Freddy VS. Jason

“Freddy VS. Jason” was released in 2003. (same year Rob Zombie’s House Of 1000 Corpses came out) It received mixed reactions from critics. Regardless how critics reacted, the film made enough money at the box office. A cancelled sequel featuring Ash Williams from “The Evil Dead” series was scrapped due to creative differences with Bruce Campbell and the writers. The closest thing for a sequel is a comic book mini-series titled, “”Freddy VS. Jason VS. Ash.” Both Freddy & Jason were rebooted in 2009 & 2010. Unfortunately, they fell flat.

As you may know, a fifth installment of the “Scream” series without the late Wes Craven will be released in 2022 with the original cast from the last four entries will reprise their roles. To prepare for the upcoming fifth film, I wanna share my thoughts on this epic crossover two horror icons duking it out.

This review contains no SPOILERS. I’m giving so of y’all a chance to this crossover.

Clean & Messy Elements

Clean: Robert England reprises his role as Freddy Krueger one last time and he did an excellent job for his performance.

Jason Ritter, Monica Keena & Kelly Rowland all did an ok job for their respective performances.

Fun Fact: Ronny Yu also worked with Jason’s real life dad John Ritter in “Bride Of Chucky.” According to the DVD commentary, Ronny mentioned Jason is a professional yet respected actor like his late dad. By the way, Jason’s role as Will Rollins predates his character Dipper from “Gravity Falls.”

Ronny Yu did a solid job directing.

Kill Scenes are creatively brutal yet gory. I would love to see a horror themed fighting game inspired by “Mortal Kombat.” Both Freddy & Jason appeared in separate installments of the series.

Fight Scenes between Freddy & Jason serves as the main course. Every time they engage in combat, I’m gonna give them Bonus Points for their deadly tactics. I gotta love Freddy’s pinball technique.

Unlike previous installments of both villains, this film has more action.

Practical Effects were used to bring Freddy & Jason’s deadly kills.

Prosthetic Makeup was applied to transform Robert as Freddy.

Despite being a gorefest, the crossover contains Black Comedy. Particularly from Freddy’s snarky one-liners.

Lori Campbell is named after both Laurie Strode from “Halloween” & Neve Campbell. The latter is known for her role as Sidney Prescott from the Scream series.

I think Will Rollins is named after Will Graham from “Red Dragon.”

I’m not gonna lie. The bully from “A Christmas Story” appears as a guy in a bathtub intimidating one of the teens. If you think I’m lying, look it up.

The movie is set after the events of “Jason Goes To Hell” & “Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare.” After his defeat in the latter film, Freddy attempts to use Jason to restore his powers by slaying random teens under the guise of Jason’s mother Pamala.

New Line Cinema’s logo is red. Meaning what we’re about to see, indicates this is gonna be one heck of a bloodbath.

Freddy recalls his origin story. Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare further explored his past. Alice Cooper played Freddy’s dad, because he’s a fan of A Nightmare On Elm Street.

I’m gonna give Freddy VS. Jason credit for encouraging movie studios to make their own crossover with two characters going mono-e-mono. “Alien VS. Predator” and it sequel which were both poopers. The epic disappointment of 2016 known as “Batman VS. Superman.” A legit battle between Steve Rogers & Tony Stark as depicted in “Captain America: Civil War. Last but not least “Godzilla VS. Kong.” Another legit battle.

One scene shows Freddy going inside Jason’s mind while sleeping. A dream within a dream. Seven years before “Inception.” Speaking of Christopher Nolan, Katharine “Kate” Isabelle appears as Gibb Smith. Kate was also in “Insomnia” as Kay Connell’s best friend Tanya.

I can’t tell you who’s the winner and loser. You’re gonna have to see for yourself.

Freddy Krueger is my second favorite horror movie villain. Michael Myers is my number one pick. I was rooting for Freddy.

If you own a DVD/Blu-Ray of the film, Alternate Endings are found in bonus features.

A rejected ending could’ve featured Pinhead for a potential sequel. Sadly, Warner Bros./New Line Cinema didn’t want another legal persuasion to get another character to the roster. Ugh! Remember the opening scene from Bride Of Chucky with Freddy’s glove, Jason’s hockey mask, Leatherface’s chainsaw and Michael Myers’ mask displayed in the evidence room? It’s officially confirmed they co-exist in a cinematic universe. Dang it! I wanna see them all in one big crossover!

Messy: If you’re impatient to see both slashers go mono-e-mono, it’s gonna take an hour of build-up until the epic battle commences. Same problem occurred back in 2003 when movie goers felt impatient to see Bruce Banner transform into “Hulk.”

Computer Animation is fake looking. Let’s face it, this was The Early 2000s when C.G.I. was slowly growing. Ironic, because Peter Jackson’s effects company Weta Digital won Oscars for “The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy.”

I never cared about the teens except Lori & Will. Kia wasn’t that bad.

The Final Verdict: B-

Although not a masterpiece nor a pooper, I consider Freddy VS. Jason as a guilty pleasure. From a gold-bronze ranking, the original “A Nightmare In Elm Street” as gold, “New Nightmare” as silver and the crossover as bronze. “Dream Warriors” gets an honorable mention. Jason’s best film with Freddy is arguably his best. Both aforementioned baddies’ sequels are either telling the same story with dull characters or just plain rubbish. If you wanna see Freddy & Jason go mono-e-mono? So be it.