much can stand up against that final battle scene between Freddy and Jason; Yu did an amazing job bringing that to life. Both horror icons’ personalities shined through and it wasn’t corny, as it could have been.
From the ending of the movie, we should have had a sequel. People even wondered if there would be a Freddy vs Jason vs Michael. We could have even had Ash or Pinhead. But, apparently, Freddy vs Jason made an all-time low profit despite having the highest budget of the series. A Freddy vs Jason was shopped around in 1987, but the rights could not be acquired to do so. Maybe it would have done better than, due to being in the height of slasher films. Was the need for a Freddy vs Jason not high in the early 2003s? Can only Marvel seem to be able to successfully put together a shared universe? Sure, Halloween 2018 did well, but would a new Friday the 13th? And we’ve already established no one can do Freddy Krueger like Robert Englund. Looking at you, 2010 reboot Nightmare on Elm Street.
Personal Rating: 8/10
I wouldn’t even consider this movie a guilty pleasure. Personally, I don’t see why it did poorly. I love Freddy vs Jason and it’s still one of my all-time favorite movies. I’m signing off now to watch that fantastic end fight scene and you should too.
What did you think of Freddy vs Jason and would you have wanted a sequel?
A girl with too many fandoms to count.
