Freddy contra Jason

The movie itself is alright. It's exactly what it says! Freddy vs. Jason. And while we might never see my favorite movie be made (Ash vs. Freddy vs. Jason), there might be another movie around the corner, maybe involving M. Myers.

But back to this film. It delivers what it promises, the battle of the titans. Wrapped up in a nice story. And while all is good, I can't stop wondering, if there wasn't any way to make more of that particular premise ... The movie is fine, but it's just not excellent.

And one thing is for sure: Kelly Rowland plays one of the most annoying characters that I have seen in a long time. Now either she is a good actress and played that really well ... or she is a bad actress and that showed on screen (I personally think it's the latter).

A nice teen horror movie, with two of the most recognised horror characters out there!

That's what I felt after seeing this film, Freddy Vs. Jason. Right when they introduced the characters I knew them so well, their personalities, emotions, motives and all, that not one human character could have (or would have tried to) surprise me with ingenuity in their performances. So, that's the downside to Freddy Vs. Jason, a downside that will either poke the viewer harshly in the ribs, or will just remain as the typical, expectedly lame backdrop for the match-up. I felt a little of both, though I tried to be confident that the main show would be worth the Hollywood-ish mish-mash.

The main show, however, is the only reason to see the movie: Freddy Kruger (Robert Englund), the old gent from Elm Street, is down in hell wanting another grab at 'his' children, so he implements a sort of decoy in the form of lake-boy Jason Voorhees, who begins slaying far more than Freddy could want to see for someone other than himself. So, he decides that it's time to kick some a**, and that's when the fun begins.

To die-hards of both series (I like a few from each series, and personally, I'm more for Freddy than Jason in the genre because at least Freddy can give some funny dialog in terrifying moments while Jason stares blankly, except for when his mother calls him) this is like seeing two legends standing up in the ring for a prizefight. Each one has their weaknesses, but they each know who to throw their punches with style, and (we hope) that they can stay invincible until the last round. I won't reveal who wins (they're enough skeeves on the message boards doing that), but what I can say is that if it only wasn't for the people in the movie (I'll exclude the Jay rip-off since he garnered the most laughs) acting so blandly, strategically like how they're told to do in such a piece, this would've been a near excellent horror movie. Never-the-less, that could be considered moot, since that's what's to ALWAYS be expected for these gobledy-gook slasher pieces. The point is, I didn't leave the theater feeling swindled by the hype of the matching (unlike how I would if they ever, EVER decide to make a Superman vs. Batman piece of drek). C+

It's A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 8 served with a side of Jason Voorhees. So unless the audience suffers from delusions as to the quality of the franchises this movie spawns from, you'll be pretty happy. It is not a masterpiece of cinema; it is not a masterpiece of horror . . . look at all the F13 and NOES. You have 17 examples of what this movie is going to be like.

Take your typical crappy Elm Street plot and cast your typical crappy Friday the 13th cast, and you have your typical crappy horror movie. Am I criticizing this movie? Not really since that crap-factor is a staple to the F13 franchise and the NOES sequels. Does anyone really care? I hope not. The whole reason anyone should see this movie comes down to the three words in the title "Freddy versus Jason." If those three words do not interest you, don't even screw with FvsJ. I mean, I don't think in film history has the title been more descriptive of the point of the movie.

While it actually takes awhile to get to the slasher deathmatch, you know it's coming . . . everyone knows there's going to be a fight to remember, so Ronny Yu opts to prolong it as far as he can and just jam packs the ending with Slasher celebrities ripping into each other . . . because, seriously, 90 minutes of Jason and Freddy hacking at each other would get downright boring. At least there's some variety and nods to old school F13 and NOES, some typical nods to the stereotyped horror formula which isn't scary but seems to be a requirement. Boobs, booze, blood . . . you know the routine. A high point of the film - I've been dying to see Voorhees crash a party and just cut through teens ala Krueger style in Elm Street 2, and I finally got to see it . . . just enough "other elements" to keep entertaining unless you're an oldschool fan and tired of hearing the mythology over and over again in every sequel.

Cut through the "good guys" whom nobody really cares about since Freddy and Jason have been the stars since forever now, get through the human's boring backstory which will be forgotten in the FvsJ2 and wait for the inevitable moment when our "heroes" run from Voorhees where Freddy turns to the nearest kid and says, "Let me handle this, bitch." Now, ladies and gentlemen, it has begun . . . now it's on. Now we rumble . . . now we see why horny teens had such a hard time killing these bad boys. Freddy makes more fatal blows against Voorhees than he did to the cast of all 8 Freddy films combined . .. and Voorhees keeps getting up. For the first time we see Freddy treated like a rag doll and tossed around/cut up like another camp crystal lake sex-addict--Voorhees makes no distinction.

So who wins? Everyone . . . unless, of course, you're under the false impression that you're going to see Welles quality cinema, in which case why are you even reading about FvsJ?

I could go through and detail the plot, characters, acting, etc like other amateur and pro critics alike, but quite frankly, I don't see the point. I mean, this is still Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street. I will say that it's a better Elm Street sequel, and it is the best film featuring Jason.

I enjoyed the hell out of this movie, and I'm barely an Elm Street fan and am definitely not a fan of F13 . . . take that for what it's worth.

This is about as good as a film called Freddy Vs. Jason could possibly be. The title alone promises silly camp and the film delivers while cleverly tying the two franchises together in a fairly smart way. I really didn't know how they were going to pull it off, but the writers make a very solid case. A lot of the teen characters are underwritten or dull, but people came to see Freddy and Jason slashing through an entire town of people and that's what they get. Pretty satisfying ending as well.

Freddy Vs. Jason (2003)

To start off, I think that any fan of any series of movies will come back for the next sequel and the next and the next etc., no matter what kind of garabage is placed in front of them. Freddy Vs. Jason wasn't complete garabage, it was okay. Freddy Krueger is now powerless since the children of Elm St. are taking a certain drug to stop their dreams, so he consults Jason Voorhees to kill the children until Freddy has power to kill again, but Jason goes on a rampage and won't stop killing in what results in a final battle of evil vs. evil. Ronny Yu, director of The Bride Of Chucky makes a neat direction in this movie, and his certain style of filmmaking added a touch that none of the Elm Street of Friday the 13th films had before. Of course, Robert Englund returns as Freddy, but Kane Hodder (who has played Jason in most of the films) is replaced by another actor. Kelly Rowland and Monica Keena pretty much lead this movie. I also noticed Katharine Isabelle from 2002's TV movie "Carrie". I have to say that fans of either series will be pleased, but other horror goers may not. Also, do not, I repeat do not watch this if you have a weak stomach. It's about one of the goriest movies I've ever seen. Bottom Line: Fans will be pleased, others will not. 7/10.