♥
+ 3rd Worst Movie of the Year
+ Most Undeserved Hit of the Year
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| The titular horror super-villains meet like boxers on this dark poster for Ronny Yu's Freddy vs. Jason |
Nightmare killer, scissor-handed Freddy Krueger is going extinct due to becoming forgotten, but with the assistance of hockey-masked Crystal Lake camp-killer Jason Vorhees, he is able to make another bloody return, - until the two become enemies.
Freddy vs. Jason is written by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift (Baywatch (2017), both) and directed by Ronny Yu (Cheung laap cheing ngoi (1979)). It is the 8th film in the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise (1984-) of Freddy Krueger and the 11th in the Friday the 13th franchise (1980-) that gave rise to Jason Vorhees.
The plot summary above is about as much of a coherent story as one gets from this taxing ordeal of a film, which spends its time stomping around worn-out territory with the eagerness of a turkey on speed. The filmmakers try to compensate for the lack of substance or an exciting premise by stocking just about every second of it with special effects, which do divert a bit.
One almost pities the actors, who put their necks out for Freddy vs. Jason, but it should be remembered that it must have been wholly obvious from the script that this truly is trash. The point of Freddy vs. Jason is solely to milk another healthy gross out of two languishing franchise cows. Ugh!
Related posts:
Friday the 13th franchise: Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) - Miner debuts with solid if formulaic first sequel
Friday the 13th (1980) - Cunningham scores with simple but effective teen killer recipe
Nightmare on Elm Street franchise: A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) - Another terrible remake of a horror classic
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) or, Your Kids and the Bastard Son of 100 Maniacs!
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) or, Don't Fall Asleep!
Ronny Yu: 2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
The 51st State (2001) or, US/UK, Drugs and Shooting
Bride of Chucky (1998) - Bizarre puppet slasher black comedy
Cost: 30 mil. $
Box office: 114.9 mil. $
= Big hit (returned 3.83 times its gross)
[Freddy vs. Jason premiered 13 August (USA) and runs 98 minutes. A cross-over film had been in talks since 1987 but lay dormant for various reasons. Only after the flop of Jason X (2001) did the properties align. Yu decided to recast Jason, letting the film be the first Friday the 13th film without Kane Hodder as Jason. Ken Kirzinger (The Blackburn Asylum (2015)), the new Jason, is a bit taller and also lived in Canada, saving the production flight and hotel bills for him. Robert Englund (Wish You Were Dead (2001)) returned for one last time as Freddy. Shooting took place in British Columbia, including Vancouver, in Toronto, Ontario and in California from September - November 2002. The film opened #1 to a 36.4 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it retained the spot for a second week before leaving the top 5, grossing 82.6 mil. $ (71.9 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 4.4 mil. $ (3.8 %) and Japan with 3.7 mil. $ (3.2 %). It was the highest-grossing in the Friday the 13th franchise, and the 2nd highest-grossing in the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. They were subsequently rebooted with Friday the 13th (2009) and A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010). Yu returned with Fearless (2006). Englund returned in As A Bad Dream (2003); Kirzinger in 6 TV credits prior to his theatrical return in Hot Rod (2006). Freddy vs. Jason is rotten at 41 % with a 4.85/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
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