Two horror icons square off!
MONSTERZERO NJ’S MOVIE MEMORIES: FREDDY vs. JASON TURNS 20!
On August 15th, 2003, two of horror’s greatest icons finally met face to face after having ruled the 80s as separate horror franchises. I was there opening day at Ridgefield Park’s AMC theater…which thankfully still exists…to see this epic clash. I was excited not only by the prospect of seeing Freddy and Jason collide but was also very familiar with director Ronny Yu’s work, such as his Hong Kong classic The Bride with White Hair and of course Bride of Chucky! What would he bring to this epic battle? He brought a lot of gore and fun to this flick. His Hong Kong cinema background clearly showing in the almost cartoonish yet blood-soaked action sequences, energetic carnage and colorful cinematography. Englund was at the top of his game and Ken Kirzinger made for an imposing Jason. The attractive cast, including horror vet Katharine Isabelle, Destiny’s Child’s Kelly Rowland and lead Monica Keena, were also solid in their roles. The movie was an absolute blast with the perfect blend of horror, humor, gore and over-the-top action! A movie I still have a great time watching twenty years later!
Fan favorite Katharine Isabelle is caught in the middle of this slasher clash of the titans!
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Horror fans may sometimes be divided on this flick, but I have loved it since first seeing in on opening day! In honor of its 20th anniversary, I am reposting my review of this classic horror showdown…
FREDDY vs. JASON (2003)
After quite some time in development, New Line Cinema finally brought two of modern horror’s most infamous icons together for a throw-down…and in my opinion it is a bloody blast of gory fun. The clever plot has Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) finally outwitted by the people of Springwood. His memory has been wiped almost clean from the townsfolk by a diligent policy of never discussing the nightmare demon and institutionalizing and medicating anyone who dreams about him. He’s powerless in his dream realm and quite unhappy about it. Not to be outwitted, Freddy has a nefarious plot to get back in action. He needs someone in the physical world to return to Elm St. and start killing again. The murders will obviously be attributed to him and once he is in the minds of the townsfolk and they begin to fear him again, his power will be restored. The monster he’s chosen for the job is a certain Crystal Lake resident. Freddy revives Jason Voorhees (Ken Kirzinger) and sends him to Elm St. to start a killing spree to which he will gleefully take credit. Jason picks the original Elm St. house to start his carnage, which is occupied now by a troubled girl named Lori (Monica Keena) and her widowed father (Tom Butler). Jason thus interrupts a get-together between Lori and some friends in gruesome fashion and Freddy’s plan is set in motion as troubled locals and the authorities think the Springwood Slasher is back. Freddy’s plan seems to be working fine except for two things he didn’t expect…. One, Lori is a smart and resilient girl who figures things out a lot quicker than Freddy anticipated and rallies her friends to stop him. Secondly, Jason may have a kill-switch but not an off-switch and if he kills all the beleaguered Elm St. teens, Freddy will be back to square one with no one to fear/empower him. Now the dream demon has to not only foil Lori and friends from stopping him but must now destroy the very fiend he set in motion. It’s monster vs. monster with Lori and her decreasing number of friends caught in the middle. Who will win?
As directed by Honk Kong filmmaker Ronny Yu, Freddy vs Jason is a lot of gory fun as long as you don’t take it too seriously or expect it to be the least bit scary. The movie moves very quickly, and Yu’s visual style is colorful, as with his Chinese films, but it is when these two modern horror icons finally lock horns that Yu’s HK filmmaking style really kicks in. The final battle is vicious and ridiculously gory like a Tom and Jerry cartoon by way of George Romero. When the smoke clears, you’ve had a bloody good time.
Yu also has a good cast with gorgeous Monica Keena making a sexy and smart final girl. The lively supporting cast features fan favorite Katharine Isabelle, as tough but cute Gibb, Kelly Rowland as smart-ass Kia, Jason Ritter as Lori’s ex Will, who has escaped from being hospitalized and drugged to prevent his dreams from evoking Freddy, with Brendan Fletcher as Will’s oddball bud and fellow hospital inmate, Mark. The supporting characters are all fun and likable and the cast members give them some nice personality to make it all the more effective when either Freddy or Jason take one of them down. The movie works very well because the cast of characters are endearing, and our fiends are at their best. Obviously, Englund is at the top of his game as Freddy, and he is given some fun dialogue and bits to chew on and serves as the main villain of the piece with Jason ending up being a sort of anti-hero or lesser of two evils. As Jason, big Ken Kirzinger gives him presence and menace and he holds his own against Mr. Krueger.
Sure, some of the hardcore fan base may have been hoping for a more serious attempt at a legitimate horror with these two, but at this point, both characters have become more like anti-heroes, and it would have been hard to take the bringing together of these two icons all that seriously. Yu chose an approach which never makes a joke out of it but has a good time with the possibilities as does Damian Shannon and Mark Swift’s script which provides some clever touches such as Freddy discovering Jason’s only ‘fear’. The flick gets a lot of mileage and fun out of the legacy of both characters and the bringing them together for a fight. It’s a very energetic movie and is a blast of fun and works very well for what it is. The characters still have some threat and there is plenty of the red stuff spurted about as their paths cross and the make-up effects portraying the carnage is top notch. The production as a whole is very slick and makes good use of its healthy budget. A really entertaining flick that deserved, but sadly never got a rematch. A fun blast to end the original series for both Freddy and Jason.
-MonsterZero NJ
Rated 3 and 1/2 (out of 4) hockey masks.
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