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Dan Owen reviews
Entertainment in Video As premiered on
danowen.blogspot.com
- Cert:
- Cat.no: EDV 9157
- Running time: 97 minutes
- Year: 2003
- Pressing: 2004
- Region(s): 2, PAL
- Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
- Languages: English
- Subtitles: English
- Widescreen: 2.35:1 (Super 35)
- 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
- Macrovision: Yes
- Disc Format: DVD 9
- Price: £19.99
- Extras:Audio Commentary, ‘Jump to a Death’ menu option, Deleted/alternate scenes,Behind the Scenes coverage, Visual Effects exploration, Storyboards andGalleries, Music Video, Trailer, TV Spots
Director:
- Ronny Yu
Producer:
- Sean S. Cunningham
Screenplay:
- Damian Shannon and Mark Swift
Music:
- Graeme Revell
Cast:
- Freddy Krueger: Robert Englund
Jason Voorhees: Ken Kirzinger
Lori Campbell: Monica Keena
Will Rollins: Jason Ritter
Kia Waterson: Kelly Rowland
Charlie Linderman: Chris Marquette
Mark Davis: Brenda Fletcher
Gibb: Katharine Isabelle
Deputy Scott Stubbs: Lochlyn Munro
Director Ronny Yusuccessfully relaunched demonic doll Chucky on audiences, withBride Of Chucky (1998); by downplaying the horror and upping thekinetic action, gore, and laughs. It was a smart mix that made the Child’sPlay character more accessible for newcomers while never alienating fans.
Yu continues this trick for Freddy Vs Jason, the long-awaitedgrudge match between two of the horror genre’s most enduring villains –A Nightmare On Elm Street‘s Freddy Krueger and Friday 13th‘sJason Voorhees.
A prologue (clips of Nightmare movies, mixed with new pre-burns Freddyflashbacks) outlines the birth and modus operandi of Mr Krueger. It transpiresthat Freddy’s reign of nightmare-induced deaths in the all-American town ofSpringwood has come to an end. The curse of diminishing sequels, huh? Well,no, actually the town’s adults have successfully repressed the memory ofKrueger so that the town’s kids are no longer aware of Freddy and susceptibleto his influence. Out of mind, out of sight…
But Freddy has a plan to invoke terror on Springwood/Elm Street once again,by resurrecting fellow psychopath Jason Voorhees to go on a killing spree…
Freddy Vs Jason isn’t a scary movie. The violence is playful andsometimes beautiful, the gore is absurdly exaggerated (decapitated dad), andCGI neuters the horror by reminding us of its digital falsity (a noseamputation), yet a great deal of the movie works because it stays true to thecharacters, has strict internal logic, and offers a plot and level of mayhemthat marks a high for both franchises. But it’s not scary. It’s having fartoo much fun to really care about orchestrating genuine chills.
Given a sprightly run-time, Yu packs a lot into the movie; barely a scenegoes by without violence, or the threat of violence from Freddy/Jason. It’sfast, savage, and does exactly what it says on the tin. With 17 moviesbetween them, there really isn’t anything fresh or interesting to say abouteach character individually (Freddy’s the paedophile child-killer, victim ofvigilante justice, able to continue killing via dreams; Jason’s theindestructible bullied mummy’s boy who drowned in a lake and returns toslaughter with his machete), but by forcing the two killers together…Freddy Vs Jason actually transcends its roots to provide some intriguingsubtext.
The cast (the meat?) of the story are the usual assortment of adolescentclichés; the misogynist boyfriend, the embittered geek, the sexy virgin, theloudmouth slut, a duo of stoners, the handsome ex-lover, etc. It seemspointless to bemoan clichés in the slasher genre, as they’re now ingrainedin the fabric of these movies, and removing them would upset the applecart (do you cut kissing from rom-coms, or explosions from action movies?)
For what it’s worth, the cast give better performances than you’d expect,with one even getting a noble death scene quite at-odds with the genre’s”everyone must die gruesomely” mentality.
The most memorable aspect of Freddy Vs Jason is how well-crafted it is.Shannon and Swift’s script adheres to genre conventions (dumb teens makingdumber decisions), honours the original films (Nightmare 3’s dream-preventingdrug returns), ensures there are imaginative deaths (folding bed), andculminates in a genuinely exciting monster-et-monster standoff betweenKrueger and Voorhees. Director Yu is clearly having great fun, and visuallygives the movie a glossy sheen absent from the low-budget ’80s/’90sinstalments of all Nightmares and Fridays.
A few scenes are particularly strong: a Freddy shadow in the street, Jasonslaughtering party-goers in a crop field with a fiery machete, Freddy leapingout of Crystal Lake onto a pier, Jason being impaled by dozens of razor-sharpsteel rods, Freddy using Jason as a human pinball, and (in a brilliantsequence that evokes chills and sympathy) the moment when Freddy discoversJason’s fear of water and creates a shower that shrinks the behemoth downto a whimpering deformed child.
