Freddy vs. Jason
Directed by Ronny Yu
By Dan Cohen

Every geek has different scenarios they play out in their mind and with their friends. The comic geek wonders who would win if the X-Men and the Fantastic Four fought? The sports geek wonders who would win in a game of HORSE, Larry Bird or Magic Johnson? And the discovery channel geek wonders what would happen if a polar bear took on a pack of wolves?

Of course all of these questions lead to sub-questions: would the polar bear be fighting the wolves on the tundra, in the forest, or in some neutral terrain? And it is these questions that horror geeks undoubtedly asked themselves about Freddy and Jason for years before this movie was made. So it is carrying on this tradition of satisfying geeks (Alien vs. Predator, Marvel Superheroes, etc.) that Freddy Vs. Jason, directed by Ronny Yu (Bride of Chucky), falls into.

The premise is simple: the town of Springbrook, in an effort to keep Freddy Kruger powerless, has erased all memory of him, and put all those who have encountered him under the spell of a drug called hypnoc to prevent them from dreaming. This prompts Freddy, in an effort to awaken the town’s memories of him and thereby feed his power, to send Jason Vorhees out of hell to kill a teenager on Elm Street.

Freddy’s plan succeeds and soon his power grows to the point where he’s strong enough to kill the teenagers of Springbrook on his own, but Jason has gone on such a killing rampage that he’s taking Krueger’s kills, so Freddy decides to try and kill Jason. This is the beginning of a Mexican stand-off, with Freddy and Jason trying to destroy each other while also trying to kill Springbrook’s teenagers, who are also trying to kill Freddy and Jason. Got it?

It’s not as complicated as it sounds and the movie has all the elements you’d expect from these two horror staples, beginning with some gratuitous nudity and ending with an all-out battle royal. There’s little comedy in the movie but there sure is a lot of blood and although it isn’t really scary, it’s entertaining, with the plot and characters (who are weakly developed, but who really cares?) taking a backseat to some good old fashion violence. If you’re looking for some escapism as the summer ends, Freddy vs. Jason is a fun method of escape. (Alliance Atlantis)
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