 | MOVIE #1,209 • 🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿 • 10.27.23 50 MOVIES IN 32 DAYS! I have been harping on the fact that (PERHAPS) I'm being too contrarian giving these films mostly good to great reviews. But ultimately I can forgive many of the "cinema sins" as long as the film feels fun, creative and moves. This one — the biggest box office hit in either series (!) — could have been a disaster, with too many cooks in the kitchen (both long-time producers, Friday’s Sean S. Cunningham and Nightmare’s Robert Shaye are credited) but I was most impressed by how everything was merged in the end, at least on a symbolic level. Each franchise is given equal weight in both story and iconography, and that's evident from the very first second when a mashup of the two classic theme songs plays over the New Line Cinema logo… |
Look, there was never going to be an easy way to bridge these two franchises without it being the most ridiculous thing, but the plot here is the most incomprehensible of any film in either series. Still, I actually don't think it's the worst premise when you strip everything away though. The main issues here are in the execution of it. Like this scene when the main characters (featuring not Jason Mewes) just describe the bonkers plot/plan…
It’s really shocking that this is the last entry in both franchises (note: both were given the one-off reboot treatment — Friday in 2009 and Nightmare in 2010 — that were also hits that somehow didn’t lead to sequels), especially given how popular this was. By contrast, the Halloween series has had a whopping seven films made in the 21st century that span three separate timelines. In the case of Nightmare, I think it’s difficult to replace/replicate Robert Englund, the rarest of slasher villains in that his specific portrayal/performances is essential to its success. But you could easily get a hip director to restart Friday the 13th, jumping off from any of the various threads or starting completely anew. One would think, anyway. I digress.
This film actually does have some continuity in the canon(s), beginning in HELL after the events of, you guessed it, Jason Goes to Hell, a decade earlier. It's present day in Springwood and everyone has forgotten about Freddy (and no longer fear him) so he can't invade their dreams. After a crossover clip show and some backstory (that really leans in hard on Freddy being a child molester — he grossly licks the picture of a little girl 🤢), he decides to magically resurrect Jason so that after his inevitable killing spree everyone will think Freddy's back thus allowing him to do dream-murders once again.
But things don’t really go as planned (shocker!) as Jason isn’t exactly the most willing participant in this experiment. Lots of people die, including an entire cornfield of kids who Jason slaughters whilst on fire. Freddy and Jason fight in the nightmarescape (advantage: Freddy)...
...and then eventually in the real world (one would think advantage: Jason, but Freddy’s cunning makes it a fair and deliriously fun fight). And in between we learn that you could still be both racist and homophobic in the most casual way in 2003 (while also comparing Freddy vs. Jason's dick sizes)…
When the two villains finally engage in the titular clash at Crystal Lake (I’m not going to write about how Ohio and New Jersey aren’t THAT close together), there’s still almost a full half-hour left in the movie and I had an enormous smile on my face during this entire final act. Veteran Hong Kong director Ronny Yu does an excellent job here utilizing both practical and CG effects. I don’t know what it is about seeing iconic pop culture things collide on screen but I am not immune to it! (I was a HUGE fan of the Laff-A-Lympics as a kid.) They simply play the hits: Jason smashes through glass and Freddy says “bitch” a lot, etc.
The movie ends with Jason stabbing Freddy through the chest with his own famous claw hand before Freddy gets his head chopped off in a clear nod to the end of the first Friday. Jason, apparently, finally had enough and simply sinks back down into the lake. However he emerges from a foggy dream version of the lake and walks to shore carrying Freddy's detached winking head before the nu metal credits roll, obviously setting up potential sequels that never came. But honestly, that’s fine. This was a great note to go out on for both classic franchises.
CHRONOLOGICALLY
⫷ MOVIE #1,208 - (YOU ARE HERE) - MOVIE #1,210 ⫸
⫷ MOVIE #1,208 - (YOU ARE HERE) - MOVIE #1,210 ⫸
Freddy vs. Jason is a 2003 American slasher film directed by Ronny Yu and written by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift. It is a crossover between the A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th franchises, being the eighth installment in the former and the eleventh in the latter. The film joins the two series in a shared universe and pits their respective antagonists, Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees, against each other. Freddy is weakened and forgotten because the citizens of his home town Springwood have defeated him by using medications that repress dreams. Freddy awakens Jason to stir up fear and grow his powers so that he may return and kill again. Jason turns out to not be as easily controlled as Freddy initially thought, and the two supernatural mass murderers come into conflict. The film is chronologically set after Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991) and Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993), and is the last film in each franchise before their respective reboots.It was released on August 15, 2003.
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