‘Freddy vs. Jason’ Isn’t Perfect but it’s Damn Good Fun (Review)

Written by: Matt Molgaard

To sit back and pretend that Freddy vs. Jason was some form of brilliant filmmaking is absurd. We all know the flick was riddled with more holes than an unkempt golf course. Continuity issues surface, small chinks in the dialogue department prove sometimes contradictory, and the acting… well, the acting – aside from the work from extremely underrated thespian, Brendan Fletcher, who seems to be infinitely more refined than his peers – is just bafflingly bad. Seriously, it’s horrendous. This one is just loaded with reasons to completely ignore the pic’s existence, but I’ll say this: it’s stupid fun. Stupid fun. How can you ignore that?

Breaking down the synopsis feels like an exercise in inanity as the film’s title alone tells us exactly what we’re in store for here, a war between iconic menaces Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger. And trust you me (I heard that while trekking through Tennessee once and found it to be a wondrously odd saying that I vowed to use myself in the future), it’s most certainly a war between these two nasties. Freddy hacks away at Jason like no one has ever managed, in fact he controls the vast majority of the fight. However, Jason sports a significant advantage in the power department, and once Freddy’s brought into our world (as he is in just about every Nightmare film, as we all know too well) by the busty heroine, Lori, he endures a thrashing at the hands of the massive Voorhees. Who wins? Well, I’d be forced to call this one a draw. Final moments seem to suggest Jason Voorhees is the happy victor, until the severed head of our old chum, Fred gives a wink and a laugh to usher in the final credits.

There is of course a parallel story that breathes some excitement while we sort out the mass slayings left in the wake of Voorhees and Krueger, upon subsequent arrival. And, although muddy on a regular basis, it’s still quite thrilling to see two young men (Mark and Will) – both clearly loyal to one another – fight tooth and nail to escape a psychiatric hospital in which they’ve essentially been quarantined (one of the many details that just doesn’t work, as large numbers of teens don’t typically drop off the face of the planet, only to find themselves stuck in asylums with zero contact with the outside world. Not. Fucking. Plausible!!), in a bid to make them forget all about the local urban legend of a murdering machine who pounces while unconscious. But how can they forget? Hypnocil – a proxy drug designed to suppress memories.

Come on, even if farfetched, you can’t tell me that doesn’t sound at least a little interesting.

The truth of the matter is, Freddy vs. Jason is a really entertaining piece of work that echoes classic Universal Monster crossovers. It’s different, and modern, no doubt, but that sensation is definitely alive in the production and that, I find quite endearing.

Perfect flick? Not by a long shot. But it’s a blast (I can watch those one-on-one exchanges between Fred and Jay all night long) – especially if you’ve got a dozen cold ones in ya’!

Rating: 3.5/5