“Freddy Vs. Jason” is a 2003 slasher film crossover directed by Ronny Yu and written by writing team Damian Shannon and Mark Swift. As the title suggests, the film is a crossover between the “A Nightmare on Elm Street” and “Friday the 13th” franchises, and it is also the highest grossing film from both franchises.
The film starts off with Freddy Krueger disguising himself as Pamela Voorhees and sending Jason to kill the kids of Elm Street in order to spread the fear that Freddy’s back.
A girl named Lori finds herself in the middle of this mess when one of her friend’s is killed in Nancy Thomson’s old house (now Lori’s house) and her old boyfriend Will breaks out of Westin Hills to make sure she’s OK. After this she starts having nightmares about Freddy, and Jason kills more people around her, which angers Freddy after Jason starts stealing his kills.
“FVJ” may not be an Oscar-winning masterpiece, but the call backs such as Westin Hills and the Hypnocil (a drug that represses dreams) from “Dream Warriors” and the overall absurdity of it all makes it one the best films I’ve ever seen. The final fight at Camp Crystal Lake is an amazing scene, and the pure fear on Freddy’s face when he realizes he’s in the real world is hilarious.
Freddy’s world takes up most of the setting with Elm Street of course, as well as the Westin Hills Psychiatric Hospital. However, Jason takes most of the kills.
Freddy is also played really well in “FVJ” with him feeling a lot like “Dream Warriors” Freddy, with him using one-liners and jokes, but not to such a degree that he’s the joke (such as “Freddy’s Dead“).
Jason on the other hand isn’t the best in this film.
I wouldn’t say he’s awful, though. However, I would have preferred someone more experienced in the role, such as Kane Hodder who played him two years earlier in “Jason X,” as well as the previous four entries in the series. Although he more I see of this version of Jason, the more I enjoy it.
Overall “Freddy Vs. Jason” delivers on the one thing it promised: A fight between cinema’s two baddest killers, and the film includes everything it needs to and not much else.
Fun Fact: One draft of the film’s script included Pinhead from the “Hellraiser” franchise, but this was removed in later versions and no other franchise’s characters are included in the main story. However, a sequel comic “Freddy Vs. Jason Vs. Ash” did add Ash Williams from the “Evil Dead” movies.
I think “FVJ” is a great film and an absolute must watch for fans of either the “A Nightmare On Elm Street” and/or “Friday the 13th” franchises. It delivers a believable and awesome fight between the two killers.
