Freddy Vs. Jason

Rumors about a possible explosive movie mash-up featuring the two most iconic slasher film villains of the 1980s had been going around for so long that by the dawn of the new millennium, fans’ hopes had dwindled to a feeble glimmer. But the fact that Paramount had finally granted New Line Cinema the rights to use their Jason in the early 1990s was enough to keep the flame of hope alive. After an interminable wait, the crossover was finally entrusted to Hong Kong director Ronny Yu, a slasher film veteran (“Bride of Chucky”, 1998) with a soft spot for action.

The result is a teen-horror film lacking any depth, whose sole purpose is to entertain its fans. Mission pretty much accomplished, since the plot flows nicely and the movie ends up being fairly entertaining.

Given its premise, the forced and shaky (even incoherent in places) script clearly plays second fiddle to the imperative of getting these two bad boys into the ring together. From that point of view, “Freddy vs. Jason” doesn’t disappoint, delivering round after round while holding nothing back (we get mutilation, quartering, drilling, decapitation, etc.), and splattering it all with gallons and gallons of blood for good measure.

Atmospheric art direction attempts to draw from visual aspects of both the respective sagas. Evocative chromatic renderings enhance the oneiric scenes. The practical special effects are excellent – the same can’t be said for the CGI.

Forgettable cast, with the exception of an over-the-top Robert Englund who effortlessly steals every scene with his vulgar loquaciousness (“Being dead wasn’t a problem. But being forgotten, now that’s a bitch!“; “Hey, asshole! Up here!“).