Reel Horror

Freddy vs. Jason (New Line Platinum Series) asin: B0000VCZMK

Some of us remember back in the '80's talking with our friends and wondering who would win if Jason and Freddy ever had a battle. Finally after 20 years we get to see the ultimate showdown of evil. Ever since New Line Cinema bought the rights to the Friday the 13th franchise before the Jason X movie, this confrontation has been imminent.

Not straying from the roots of both character's movies, Freddy vs. Jason starts out as a classic slasher movie should. After Freddy narrates some background to the current situation of himself and Jason respectively, we are given a nice shot of gratuitous nudity. What's a slasher without some of that?

Freddy tells us about how he has been rendered powerless after the people of Springwood have exiled all the people who fear him. Mr. Krueger resurrects Jason to go to Elm Street and and instill the fear once again. The movie continues on in the classic slasher vein for a while yet. We are introduced to the group of teens who love to party. A few of them are hanging out at Lori's house... on Elm Street. Jason shows up and crashes the party. Now the talk about the killer on Elm Street leads to speculation about the return of Freddy. This gives Freddy the power he needs.

Now Freddy is ready to resume his terrorizing and killing. One thing is standing in his way though. The monster, Jason, that helped Freddy return to Elm Street is out of control. Jason is a killing machine and is relentless in his pursuit of victims much to the dismay of Freddy. Krueger wants all the victims to himself. Let the battle begin.

Director Ronny Yu who helmed the revitalizing Child's Play sequel, Bride of Chucky, has done a wonderful job here. Yu brings an outside perspective which ends up working great. He throws in all the cheesy elements of slasher movies without making them seem redundant. A brilliant combination of comedy and horror is one of the many highlights of this visual treat.

I could go on forever about this movie but I will just add some more prominent observations. The cast was easy to watch as we didn't have a big star to hog the spotlight or ask for close-ups. Kelly Rowland of Destiny's Child tries to follow in her former bandmate's footsteps by entering the world of movies in here and John Ritter's son Jason also furthers his career. Also we can't forget Katharine Isabelle from Ginger Snaps and the lead, Monica Keena, pulled off a nice performance. Her wits were reminiscent of Nancy Thompson from the Nightmare series.

There are actually a number of Canadian actors in the film which was shot in B.C., Canada. These might be some familiar faces besides Robert Englund of course but the previously mentioned can hardly be considered stars yet. I like that because we get the feeling that this movie is more like the '80's slashers that had virtually unknown casts.

The effects are also very satisfying. Good job in all of the fight scenes to portray the battles in the dreamworld and at Camp Crystal Lake.

All in all I was very pleased with the way the movie turned out. As I mentioned it had a good '80's horror movie feeling to it. Best movie of the year in my opinion. Even for all the stereotypical slasher elements it comes off somehow with a lot more conviction and fun rather than seeming cheesy. Go see it over and over. I'm sure you will love it as long as you are a fan of either Jason or Freddy.