Dir. Ronny Yu (2003)
Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees are both coming for the residents of Elm Street... and each other as well.
There are few horror films with such a legendarily terrible reception as 2003's Freddy vs. Jason. Famously taking forever to get made and with some serious infighting (especially in regards to the casting of Jason himself), F v J was commercially successful but had some of the most brutal fan reactions in either series. Regardless of its legacy, it is nonetheless both a Jason and Freddy film, though both series had overstayed their welcomes for even some of the most hardcore franchise fans.
Both Freddy (Robert Englund in his last film role as the killer) and Jason (Ken Kirzinger) have been resurrected through not-so-clever use of exposition and circumstance, with each slasher villain taking aim at a new set of teenagers on Elm Street. Freddy has resurrected Jason to aim him at the residents of the city, growing stronger with each kill in an attempt to regain his corporeal form. Unfortunately, Jason has no desire to step aside and let Freddy claim his rightful place, leading to a confrontation between the two icons as they seek to take full control of Springwood once and for all.
While F v J is far from the best entry in either franchise, it's got a lot of great scenes of mayhem that fans of the series have come to expect. A good number of the effects are practical, though there's also a ton of that early 2000's CGI as well. This is hugely unfortunate for the lasting impact of the film, because it really takes away a lot of what fans loved about both franchises. Gone are the Savini effects from the Friday series, and nowhere to be seen are the groundbreaking effects of Jim Doyle, creator of the rotating room from the OG NoES film. Instead, this film feels exactly like a product of its era, a too-new entry into a series of films that always felt entirely 80's.
That's what made the Friday and Nightmare series so much fun, even in their worst entries. They were from the best generation of horror, a time period where seemingly every film was filled with practical effects and tongue-in-cheek popcorn horror. This entry feels too polished, too overtly fake, to fit in with either franchise. We still have the icons that made them all work, of course, and Englund especially does well reprising his legendary role. We are, however, greatly missing Hodder's hulking behemoth as Jason, and fans were right to be disappointed that we never really got to see the faceoff between Hodder and Englund.
Despite the film's negatives, of which there are definitely plenty, Freddy vs. Jason actually has a great cast. Englund, of course, but also Monica Keena (who I would've sworn was Britney Murphy until I pulled up the film on IMDb), Kelly Rowland, Jason Ritter, and Katharine Isabelle also have starring roles in the film. Absolutely none of them are good, though they try their damnedest to carry the movie despite its absolutely horrific script. The only reason why the acting is tough to criticize is because it's difficult to tell how much of the badness was intentional. They are, after all, creating a film that spreads across two franchises with their fair share of bad performances.
All in all, though, Freddy vs. Jason is a slasher first and foremost, and the things that we love about the genre are definitely present. There's a ton of expendable cannon fodder roles, with some great kills to off them. We do get an actual faceoff between Freddy and Jason, teased in the title and actually delivering what was promised. It would've been nice to see Hodder, but what we get is actually fairly well done. The overreliance on digital effects is a huge detriment, though, as is the ridiculously overwrought expository sequences that serve as a lazy excuse to tell us instead of show us. Regardless, if you're a fan of dumb slasher movies, you'll likely enjoy this one for what it is rather than what it could have, and should have, been.
Who this movie is for: Slasher fans, Old-school franchise lovers, Exposition addicts
Bottom line: Freddy vs. Jason is not the film horror audiences had hoped it would be, but it still delivers some dumb (and I do mean dumb) fun regardless. There are some decent kills and over-the-top hammy performances, and it's always a joy to see Robert Englund in his iconic Freddy role. It's still a terrible movie, and it's only its linkage to two incredible franchises that makes it worth your time at all. It's just unfortunate that we had to wait too long, until a decade filled with terrible effects and laughable quality horror films, to get it.
