Freddy vs Jason - 2003

Freddy Vs Jason - 2003

What do you get when you have Freddy Krueger going head to head with Jason Vorhees? Besides an insanely high body count, you have the 2003 instant cult classic, Freddy vs Jason. This is considered by many to be the answer to the question “Who would win.” It is also the last time we get to see Robert Englund as Freddy.

The story is pretty much straight forward and starts at a run right out of the gate. Everyone’s favorite dream demon no longer has the power to torment the residents of Springwood. So since he has no real power in the dream world right now, and can’t cross over to the waking world, he decides he is going to need a helping hand. In this case, who else would you choose for this job but a hockey mask-wearing, machete-wielding, undead psychopath with mommy issues? Personally, I think this idea falls into the “it seemed like a good idea at the time” category of bad ideas. This starts out working really well until Freddy realizes that he has created competition for the people of Springwood by turning Jason loose there. Hence the whole Freddy vs Jason thing.

The special effects in this film are pretty top-shelf. But, even with the amazing CGI and the other really great visual effects, they don’t take away from or overshadow the plot of the film at all. Personally, I think this is one of the best additions to either franchise. Although, it is sad to note that horror legend and resident Jason, Kane Hodder, was not behind the hockey mask this time. There has been speculation that “they” (I use this term because neither New Line nor Ronnie Yu has taken responsibility OR given an explanation as to why this happened. They just keep saying it was the other parties’ decision) wanted someone taller and a bit bigger to confront the 5’9” Freddy Krueger. Hodder is 6’3” and Ken Kirzinger (the man who got the role) is 6’5” and I guess 2 inches is a big deal. Now, this is not the first time that Kirzinger has worn the mask as he was actually Kane’s double for two scenes in Part VIII. Kane has stated that there is some resentment because he was given the script first and the change was made without any real explanation. But, he maintains that he and Kirzinger are still good friends. There are those fans out there that believe that this newcomer surpassed his “mentor” with his portrayal of Jason. I, however, am not part of that camp.

All of us who waited for this movie to finally come out know it was such a LONG time in coming. The initial conversation about this film started way back in 1987. The problem came when each studio wanted the rights to the other character so that they could control how the movie was made. Since we all know the film did not release until 2003, we know an agreement was not reached during that conversation. New Line and Paramount did end up with the rights for Jason and the Friday franchise in 1989. It was speculated that production would start soon. But due to the return of Wes Craven to make “Wes Craven’s New Nightmare”, the project was again shelved. This shelving was a blessing to the “Friday” franchise as it gave New Line a chance to make a Jason movie all their own and “Jason Goes to Hell” was born. Due to the increased delayed development of Freddy vs Jason, Sean Cunningham went on to send Jason to space to keep him forefront in horror fans' minds (Jason X had production issues all its own). At this point, we are 15 years into the process and we are finally told that this is going to happen. They start announcing casting and start putting out the posters and getting us excited for the 2003 release of the movie some of us had been waiting for 15 years to see. Thankfully, it was worth the wait.

There are so many people on this cast that played their roles so well, I could gush about them for days. But, I am only going to focus on a few of our characters and let you check out the rest and see who YOUR favorite is. There is a wide range of experience with the actors in the film. Some were pretty established in their careers by this point and others who were just starting to get their feet under them in the acting world. One of the veteran actresses that really shined in this movie was the lovely and super talented Katharine Isabelle.

Many people know Katharine's’ face but don’t necessarily remember her name. She had already had several television roles and a few movie roles before she became our chain-smoking, heavily drinking favorite character Gibb. Katharine was our favorite death-obsessed teenage werewolf in the 2000 film “Ginger Snaps”, a role that continued on for two more sequels. And her star continued to rise after her role as Gibb. She because our favorite “surgeon” in American Mary. Most recently you can see her in the popular television series “Hannibal” as “Margot Verger. And as Tamara in the 2014 “See No Evil 2” with WWE superstar Kane. As for Gibb, we all have that people look at and go “Wait….you’re friends with who?” That to me is Gibb. She is the baseball cap-wearing tomboy who loves to smoke and drink that doesn’t really seem to fit in with beautiful preppy looking Lori and Kia. But there is no doubt that these three young ladies are the closest of friends as they deal with tragedy and terror together. She is a treat to watch in this role.

We have talked about a well-established veteran actress, now let’s switch gears to talk about a lady who got her big-screen break from this movie. I am talking about Kelly Rowland and her spunky character, Kia. Now if Kelly should look a little familiar to you that is not surprising as she is/was a member of the super hot girl group Destiny’s Child. But you don’t get to hear Kelly’s golden pipes do any singing in this movie. She instead is a wise-cracking, smart mouth that has plenty of fantastic one-liners. It was great to see a female character that was so in your face and was not just window dressing for the guys to save. Pretty sure she could do that on her own. Kelly went on to have recurring roles in the 2006 television series “Girlfriends” and most recently you can see her as Leah Walker in the super popular television series “Empire” with Terrence Howard and the beautiful Taraji Henson. Looking forward to seeing where her career goes from here.

Ok, so we gave a couple of shoutouts to the outstanding women of this movie. I think it is time to tip our hat to the guys of Freddy vs Jason, or at least one that stands out in my mind, mainly because I am a huge fan of his work. That is Lochlyn Munro, our favorite deputy, Deputy Stubbs. Now Stubbs is pretty new to the town of Springwood, and he is not familiar at all with this being Freddy’s playground, so as things are happening and he is seeing one thing, but being told something different from the townspeople, he makes it his mission to figure out what the hell is going on. Lochlyn was already a very well established television star and had a few stand out movie roles before he became our favorite deputy. He played John LaPointe in the 1993 film adaptation of Stephen King’s bestselling novel “Needful Things”, as well as roles in the 2000 film “Dracula 2000”, and multiple well-known television shows like “21 Jump Street”, “CSI”,” The Outer Limits”, and “Charmed”. His career has continued to go strong since being part of Freddy vs Jason. He has been in numerous films and television shows, most recently the hit television show “Lucifer” and the 2016 film “Cradle of Lies”. Lochlyn is known for playing police officers and does a great job of playing them. Usually, they have some sort of flaw, be it that they are overly macho or they just aren’t all that bright. He is a joy to watch in whatever he is in..

As I have said I could go on for days raving about how great the cast is, but if I do that then you wouldn’t have to watch the movie. This is a great movie to add to your collection either to be part of either franchise or completely on its own. It is a fun way to spend an afternoon, especially if you are binging on either of the other two series. I recommend it to anyone who loves Freddy, or Jason. Who do you put your money on???

Ratings

4 of 5 - This is a Freddy/Jason movie, after all, there is nudity, sex, and all those naughty things that seem to draw our favorite demons.

4 of 5 - Again, if Freddy/Jason are involved, it is pretty clear there is going to be sex, bodies, and gore. They go hand in hand.

4 of 5 - You have classic Freddy/Jason blood and guts and really almost a game of one-upping each other with each kill.

4 of 5 - We have Jason and Freddy and some pretty good jump scares.

1 of 5 - There is nothing panda friendly about this movie at all. Between the blood, nudity, sex, and language, this panda is hiding under his blankets

Recommendations:

Nightmare on Elm Street (Any of the series)

Friday the 13th (Any of the series)

Alien vs Predator