Freddy vs. Jason
Release Date:
August 15, 2003
The bodies will once again be hitting the floor as Freddy Krueger meets up with Jason in a battle royale. After having been trapped in hell for awhile, Freddy encounters Jason after the events of episode nine in the Friday the 13th series (disregard X, it's set in the future anyway). Disguising himself as Jason's mother Pamela Voorhees, Freddy tells Jason that he must start murdering people on Elm Street when he is resurrected. Somehow or another, this process restores Freddy's power as well. Jason dutifully follows instructions, but draws the attention of Tommy Jarvis (Corey Feldman apparently gets resurrected here as well), the only person who has ever beaten Jason twice. Making matters worse, Freddy's two-time nemesis Alice (Lisa Wilcox) also becomes aware of what's going on. Jason realizes that Freddy has fooled him and becomes irate, going on a bloody rampage as he tries to slaughter Krueger and anyone who happens to get in the way.
In 2002, two franchise horror films were released to unimpressive results; nonetheless, they were likely still profitable thanks to inexpensive production. Freddy vs. Jason is likely to be a bit more costly, particularly since the presence of director Ronny Yu promises for higher-profile special effects and perhaps even some martial arts.
Since the concept of pitting one super horror villain against another is fairly novel (unless you consider the Godzilla-type films a similar blueprint), Freddy vs. Jason should be quite profitable for New Line Cinema. Audiences will turn out for the camp value, and if the studio actually releases the film on a Friday the 13th, marketing opportunities will abound. It's not a film that's going to reinvigorate the slasher genre, but it will offer a new take on what many people view as a tired concept. (Kim Hollis/BOP)
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