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Freddy vs. Jason

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Freddy vs. Jason.
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRonny Yu
Screenplay byDamian Shannon
Mark Swift
Story byCharacters:
Wes Craven
Victor Miller
Produced bySean S. Cunningham
StarringRobert Englund
Monica Keena
Kelly Rowland
Jason Ritter
Chris Marquette
Lochlyn Munro
CinematographyFred Murphy
Edited byMark Stevens
Music byGraeme Revell
Distributed byNew Line Cinema
Release date
August 15, 2003
Running time
97 min.
CountriesUSA
Canada
Italy
LanguageEnglish
Budget$30 million
Box office$114,908,830

Freddy vs. Jason is a 2003 American slasher film directed by Ronny Yu. The film is a crossover between the A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th franchises, the eighth and eleventh entries in their respective series, and pits their respective villains, Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees, against each other.

In the film's storyline, Freddy has grown weak, as the citizens of Springwood have suppressed their fear of him. In order to regain his power, Freddy resurrects Jason and manipulates him into traveling to Springwood to cause panic and fear. However, while Jason succeeds in causing enough fear for Freddy to haunt the town again, he continues to intrude on Freddy's territory and steal his potential victims. This ultimately sends the two monsters into a violent conflict. This was also Robert Englund's final appearance as Freddy Krueger, having portrayed him in all seven previous Nightmare films.

The film is set after the events of Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare and Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, but before Jason X, which was released first because Freddy vs. Jason was stuck in development hell at the time.

Plot

Freddy Krueger is trapped in Hell, and enraged as the parents of Springwood have emerged from their psychosis and figured how to keep the children from remembering him, rendering him powerless and unable to escape. Determined to make them remember and fear him, Freddy locates Jason Voorhees in Hell and disguises himself as Jason's mother, who is the only person Jason will listen to, convincing him to rise again and go to Springwood to slaughter the teens; though Jason will kill the teenagers, Freddy will be blamed, and thus be able to escape from Hell. Jason arrives on Elm Street, sneaking into the house where Nancy Thompson and Jesse Walsh used to live, now owned by Lori Campbell and her widowed father. While Lori, her friends Kia, Gibb, Blake and Trey, are in the house, Trey is brutally murdered by Jason using his machete and Trey's body is bent in half. The group is taken in for questioning. After overhearing several police officers accidentally discussing Freddy, Lori falls asleep and has a dream about Freddy, allowing him to gain some of his powers back. Freddy then tries to attack Blake. However, he is unable to harm him, so he decides to rest for now and "let Jason have some fun." Blake then awakens to find his father beheaded, sitting next to him, and is, a moment later, killed by Jason. In order to avert suspicion from Freddy, the police claim that Blake killed Trey, his father and then took his own life.

Lori has recurring dreams about Freddy and tells Kia and Gibb about it. She is reunited with her boyfriend, Will Rollins and his friend Mark, who were institutionalized in Westin Hills Asylum and escaped after hearing of the murders on Elm Street. At a rave party, Gibb falls asleep and has a dream where she is attacked by Freddy after he took the form of the deceased Trey to lure her into his trap. Another raver attempts to rape her, but Jason appears and kills the two, angering Freddy, who realizes that Jason will not stop killing and that the public is becoming more afraid of Jason than him. Jason goes on a rampage around the rave, killing Shack and several others. Afterward, Will, Lori, Kia, and two fellow students Freeburg and Linderman escape and meet up with Stubbs. The group formulate a plan to defeat Freddy and Jason: they will take Jason back to Camp Crystal Lake, and Lori will pull Freddy into the real world to fight Jason; in the real world, Freddy will be vulnerable, and Jason, at home in Crystal Lake, will have the "home field advantage" and remain in his territory, and thus no longer terrorize Springwood. Freddy kills Mark while leaving a bloody "message" on his back that says "FREDDY'S BACK", and then possesses Freeburg's body to stop the group from taking Hypnocil, a drug that will prevent them from dreaming while they sleep. Jason electrocutes Stubbs and is then confronted by Freddy in Freeburg's body, who injects Jason with two vials of tranquilizer. Jason bisects Freeburg before passing out.

Once inside Freddy's dream world, Jason realizes he was tricked and engages Freddy. At first Freddy thinks that Jason is afraid of nothing, which combined with his real-world invincibility makes him impossible to kill even in the dream-world. But then Freddy accidentally discovers Jason's subconscious fear of drowning, then exploits it to turn Jason back into a child, then brings him to a nightmare of his childhood, and starts to drown him.

