Raz’s Midnight Macabre Horror Review: “Freddy VS Jason: A Freddy Fan Point Of View”

Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees return to terrorize the teenage population. Except this time, they’re out to get each other, too.

Some of you may remember that back in November 2011 I did a review of the Friday the 13th franchise and did a review of this film from a Jason fans point of view (Click HERE to read it,) well this is part 2 to that with a Freddy fans point of view to the film.

We see Robert Englund return once again as Freddy, this time he’s weak because nobody fears him anymore, his name has been wiped from history and the children who do remember are in an institution to keep them away from the other kids, they’re also being heavily medicated on Hypnocil, a medication used to stop you dreaming. Freddy want’s out and decides to resurrect the corpse of Jason to instill fear back into the town and make him stronger.

With this film we see a mixture of Craven’s original idea for Freddy and the Freddy we grew to know as a wise cracker, it’s a mixture that works well and you get the best of both characteristics. I was also glad to see Robert Englund return to the role as there were concerns he was getting too old to play the part, I was very relieved when he was cast but also saddened by the fact he announced it would be his last time on screen as Freddy.

The one main problem with this film is the storyline restricts the use of Freddy, because he is weak he can’t kill so most of the film is spent watching Jason doing the killing and Freddy getting frustrated, in-fact we only see Freddy kill one person, which is not really a good thing compared to Jason’s body count for the film. With him not being able to kill we see him doing the wise cracks and the fact he narrates the film is good use of his character, so good in-fact you seem to forget he only kills one person.

The dialogue we get from Freddy is some of the best we’ve heard over the years, hearing the story from his point of view (We obviously aren’t gonna hear Jason’s, although we sort of see it) makes for great listening, also seeing him toy with Jason’s mind is fun for any Freddy fan to watch.

From a Freddy’s fan point of view, well we might not get the kills we want but we do get a great character and he is great to watch, a-lot better than the character we started to see from the sequels. We also have more Nightmare On Elm Street aspects than Jason aspects so I guess that makes up for an equal balance. If you haven’t seen this then at-least watch it for Englund’s last performance as Kreuger, yes he is that good.

Miscellaneous facts about the film (Freddy/N.O.E.S only):

• This was the first Freddy movie not filmed in the United States, and the filmmakers had to search for a new house that would resemble the famous Freddy Krueger/Elm Street house from the first seven “Nightmare” films.

• According to writer Mark Swift, producer Robert Shaye seemed a bit more interested in the Freddy side of things which made a huge elimination in their screenplay (and in the film) from the Crystal Lake/Jason side of things.

• Originally shot was a scene in which Lori and Will begin to have sex for the first time. However, Will starts acting like a maniac and eventually sprouts a Freddy Krueger claw, then proceeds to slash at his girlfriend. This was cut due to miserable test scores, in which the audience thought the acting was terrible and asked, “Does this mean Freddy won? Where’s Jason? Is this a dream? Is Will turning evil and is now some sort of Son-of-Freddy?”

• There was another ending considered in hell that involved a shot of something sitting high atop a stone throne, only eyes and the tips of two horns visible in the darkness. Below it, Freddy and Jason battle in a Gladiator style pit, but that idea was also dropped.

• There was also another idea of a giant red hand coming out of Crystal Lake at the end of the film, grabbing both Freddy and Jason in one enormous palm, and yanking them both down into hell, but that too was dumped. In the script’s final draft, the epilogue ended with Freddy and Jason battling in a dark pit, surrounded by the eyes of a thousand dark demons and a million tortured souls. The writers wanted to suggest that the fight would continue for all eternity, but that idea was also dropped.

• Another ending that was considered had Freddy and Jason battling to the death on the dock. After the explosion, they end up in the fiery lake, and then something strange starts to happen. The water begins to move, churning… and the lake begins to drain. Within the water, there is a hole that has opened at the bottom of the lake bed, glowing red. Freddy tries to swim away, but Jason puts a death lock on his ankle, and they’re both dragged down. The next day, Crystal Lake is completely dry. And Lori is reunited with her father. Then they walk down into the dry lake. Dr. Campbell sees Freddy’s claw on the ground and he picks it up, vowing to destroy it for good. Then a red and green striped arm bursts through the earth, grabs Dr. Campbell’s leg and pulls him down. With one leg buried in the ground, he screams for Lori, but is yanked again, his other leg breaking against his chest at an impossible angle. Then he’s gone. Lori claws at the dirt for him, screaming, and then there is a scene that takes place somewhere very dark. Freddy puts his claw back on his hand. He sees Jason near him, machete gleaming. They go at each other…but then, chains shoot out, slicing into both of them. They’re separated, struggling to go at each other…when out from the darkness comes Pinhead and he says “Now, what seems to be the problem?” However, New Line didn’t like the idea because they didn’t like the fact that they’d have to buy the rights to use the character, and they thought Pinhead was too low rent.

• The call letters of the news station shown on the TV in the hospital are KRGR, obviously a reference to Freddy Krueger. It is also the name of the radio station that Glenn (Johnny Depp) is listening to right before he dies in A Nightmare on Elm Street.

• The goat seen in Blake’s early nightmare sequence is a reference to Tina’s nightmare involving a goat in the original A Nightmare on Elm Street.

• In the beginning of the movie, as Freddy Krueger gives his monologue there are clips from A Nightmare on Elm Street, A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy’s Revenge, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child, Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare.

• Freddy’s “how sweet, dark meat” line is a variation on the line “how sweet, fresh meat” in A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master.

• The kids go to Westin Hills to look for the experimental drug Hypnocil. Hypnocil was the drug that Neil Gordon (Craig Wasson) discovered was being taken by Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp) when they first met in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. Nancy was also the one who suggested that Westin Hills prescribe Hypnocil to the patients.

• Westin Hills is Freddy’s birthplace and was featured in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors.

• During the montage of past Elm Street films Alice can be heard saying “Die, motherfucker!” before impaling Freddy with a pool skimmer. When this scene was first shown in A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child, her original line was “Where is she?” while the line in the original draft of the script was, “Why don’t you just SHUT UP!”

• A sequel was planned but never materialized. Wildstorm did publish a six issue comic series in late 2007/ early 2008. This added “The Evil Dead”‘s Ash Williams to the mix.

• Freddy’s boiler room in the movie was not a built set; it was actually an old boiler room redressed by the crew.

• According to Robert Englund his Freddy makeup was so thick that he didn’t really know how hot it was from the fires during the filming. When he got in to have his makeup removed, it had literally bonded itself to the side of his face.