Freddy V.S Jason (2004)

I remember the end of New Line Cinema's first venture into Jason territory, 1993's "Jason Goes To Hell", where Freddy's glove pops up at the end and thinking to myself, "oh shit no...please don't let this film ever happen!" At that point in time, the last thing the horror genre needed was another adventure by either Freddy or Jason, let alone the two terror titans squaring off one on one. The two franchises had become increasingly stale and repetitive over the years, and it was definitely time for a new and fresh horror film to come along and kick the genre in it's fat and lazy behind. Sadly, that film never really appeared, and so with ten years having passed since "Jason Goes To Hell", I was amazed to find myself actually anticipating "Freddy V.S. Jason".

To be truthful however, I'll admit nostalgia played a huge part in my anticipation, and not because "Freddy V.S. Jason" would revitalize the genre (though with an opening 36 million box office, maybe it already has?) but for the following reason. I grew up in the 1980's, when both characters were huge pop culture icons, and the thought of seeing Freddy and old hockey puss up there on the big screen, dueling it out for slasher supremacy was now actually starting to appeal to me. I'm getting old and starting to reminisce, so fucking what?

The basic story, as I'm sure you know by now, is as follows. Springwood's elders have essentially suppressed all notions to Fred Krueger. The old line "out of sight, out of mind", though in this case, "out of site, out of dreams" applies, with half the towns young population, those that remember Freddy, locked up in a nearby looney bin and doped up on a dream suppressing drug called hypnocil. The rest of the towns youth is oblivious to the Freddy myth, so if nobody knows who he is, how can anybody be scared of him anymore? Thus Freddy is in a sort of limbo and needs someone to start injecting a little fear into Springwood so he can get back to his old tricks. Now, I never knew that Freddy kept up on all the recent news pertaining to psycho killers, but he seems to have decided that by resurrecting Jason Voorhees and setting him amuck in Springwood, Jason's kills will conjure up memories of Freddy's old slashing ways and thus restore him to power. Only problem is, Jason won't stop killing and is stealing many potential victims away from Freddy. So, with no other choice, Freddy has to take out Jason if he wants to get back to the hunt. It's as simple as that folks. Of course, there are also the obligatory dumb and annoying as all hell teen characters that get caught up in the mess, but ah, I didn't give a shit about them and neither will you, trust me.

The film moves along at a brisk pace (sometimes to brisk) in anticipation of what everyone is waiting for, the big one on one brawl at the end. Sometimes it felt like the film itself was impatient for the battle to arrive, but that's not to say that there aren't any highlights prior to the end fight. For fans of each series there are some nice little nods to the past, what with the schoolgirls and their Freddy rhyme showing up, and Jason's mother (sadly not Betsy Palmer) appearing as well. Robert Englund appears to relish being back on the screen as Freddy, and his character even reverts to the darker side ala Nightmare 1, though still quipping his smart-ass one-liners to full effect. I'll admit, I almost cried when I heard that trademark laugh come out of the house speakers for the first time. As for Jason, while many fans were pissed off about Kane Hodder not returning beneath the hockey mask, it's not like Jason is a tough character to play. He walks, stalks, and kills...maybe moving his head from side to side for dramatic purposes and that's about it. Stuntman Ken Kirzinger did an amiable job behind the mask and I'm sure even the die-hards will be pleased with his portrayal of Jason.

The film is also fairly bloody, actually very bloody, though not in a rude and crude way. It's all rather cartoonish instead of being mean spirited, something I'm sure helped certain scenes get by the ratings board. Certain ideas introduced were rather lame, such as the notion that since he drowned as a little boy, Jason is afraid of water, a fear Freddy gleefully uses to his advantage. Now, the Jason Voorhees I know was ALWAYS the first one in Crystal Lake whenever some dippy broad decided she just had to go skinny-dipping alone at night. Scared of water? Sheeesh. Ok, enough of all this trivial crap. How about the big fight at the end, the one we've all been waiting for the past decade? Well, it was good, real good. I don't want to say to much for those of you under a rock who have not yet seen the film, but it was well worth the wait, and executed about as well as it could be. And besides that, it's bloody, really, really, bloody. Jason and Freddy go at each other to the best of their abilities, and it's not pretty folks. All in all, I'll admit it took me several viewings of the film to truly appreciate it. In what sounds like a corny idea on paper, the filmmakers actually pulled this one off. The film and characters actually felt fresh and new, an amazing feat since Jason and Freddy have been around since 1980 and 84 respectively. With the film's huge financial success at the box office, expect to see more of the boys in the future, with the obligatory addition of Michael Myers soon to be added to the mix.