Gratuitous sex, drugs and cold-blooded murder. What more could be expected from New Line Cinema’s latest horror project?
“Freddy vs. Jason,” the much-anticipated pairing of two titans of the horror genre, adheres to all of the expectations for a film of this type, but exceeds all expectations for its abilities to join the two stories. First-time screenwriters Damian Shannon and Mark Swift masterfully composed the storyline for this movie, bringing psychological terror and slasher entertainment together in a 97 minute whirlwind of gore.
The first half-hour explains how these two villains could possibly share a connection, detailing the story of each. The film goes on to summarize the past 20 years, assuming that the audience knows a few facts from horror history.
Simple facts aside, this film has one characteristic that the other 17 films (save the first ones in each series) collectively lack: a plot. That’s right, this movie has a solid storyline outside of teenage sex and gruesome violence. Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) of the “Nightmare on Elm Street” series has all but been erased from the minds of Springwood residents. Any memory of his existence has been suppressed by mind-altering drugs and sheer defiance.
Fed up with being forgotten, the dream demon unleashes a masterful plan to resurrect Jason Voorhees (Kin Kirzinger), the mass murderer from the “Friday the 13th” series. By controlling Jason’s dreams, Freddy sends the man in the mask to wreak havoc on Elm Street.
With the new arrangement, Freddy is feared again, and Jason gets to hack a few disposable cast members to pieces with a machete. Resenting Freddy’s domination, Jason begins to choose his own prey, and in an ironic twist of events, slaughters one of Freddy’s victims only moments before the master of nightmares gets the chance.
Freddy decides to exact revenge on Jason, and being able to invade dreams, seems to have the upper hand in the battle. That is, until some meddling teenagers (with almost no evidence) spontaneously decipher Freddy’s plan and develop one of their own. Lori (Monica Keena), her love interest Will (Jason Ritter), and a slew of others, capture Jason and return him to Crystal Lake, which no one ever knew was only 10 minutes from Elm Street (it’s great how movies can do this).
Freddy is then dragged into the living world to face his nemesis. The two titans of terror clash in a battle to (seemingly) end all battles. Amazing special effects, music and cinematography only lend to the awesomeness of this encounter. Though liberty is not given to disclose the ending of this film, make the bets carefully and get ready for round two.
Rating: B+
