Retro Review: Freddy vs Jason (2003)

This is a movie that was about 16 years in the making.  I think it was after Dream Warriors or possibly Dream Master and The New Blood that people started talking about Freddy vs Jason.  I guess it made sense.  To me, I never thought it did, Freddy was in the dream world, Jason in the real world.

Did we get what we wanted?  I mean this is the Freddy vs Jason we are left with, Robert Englund will not protray Freddy again.  I think there is a split between fans.  There are fans who love it and fans who hate it.  But honestly, there are fans who are caught in the middle.  I really don’t know where I fall, somewhere between hate and the middle, a limbo of sorts.

Synopsis:

Two horror icons face off in this supernatural movie. Disfigured serial killer Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund), who attacks his victims in their dreams, has lost much of his power since citizens of his town have become less afraid of him. Enlisting the help of fellow violent murderer Jason Voorhees (Ken Kirzinger), Freddy orchestrates a new killing spree. However, when the hockey-mask-wearing psychopath won’t stop chopping up Freddy’s intended victims, the two ghouls start to battle each other.

I ranked this movie in two separate lists, Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street.  So, this next bit is pulled from those two articles.  Oddly enough, Freddy vs Jason ranks higher on the Nightmare list, I will have to go back and make some changes, that doesn’t work for me any more.

I have gotten two different questions about this movie.

1.Who wins?

Well, neither really wins.  Jason is Freddy’s bitch boy, but he has more kills.

2. Is this a Freddy movie or a Jason movie?

I think it is more of a Freddy movie, they both fight on each other’s turf.  But it feels more like a Freddy movie.

Freddy vs Jason was a fun movie to see.  Watching it over the years, it really is not a great addition to either series.  There are took many problems and it begins with the director, Ronny Yu.  There were bad decisions after he was brought on board.  Jason, no matter the size, should have been Kane Hodder.  That was a problem.  Jason was never a giant.  The mask was an issue, which brings me to this question.  Where does this fit in the timeline?  Is it its own sequel of part III or part 2?

I don’t know, this movie is fun and I do like it better than Jason Goes to Hell and Jason X.  I do have a lot of issues, but we may never get another Freddy vs Jason movie, so I am going to take what we can get.

Final thought on Freddy vs Jason:

Well, I would like to see another Freddy vs Jason, but not a sequel.  It would be amazing to get the fans involved in the writing process and possibly crowd fund the movie.  This would be Robert Englund’s farewell to Freddy and Kane Hodder’s dream would come true as he would play Jason for the final time.  This to me would be the end all, be all for Freddy vs Jason.

Now, looking back, there actors/characters are all pretty forgettable and the movie is just not really that good.  Even the plot is pretty much a mess, there are so many problems with this movie, I cannot even have fun while watching the movie.  But that is my personal hang up, not to mention the Kane Hodder thing.  Ken Kirzinger looked terrible, not his fault and his direction was not good.  This look for Jason seems to be one of the best known and I hate it, the mask is the second worst mask of all the Jason movies, following the first mask of Jason X.  I would have rather seen the sack head Jason from part II, but it is not iconic enough.

I hate the use of CGI, it feels lazy these days.  The CGI in this movie is terrible.

So, if this is to ever happen again, I would hope it is after we establish two fresh actors as Freddy and Jason.  I don’t see this working with the “alive” version of Jason.  So, give me 4 Friday the 13th movies, 2 with him alive and die at the end, resurrected in part 3 and 4 leads in to Freddy vs Jason movie.  Freddy on the other hand, give me three new movies and the end of part three teases Freddy vs Jason.  That is a tall order and if production started in 2018, the first Friday wouldn’t be until 2019.  So…

Friday the 13th remake 2019

A Nightmare on Elm Street remake 2019

Friday the 13th 2 2020

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 2021

Friday the 13th 3 2022

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 2023

Friday the 13th 4 2024

Freddy vs Jason 2025?

It is late and I am kind of messing around and having fun in my own brain.  I have an idea, give Robert Englund a shit ton of money, toss a great script on the table and sign Kane Hodder.  Freddy vs Jason 2020!  Just fucking do this already and do it right!

IMDB.com has a rating of 5.8

I am going to be lazy and just agree at this point. 5.8

About Ray Marek III 699 Articles
I have been watching horror films since I was 6 years old. The story, one Saturday night, my mom and I were watching movies and she fell asleep on the couch. We had the channel set on HBO and the movie we were watching ended and the next one, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge. This was some time in 1986. I watched then entire film, I was sitting on the edge of my seat. When my mom woke, she asked me what just ended and I told her, “Freddy”. That was all I talked about for weeks and finally she broke down and rented more horror films for me. She rented, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre part 2, Re-Animator, Friday the 13th VI: Jason Lives and Halloween II. I watched all and fell in love with horror films forever. 5 Horror Films to Watch Inferno (1980) A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) The Beyond (1981) Friday the 13th VI: Jason Lives (1986) Horror of Dracula (1958)