Freddy vs Jason Review

Freddy vs Jason
Freddy Krueger's influence over the kids of Elm Street is waning, so he summons Jason Voorhees to start giving them nightmares. Soon though, Jason's reputation has exeeded his own, and Freddy gets all territorial.

by Kim Newman |
Published on
Release Date:

15 Aug 2003

Running Time:

97 minutes

Certificate:

18

Original Title:

Freddy vs Jason

If ever a film did what it said on the tin, this is it. Both the Elm Street and Friday The 13th franchises were last seen in interesting, offbeat, postmodern incarnations, but FVJ ignores any attempts at cleverness and picks up storylines dropped in Freddy's Dead and Jason Goes To Hell.

As explained in too many clunking exposition scenes, Freddy (Englund), powerless because teens have forgotten him, summons the unkillable Jason (Kirzinger) to Elm Street to make the kids afraid again. The pizza-faced knife-finger guy then gets jealous as the hockey-masked machete man eclipses his rep, and the title is dramatised as Freddy terrorises Jason in dreams/memories that go back to the long-forgotten plot of the first Friday then are dragged into the real world of Camp Crystal Lake for a very bloody finish.

It's completely daft, and the one-liners are by now just plain cheesy, but there's a good deal of gore to keep the faithful amused, if not completely happy.
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