But before Freddy can kill Jason, Lori enters the Dream World and interrupts the fight, causing Jason to wake up and attack the group, who are now at Crystal Lake. Freddy, enraged, attempts to kill Lori, revealing that he was the one who killed her mother, but she awakens and drags him into a burning cabin in reality. Jason distracts Freddy when he turns his attention to Freddy, who is somewhat paralyzed by his fear of fire as he thinks Jason has become a Ghost. Jason beats up and throws Freddy through the burning cabin's roof. Lori, Will, Kia and Linderman try to escape, but Linderman is wounded and dies soon afterwards. Kia tries to save Lori and Will from Freddy, but is killed suddenly by Jason. Freddy and Jason continue their battle and Lori decides to stay until Freddy is dead. While Freddy seems to be no match for Jason's physical power, he still heavily wounds Jason because of his superior speed and agility, even gaining possession of Jason's machete. During their fight, Lori and Will burn the gas tanks at the docks to blow both Freddy and Jason up. When the fire starts to spread Jason rips off Freddy's clawed arm and Freddy stabs Jason's heart with the machete. The resulting explosion sends both of them into the lake. Freddy,enraged, comes back and attempts to kill Lori with Jason's machete. But before he can, Jason attacks from behind, stabbing Freddy with his own claws (to save Lori and Will, and merely for the sake of killing Freddy) before falling into Crystal Lake. Lori picks up Jason's machete while Freddy kneels on the dock, momentarily helpless. She shouts "Welcome to my world, bitch!", a phrase Freddy himself used earlier in the film, and then uses the machete to behead Freddy (much like Pamela Voorhees' death in the first Friday the 13th) and throws the machete to Jason as he sinks. Lori and Will depart, but the next morning Jason rises from the water [Unclear if its Crystal Lake or Hell], carrying his machete and Freddy's severed head, which smirks and winks at the audience before laughing maniacally, leaving the winner ambiguous.

Cast

Production

Development

New Line and Paramount tried to make a Freddy vs. Jason movie in 1987. But the two studios failed to agree on a story or what to do with the two franchises. When Jason Takes Manhattan failed to perform successfully at the box office, Sean Cunningham decided that he wanted to reacquire the rights to Friday the 13th and start working with New Line Cinema on Freddy vs. Jason, as New Line owned the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. The concept of a fight between Freddy and Jason was not new; Paramount had approached New Line about filming a crossover years before the latter had gained the licensing rights to Friday the 13th. At that time, both companies wanted the license to the other's character so that they could control the making of the film. Negotiations on the project were never finalized, which led Paramount to make The New Blood. After Jason Takes Manhattan was released in 1989 the rights reverted back to Scuderi, Minasian and Barsamianto, who sold them to New Line. Before Cunningham could start working on Freddy vs. Jason, Wes Craven returned to New Line to make New Nightmare. This effectively put Freddy vs. Jason on hold, but allowed Cunningham the chance to bring Jason back into the spotlight with Jason Goes to Hell.[1] The ninth installment "turned a healthy profit", though it was only intended to open the door for a crossover with Freddy Krueger, rather than start a new series for New Line.[2] Ultimately, the film series would go through another sequel before that would happen. Cunningham's "frustration" with the delayed development of the Freddy vs. Jason project forced him to create another sequel in an effort to keep the franchise in the minds of audiences. Based on Jason Takes Manhattan's concept of taking Jason away from Crystal Lake, the tenth film would put the titular character in space.[3] The film suffered from the loss of its biggest supporter, President of Production Michael De Luca, when he resigned from his position. Lack of support forced the finished film to sit for two years before finally being released on April 26, 2002; it would go on to become the lowest grossing film in the franchise at the domestic box office; it also held the distinction of having the largest budget of any of the previous films at that time.[4]

After more than fifteen years of off-and-on development, and approximately $6 million spent in eighteen unused scripts from more than a dozen screenwriters, New Line finally produced Freddy vs. Jason for 2003. One of the biggest hurdles for the film was developing a story that managed to bring the two horror icons together. Potential stories varied widely, from Freddy having molested and drowned Jason as a child, to a cult of Freddy worshipers called the "Fred Heads".

According to writers Mark Swift and Damian Shannon several endings were considered for the film and finally producer Robert Shaye came up with his idea which was acceptable for everyone. He shot the final scene and the last scene of the movie which shows Jason was filmed without Ken Kirzinger. It was shot at Los Angeles with another actor, Douglas Tait, playing Jason Voorhees.[5]

