"Freddy vs Jason" review

Freddy Vs. Jason (2003)

Directed by Ronny Yu

Writing credits Damian Shannon Mark Swift

Robert Englund.... Freddy Krueger
Ken Kirzinger.... Jason Voorhees
Monica Keena.... Lori Campbell
Kelly Rowland.... Kia Waterson
Katharine Isabelle.... Gibb

Now this is one match-up that I have waited many full moons to see. I have howled in disappointment as year after year went by without these two titans doing battle. I am a full blooded Jason Voorhees fan. Freddy needed to die. I wanted the hockey masked maniac to get a piece of Freddy and tear it off.

"Freddy vs. Jason" makes one thing abundantly clear: These characters are not scary anymore. The monsters have become the heroes. No one fears for the lives of the victims. Every time Jason twisted someone's head off or gave them a taste of his blade, the audience was cheering. We want the monsters to win. Freddy has always been a wise guy. Every one of his kills was the punch line. Jason caused fear at one point but now we cheer his mass murdering ways. Jason has more of a deadpan style than Freddy. He's the straight man to homicidal comedian Freddy.

So Freddy needs Jason to come back to life. Jason takes the machete to the new kids on Elm Street's block. The survivors start thinking Freddy is responsible for the hacking and slashing. It's too bad for Freddy that Jason is a glutton and can't stop killing Elm Street kids. Freddy takes it personal. No one messes with his victims.

This all leads up to the title bout: "FREDDY vs. JASON". Finally! This is where the movie shines. There is plenty of blood and guts and hacking and slashing and, well, everything you wanted to see. The fight at the end is a great payoff scene. I enjoyed the carnage.

I don't think you could ask for much more from a movie called "Freddy vs. Jason". It delivered the fight everyone wanted to see. Freddy was sufficiently gutted for my tastes.

MOVIE SCORE: 3.5 out of 4 Freddy slaughters

BATTLE SCORE: Jason - Triumphant. Freddy - Dead meat.