{"id":41587,"date":"2023-10-30T14:02:14","date_gmt":"2023-10-30T18:02:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=41587"},"modified":"2023-10-30T14:02:14","modified_gmt":"2023-10-30T18:02:14","slug":"welcome-to-my-nightmare-freddy-vs-jason-20-years-later","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2023\/10\/30\/welcome-to-my-nightmare-freddy-vs-jason-20-years-later\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome to My Nightmare: \u201cFreddy vs. Jason\u201d 20 Years Later"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>One of the most interesting experiences of my life in a movie theater happened during \u201cFreddy vs. Jason.\u201d It was interesting in that it showed how strong my colon could be.<\/p>\n

Stick with me.<\/p>\n

I, like every other horror geek in America, during the beginning of the internet, were anxiously following every update of \u201cFreddy vs. Jason\u201d and its glacial development. The movie had been in development for over a few decades, and the anticipation only became even more feverish with the cameo of Freddy Krueger in the end of \u201cJason Goes to Hell.\u201d For what I\u2019m assuming was meant to be a little elbow nudge to the fans, transformed in to an even more heated demand for Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees to meet on the big screen.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I fondly remember my cousin going nuts about the end to \u201cJason Goes to Hell\u201d boasting about Freddy Krueger actually appearing. Then after watching the brief cameo in the movie for myself, I certainly was excited, if a bit confused. Did Freddy really go to hell? Was Freddy an agent of hell, now? What was his beef with Jason Voorhees, anyway? In either case, this was all during the beginning and evolution of the internet, so scoops were rare, and often times completely fictional. When \u201cFreddy vs. Jason\u201d finally came to theaters in 2003, I was absolutely stunned and prepared for some damn good entertainment.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I made sure to base my entire week around it and rushed to the theater to experience it all for myself. One of the reasons why watching it was so interesting was that I had forgotten to relieve myself before leaving my home, so I literally sat in theater for ninety minutes holding in what was sure to be a colon blast of the higher proportions. But colon health be damned, I had to see \u201cFreddy vs. Jason.\u201d Director Ronny Yu is known for his films from his home land and admitted to leaning \u201cFreddy vs. Jason\u201d more in a pulpy, campy direction that wouldn\u2019t take itself too seriously. This was in its essence a kaiju movie that didn\u2019t really place a lot of dramatic weight on its narrative or even its characters.<\/p>\n

Everyone in the movie are, in some form, kind of dumb, but by the end of the movie we love them for being so dumb. The main characters of the film are Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees, and director Yu doesn\u2019t try to pretend otherwise. They get about eighty percent of the film\u2019s focus, they decide the fate of literally everyone, and their big fight in the end carries more dramatic weight than our final girl Lori. Lori is still dealing with PTSD over the murder of her mother at the hands of her father. Later she finds out that it was actually Freddy murdering her mom while her dad was trying to save her. But all that be damned, Freddy and Jason are tussling, and they fight like guys tussling over their rival sports teams.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The script does a wonderful job of justifying the meeting of Freddy and Jason by finding interesting methods to tie Freddy and Jason\u2019s mythologies together. Freddy is still alive in some sense who uses the consciousness of Jason Voorhees to help instill fear in the children of Elm Street. This fear he uses to feed on, which allows him to regain power, thus allowing him to be reborn and get back to his reign of terror. But Jason has his own plans as a mindless killing machine that isn\u2019t entirely prone to being given orders. This prompts Freddy to engage Jason in mental warfare that inevitably seeps in to the real world. \u201cFreddy vs. Jason\u201d spent so many years being developed, and re-developed.<\/p>\n

There were so many interesting ideas that they posited that would have worked, and Ronny Yu\u2019s treatment of this premise still holds up, so many years later. \u201cFreddy vs. Jason\u201d isn\u2019t just a movie but it\u2019s a carnival ride, and one that you either are ready to accept or not. Robert Englund admitted to this movie being one of the last times he\u2019d ever appear as Krueger, and he takes the role for all its worth this time out. He has a ball for his last outing, even allowing us to see past Krueger\u2019s human fa\u00e7ade in to his true demonic form. It\u2019s a blast.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>There\u2019s so much about \u201cFreddy vs. Krueger\u201d with highs and lows, hysterical quotes, great dark comedy, cringe worthy scenes (I always mute the scene where Michelle Williams taunts Freddy) and some genuinely innovative moments where Krueger just goes hog wild. Whether it\u2019s his tormenting of Jason\u2019s vulnerability to water, his transformation in to the caterpillar a la \u201cAlice in Wonderland,\u201d it\u2019s all so great. Thankfully Yu leads us through the build up of what is still a pretty fantastic throw down as Jason is able to take on Freddy in the flesh and in his territory. I\u2019ve grown to love Freddy on equal terms with Jason over the years, but in 2003, I was a pure Jason Voorhees fanatic and I rooted for Jason through the bitter end.<\/p>\n

I appreciate that Yu doesn\u2019t just show equal respect for fans of both series, but he also pays homage to them in making them completely opposite maniacs, but both immensely powerful and cunning when in their own elements. Time has been very kind to it and the final scene which leaves Jason and Freddy on still level grounding. Maybe Jason won. Maybe Freddy won. Maybe both! Regardless, we got to see two horror juggernauts smash each other\u2019s faces for ninety minutes, and director Ronny Yu delivered on what we\u2019d been clamoring for, for years.<\/p>\n