Kane Hodder controversy

New Line believed Freddy vs. Jason needed a fresh start, and chose a new actor for Jason. Cunningham disagreed with their decision, believing Hodder was the best choice for the role.[6] Hodder did receive the script for Freddy vs. Jason, and had a meeting with director Ronny Yu and New Line executives, but Matthew Barry and Yu felt the role should be recast to fit Yu's image of Jason.[6] According to Hodder, New Line failed to provide him with a reason for the recasting, but Yu has explained he wanted a slower, more deliberate Jason, and less of the aggressive movements that Hodder had used in the previous films.[7] Yu and development executive Jeff Katz recognized the outcry among fans over the replacement of Hodder as Jason, but stood by their choice in recasting.[6] The role eventually went to Ken Kirzinger, a Canadian stuntperson who worked on Jason Takes Manhattan. There are conflicting reports over the reason Kirzinger was cast. According to Yu, Kirzinger was hired because he was taller than Robert Englund, the actor who portrays Freddy Krueger. Kirzinger stands 6' 5", compared to the 6'4 " of Kane Hodder, and Yu wanted a much larger actor to tower over the 5' 10" Englund. Kirzinger believes his experience on Part VIII helped him land the part, as Kirzinger doubled for Hodder on two scenes for the film,[6] but also believes he was simply sized up and handed the job.[7] Although he was hired by the crew, New Line did not officially cast Kirzinger until first seeing him on film. Kirzinger's first scene was Jason walking down Elm Street. New Line wanted a specific movement in Jason's walk; Kirzinger met their expectations and signed a contract with the studio.[6] Even though Hodder expresses some resentment at not being chosen, he and Kirzinger are still good friends.[8]

Release

Reception

Even though the movie received generally mixed reviews, it was a box office success. Based on 153 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, Freddy vs. Jason has an overall 41% approval rating from critics, with an average score of 4.9 out of 10.[9] Among Rotten Tomatoes' Top Critics, which consists of popular and notable critics from the top newspapers, websites, television and radio programs,[10] the film holds an overall approval rating of 25%. But holds a 60% for Rotten Tomatoes community.[11] By comparison, Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received an average score of 37, based on 30 reviews, but a 7.6 for users.[12]

Home Media

See also: Freddy vs. Jason (soundtrack) and Freddy vs. Jason (score)

The film was released on VHS and DVD as part of New Line's Platinum Series on January 13, 2004. The DVD included a second disc of special features, including:

  • Audio Commentary by Ronny Yu, Ken Kirtzinger, and Robert Englund
  • Deleted and Alternate scenes with commentary (including original opening & closing)
  • Behind the Scenes Coverage including screenwriting, set design, make up, stunts and photography
  • Visual Effects Exploration
  • Storyboards and Galleries
  • Ill Nino "How Can I Live" Music Video
  • Trailers and TV Spots
  • DVD-ROM:
    • Script-to-Screen & Trivia viewing modes
    • Cutting Room Floor - make your own fight scene
    • Killer sound bites
    • Weblinks

The film was released on UMD on October 4, 2005 and on Blu-ray September 8, 2009. The Blu-ray contained the same features as the original Platinum Edition DVD.

Novelization

Publishing company Black Flame released a novelization of the film on July 29, 2003.[13] It was written by Stephen Hand, who also penned the novelization for New Line's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre the next year. The book, as with many other novelizations Black Flame published for New Line, follows closely the plot of the film with a few alterations. For example, the novelization utilizes the original ending where Will turns into Freddy when he is about to have sex with Lori.

Sequel

For several years after the film was released, a sequel was speculated to be in the works. While no theatrical sequel materialized, Wildstorm published a six issue comic series to serve as a sequel in late 2007 and early 2008. The series was based on a treatment by Jeff Katz that would pit Freddy and Jason against Ash Williams from The Evil Dead. A second series, Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash: The Nightmare Warriors, was published from August 2009 to December 2009, followed up on the previous series and also included most of the survivors from the respective franchises.

Award nominations

Doug Chapman and Melvin Martinez were nominated for the Best Fire Stunt in the Taurus World Stunt Awards 2004 for the double full body burn and wire stunt. Doug Chapman doubled for Robert Englund as Freddy and Glenn Ennis doubled for Jason in the stunt.[14]

References

  1. ^ Bracke, Peter, pp.218–219
  2. ^ Bracke, Peter, pg. 238
  3. ^ Bracke, Peter, pp.242–243
  4. ^ Bracke, Peter, pp.263–264
  5. ^ Freddy vs. Jason at IMDb
  6. ^ a b c d e Bracke, Peter, pp. 280–286
  7. ^ a b Grove, David, p. 217
  8. ^ His Name Was Jason: 30 Years of Friday the 13th
  9. ^ "Freddy vs. Jason Movie Reviews". Rotten Tomatoes. IGN Entertainment. Retrieved July 4, 2009. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ "Rotten Tomatoes FAQ: What is Cream of the Crop". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved July 4, 2009.
  11. ^ "Freddy vs. Jason: Rotten Tomatoes' Cream of the Crop". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved July 4, 2009]. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  12. ^ vs. Jason "Freddy vs. Jason : Reviews". Metacritic. CNET Networks. Retrieved July 4, 2009. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help); Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); line feed character in |accessdate= at position 8 (help)
  13. ^ "Freddy vs. Jason novelization". amazon.com. Retrieved 11/12/2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  14. ^ Taurus Award Archive
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