Robert Englund, horror veteran and icon, could probably play Freddy in hissleep by now. The Nightmare On Elm Street sequels reduced Freddy to ahumorous anti-hero, and this incarnation of Freddy survives for Yu’s movie.Freddy is quick with the one-liners and pithy remarks, but does get a fewchances to make the blood run cold. As a character, I find him moreinteresting than Jason, although his “nightmare killings” usually mean heplays second-fiddle to the effects (a stoned caterpillar!), and his mostgruesome killing barely features him (the blood bath/foot veins scene).
Canadian stuntman Ken Kirzinger makes his debut as Jason (four-time JasonKen Hodder was replaced, much to fan chagrin), but its hardly difficult tostomp around with a machete, is it? Still, Kirzinger is taller than Hodder(6’5″) and undoubtedly has more presence. Jason’s killings all take place inthe real world, and as such he gets the most ferocious slayings (usually bypenetrating “rape” with his machete/penis). One early killing is even shotas if it were a male rape.
Monica Keena is the obligatory virginal heroine (Lori Campbell), abeautifully cute screen presence familiar to Dawson’s Creek viewers, whoactually does well in crafting a heroine with morals. The rest of the castare drawn thinner, falling into archetypes, but nobody really underperformsand everyone seems to be treating the material with the right degree oftongue-in-cheek humour. For Destiny’s Child fans, it was surprising to methat singer Kelly Rowland was actually pretty good.
The special effects are a good mix of old-school (blood-spurting dummies),and new-school (CGI shadow), but the emphasis is on good old-fashionedblood-bags and make-up. The climactic battle between the titular titans isessentially an elongated punch-up, with each semi-omnipotent do-badderrefusing to die. This is cartoon violence for adults, made clear in amoment Freddy accidentally strings himself up by the foot whilst on theverge of defeating Jason. Wile E. Coyote would be proud.
Overall, fans of either villain will surely love this movie; it’s one ofthe best “sequels” to either franchise, and is even quite accessible tonew horror fans, while ensuring you get the urge to revisit those “videonasties” of yesteryear. If you don’t have any affinity for Freddy, Jason,or the slasher sub-genre in general, then I have no idea why you’d watchthis anyway (unless you thought it was a pop-video face-off betweenFreddy Mercury and Jason Donovan).
For the rest of us, this is a slick B-movie that provides everything you’dexpect from the title and even offers a few nuances and cinematic riffs thatneither franchise has experienced for years…
Interestingly, the movie comes in both widescreen 2.35:1 anamorphic and4:3 full-screen on the same disc. I’m sure most people will opt for thewidescreen version, but choice is always nice I suppose. The quality ofboth transfers is generally very good, with clean blacks and lots of detail.There are some smeary scenes, with the “black light” interior of a fanbeing particularly blurred, but the majority of the work is very good.
There is a fantastic Dolby Digital EX 5.1 track that has plenty of bassand ambience, with some particularly good surround sound effects in anumber of scenes (Jason pinball, etc). A stereo track is there and doesa reasonable job, but is obviously underwhelming by comparisonn.
This 2-disc Platinum Edition edition has extra’s on both discs. The bonusfeatures on Disc 1 include…
- Commentary track with Ronny Yu, Robert Englund and Ken Kirzinger: A pretty good yakker track, with Englund on fine form with anecdotes andopinions. Director Yu and Kirzinger are somewhat sidelined by veteranEnglund, but are both good.
- “Jump to a Death” Menu Option: A neat idea for all the gore-hounds watching… who need never listen toall that dialogue stiff again, and get straight to the blood.
- : A huge array of deleted scenes with optional commentary from Yu and executiveproducer Douglas Curtis. Most interesting is the longer original opening andthe wisely-axed original ending.
- Behind the scenes coverage of the film’s development:including screenwriting, set design, make-up,stunts and principle photography.
- Articles: two pieces from Fangoria magazine entitled “Freddy & Jason Go To DevelopmentHell” and “Slicing Toward Completion”. Interesting for real fans.
- Production Featurettes: Some excellent featurettes on the movie, such as “Genesis: Development Hell”(10 min), “On Location: Springwood Revisited” (15 min), “Art Direction:Jason’s Decorating Tips” (12 min), “Stunts: When Push Comes To Shove” (22min) and “Make-Up Effects: Freddy’s Beauty Secrets” (6 min).
- Visual Effects Exploration: There 12 visual effects featurettes for SFX intensive scenes, all veryinteresting.
- Storyboards and galleries: Want to watch photos of the cast and crew, with some drawings? No? Well,avoid this.
- Publicity & Promotion: The original theatrical trailer and 8 TV spots are here for your enjoyment,as is the music video from Ill Nino (“How Can I Live”, 3 min), plus adelightfully silly 5-minute pre-fight conference at Bally’s Casino in LasVegas between Freddy and Jason! A rubbish featurettes entitled “My SummerVacation: A Visit To Camp Hacknslash” (4 min) is also there basicallya one-day summer camp for film geeks awaiting the movie’s release.
Overall, this is a fantastic DVD release that will certainly please itsintended audience and give you a decent insight into how the movie (andothers like it) are created. Highly recommended.
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.