FREDDY VS. JASON
A New Line Cinema Release

review by Joseph B. Mauceri

SYNOPSIS: Freddy Kruger (Englund) is literally stuck in hell. The town of Springfield has removed all traces of his existence. They cut off his access to the dreams of their children by giving them an experimental drug that prevents the children from dreaming. If a few of them do, they ship them off to an asylum and administer even higher doses of the drug. They have effectively eliminated Freddy¹s source of power ¯ fear. However, he will not be denied. Freddy comes across Jason Voorhees, the unstoppable force from the ³Friday the 13^th² series, in hell. He resurrects Jason and unleashes him on the town. Initially the town believes that Freddy has returned, but as the bodies pile up they discover another madman is stalking their town. Freddy tries to get Jason to step aside but he will not be swayed. With a terrified town in the middle, these two monsters are about to clash in a horrifying showdown of epic proportions that span the dream plane and reality.

REVIEW: In 1931, Universal Pictures released James Whale¹s ³Frankenstein² and gave birth to a monster legacy that still is acknowledged today.  Over the years, the folks in the marketing department have taken those classic monsters and pitted them against each other in a variety of incarnations. It¹s a tradition that lives on when in 2004 Universal Pictures will release ³Van Helsing.² Hugh Jackman plays Bram Stokers man of science who must now face and destroy all the classic monsters in the Universal stable. Why mention this?

In 1980, Sean S. Cunningham and Paramount Pictures opened the gates of Camp Crystal Lake and gave birth to the legend of Jason Voorhees. However, it wasn¹t until the sequel that this unstoppable killing machine showed up, and Jason continued to hack up victims in ten sequels. In 1984 New Line Cinema unleashed master horror director Wes Craven¹s bastard son of 1,000 maniacs, serial killer Freddy Kruger. After terrorizing Elm Street and the town of Springfield through eight sequels, director Wes Craven returned to the ³franchise² in 1994 with ³Wes Craven¹s New Nightmare² and attempted to put the final nail in Freddy¹s coffin.

Over the years, both of these franchises spawned their own popular television spin-offs. In the case of ³Freddy¹s Nightmares,² the wisecracking slasher played host to an anthology series that featured stories set in the mythical town of Springfield. Jason wasn¹t as lucky. ³Friday the 13^th: The Series² was about an antique shop filled with cursed objects and an unlikely trio trying to reclaim them and save the world from these evil curios.

During the eighties and nineties, two other serial killers gained popularity. Director John Carpenter¹s Michael Myers, who first slashed across the big screen in 1978 in ³Halloween,² the first film in a series set to return in 2004 with Halloween 9. The other infamous murder is Leatherface of ³Texas Chainsaw Massacre.² Having only appeared in three films, he is about to be reborn in November 2004, under the watchful eye of producer Michael Bay (BAD BOYS II) and first time director Marcus Nispel.

For years, the fans of these franchises have clamored for a meeting of these contemporary monsters. With different studios owning the rights to each of these madmen it was unlikely to happen. However, Michael Myers and Leatherface did meet up in on the pages of a comic book series that was written by horror author Nancy Collins.

In 1993, New Line pictures purchased the rights to the ³Friday the 13^th² series and it looked like fans would get their wish. Since then, numerous screenwriters have taken a ³stab² at coming up with the tale, but none meeting with the studio¹s or producer¹s, Sean S. Cunningham, approval. It took two virtual newcomers, Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, to pen a tale that found favor with the filmmakers and studio. With Robert Englund onboard, the final piece to the puzzle was the director.

The filmmakers turned to director Ronny Yu, a veteran of the Hong Kong cinema, who had done an amazing job with the forth installment in the ³Child¹s Play² series, ³The Bride of Chucky,² for this team up. Yu blends a unique combination of the Hong Kong school of action films with a love of horror films that takes FREDDY VS. JASON into a new era of action and special effects.  You can forget the amusement parks, because FREDDY VS. JASON is the scariest thrill ride of the summer!

First, there is no way you can suggest this film to and audience that buys the Sunday New York Times, and spends their entertainment dollars on films like ³The Whale Rider² or ³Buffalo Soldiers.² If you have any of the films in either of these series in your video collection, then you¹re the audience we¹re talking to here. When it comes to genre films, even more so with the latest installment of a franchise, we¹re not talking rocket science here folks. Hell, we¹re not even thinking awards. What fans of the franchises care about is faithfulness to the mythology, a reasonably intelligent plot, and great special effects. In a nutshell, lots of thrills, chills and kills for our entertainment dollar.

Director Ronny Yu pits the 21st Century¹s titans of horror in a battle to the death and delivers the biggest badest, scariest film of either series. Yu gets it, and does so with a fans sensibility. Look, who cares about the victims? The rules of sex, drugs and rock-&-roll still apply, meaning you die. However, Yu sets the tone of the film, right from the opening, by concentrating on his killers. The filmmakers recapture Freddy¹s evil nature, and while he still goes about using his witty on-liners, they seem a bit darker and less humorous. What makes it even darker is that the story focuses on Jason¹s true nature, that all leads back to the tragedy of when he was a little boy. Freddy is a child killer, and he is manipulating Jason in order to return to Elm Street. But when Freddy can¹t stop Jason, he pulls Jason into his dream world where he can peel back the layers and reduce him to a hurt and tormented child. In a strange way, Yu turns Jason into the most sympathetic character in the entire film.

The level of special effects in this film makes FEDDY VS JASON a relentless, pulse-pounding, scarefest! Yes, there are some surreal dream sequences and those amazing Jason murders. However, Freddy Kruger thrills! Jason Voorhees kills! And when these icons of terror throw down the screen explodes. Yu combines cutting edge digital effects with the latest advances in prosthetic special effects, and kicks it up with buckets of realistic looking blood. He adds a fight choreographer to the mix and what Yu¹s camera captures is the horror equivalent of John Woo¹s climax in ³The Killer.² Yu¹s camera work is almost flawless. There are a couple of rough cuts betweens scenes at the beginning of the film, but I wonder if it might be the studio deleting a few scenes in order to pick up the pacing.

In terms of the cast, Englund is great and Ken Kirzinger, as Jason, is fine. Let¹s face it, Jason doesn¹t have to deliver any lines and wears a hockey mask. They could have put any hulking actor in makeup and it probably would work just as well. I thought Monica Kenna was a strong female lead, although her screaming seemed a bit over the top at times. Kelly Rowalnd proves she can act, but her character is so obnoxious that people were applauding her demise. (I guess you need at least one of those in this type of film.) I loved Katherine Isabelle! She¹s a hot young actress that has this ³Beverly Hills 90210² look but with a softer Kate Hudson feel. Definitely a rising star to be on the lookout for.

I loved Graeme Revell¹s working of the two themes into the score of the film. It is as important as the characters themselves. In terms of the soundtrack, they¹ve gotten these heavy metal pieces from some bands I¹ve never even heard of. So forget the soundtrack and buy the score!

With twice the scares and twice the horror, FREDDY VS. JASON pushes the limits of the both series to its frightening edge and redefines the rules of scar tactics. This is a film that the fans have been waiting for, and the critics dread.

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