Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Freddy vs. Jason (2003)

1/12/2020

Freddy vs. Jason (2003) - Trashy franchise mash-up, best avoided

♥

+ 3rd Worst Movie of the Year

+ Most Undeserved Hit of the Year

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

Watch a super-hammy teaser for the film here

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.]

What do you think of Freddy vs. Jason?

No comments:

Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (17-24)

1/12/2020

Freddy vs. Jason (2003) - Trashy franchise mash-up, best avoided

No comments:

Post a Comment

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (16-24)

My Blog List