Freddy vs. Jason
From AwardAnnals
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| Director(s) | Ronny Yu |
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| Distributor | New Line Home Video |
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| After 11 years in development hell and screenplay drafts by 13 different writers, the long-awaited smackdown of Freddy vs. Jason finally arrives. After making their respective debuts in Friday the 13th (1980) and A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), the hockey-masked killer Jason Voorhees (Ken Kirzinger, replacing long-time Jason performer Kane Hodder) and razor-gloved Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) square off in a slasher-franchise combo-deal that only their most devoted fans will appreciate; turns out this is a lightweight match in which… | |
Honors
Reviews
Amazon.com
After 11 years in development hell and screenplay drafts by 13 different writers, the long-awaited smackdown of Freddy vs. Jason finally arrives. After making their respective debuts in Friday the 13th (1980) and A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), the hockey-masked killer Jason Voorhees (Ken Kirzinger, replacing long-time Jason performer Kane Hodder) and razor-gloved Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) square off in a slasher-franchise combo-deal that only their most devoted fans will appreciate; turns out this is a lightweight match in which nobody wins. It’s an average entry in the histories of these horror icons, comparable to half of their previous sequels, and Bride of Chucky director Ronny Yu satisfies purists with plenty of gushing blood and mayhem when Freddy recruits Jason to slice ‘n’ dice the ill-fated teens who’ve forgotten Freddy’s once-formidable reign of terror. While it logically connects the gruesome legacies of Nightmare’s Elm Street and Friday’s Camp Crystal Lake, this horror hybrid is shockingly uninspired. It briefly peaks when Freddy gives the unconscious Jason a dream-world pummeling, but their ultimate showdown’s a draw. In the immortal words of Peggy Lee, is that all there is? —Jeff Shannon
Barnes and Noble
Ten years after ground was broken by Freddy’s razor glove at the end of Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, heavyweight slasher icons Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees finally duke it out in Freddy vs. Jason. Equal parts spoof and homage, this throwback revives everything that made its titular killers famous: blood, sex, one-liners, and more blood. The story serves as an excuse for the transgression, but this has become old hat for the slasher genre. Desperately trying to get out of Hell, former child killer and dream demon Freddy (Robert Englund) devises a way to reenter the nightmares of Elm Street teens by resurrecting and controlling Jason (Ken Kirzinger) so the hockey-masked killing machine can wreak bloody havoc and put the fear of Freddy back in the locals. If this sounds convoluted or contrived, it is, with good reason: That is, to resurrect two series that were smothered in cheese by their respective ends. Watching the campy murders, the rat-a-tat references to both the Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th franchises, and the inevitable final battle affords one the pleasure of that first juicy cheeseburger after a decade of vegan piety. It is a roller coaster of a movie, one that proves fun for diehard fans as well as those just nostalgic for the genre. The supporting teen targets—which include Monica Keena, Jason Ritter, and Kelly Rowland of Destiny’s Child—are as much window dressing as the plot. In fact, second to Freddy and Jason, director Ronny Yu is the star here. Known for the Hong Kong classic The Bride with White Hair as well as the U.S. Child’s Play sequel Bride of Chucky, Yu lends a kinetic kung fu style to the proceedings that climaxes with the high-flying finale. Freddy vs. Jason ends with a wink, literally and perfectly. Tony Nigro
