We were pleased beyond our expectations, and I have to say that I thought it was brilliant overall. The creators of this flick overall showed the young directors of today how a classic supernatural slasher film should be done. There was none of the ridiculous blue tinting that seems to permeate horror films these days, and there were survivors in the end that would go on with thier lives, unlike many films today that end with the heroes dying or slipping into dark insanity. And yes, fair readers, our two antiheroes both survive at the end, ripe for another entry if the audiences demand it...another great staple of the genre. I had a few (very minor) issues with the film that can be forgiven on the basis of it being a Freddy and Jason film. I'll get to those in a few. Please note that there will be SPOILERS in this review.
The elements of the film, first:
The Nightmare sections, where Freddy is the chief nemesis, were very well done and reminded me of older Elm Street films, perhaps Elm Street III and IV era, when Freddy had camp but was still menacing. They were creepy and were indeed scary in some places (someone in the theater actually screamed at one point).
The Jason sections were pretty much what you'd expect: lots of gratuitous sex and gore, and served to break up the tension built by the mood-heavy dream sequences. They were campy, gory, and fun, and the audience in my theater had a ball with them. Much laughter and applause was had all around. Without giving away any severe spoilers, the rave scene was one of my personal faves, and the scene that finally puts Freddy and Jason at odds. There's also 2 scenes where Freddy reveals his "true" demonic visage, which is in and of itself a pretty frightening sight.
The movie was definitely a Nightmare on Elm Street film with Jason added in. It's not a true cross of the two franchises--Crystal Lake is there, but as a respectful nod more than anything. They did well to justify its presence, and it has a valid reason for being in the story, but the Elm Street mythology is far more pervasive. This is to be expected, I suppose, since the mythology of Freddy has been more developed (and has more to develop) than that of Jason. Still, it would have been nice to have seen some survivors of the Crystal Lake killings pop up, or have referenced, like they did with survivors of the Elm Street killings (though not to my knowledge a survivor we know from any of the actual films).
As an entry into the Elm Street franchise, this film fits pretty well, though it ignores (as is necessary by now) the theme that Freddy can only get to the kids whose parents killed him. In this "Elm Street Redux" mythology, it's the kids who live in Springwood and believe in Freddy enough to fear him that the killer can go after. A change, yes, but a well-concieved one that goes with the essence of the character. The film goes through an entire montage of scenes from the Elm Street series at the beginning of the film, which is a great way to begin, and they include references both visual and story to the franchise throughout. For example, the entire town of Elm Street is secretly feeding their children Hypnocil to stop them from dreaming. Hypnocil will be recognized by fans as the drug Nancy was taking in Elm Street III for that same purpose. Also, several camera angles were repeated from earlier films (Freddy standing at the end of an empty street, backlit; Shadowy closeup of Freddy's face as he rounds a corner in the "boiler room," for example) in what seemed to be a deliberate aumage to the rest of the series. Tasteful and well-implemented, I might add, all around.
Then, in the last half hour, the Title Match begins, and the only complaint anyone could've possibly registered for that is that they should've dragged it out for another half hour; it was just that cool to watch. The fight actually takes place in two stages: the first is in the dream world, where Freddy pretty much just trounces Jason (though he simply can't kill our favorite angry goalie); and the second takes place in the real world, at Camp Crystal Lake. They draw upon the previous mythology, established in the very first Elm Street movie, that allows people to bring items from Freddy's dream world into the real world if they are holding on to said items when they awaken. Thus is Freddy dragged into our world to face Jason on more even ground; he retains his strength, physical power, dexterity, and damage resistance, but loses his ability to manipulate the world as he can in dreams. Jason clearly has the upper hand in terms of strength and endurance in the real world, but Freddy uses his brains to make it a more even fight.
One of the more amusing bits I should mention was that a cop character early on refers to Jason several times as "a copycat killer of the Jason Voorhees massacres." This was amusing because it wasn't Kane Hodder playing Jason and thus was, in many fans' eyes, a copycat Jason, which brings me to my first critique. It was painfully obvious that this was a different actor portraying Jason. You would think that anyone could play the part of a giant, mute, killing machine, but Kane Hodder had a way of using his eyes and body language to convey a specific personality, which wasn't that noticable until it wasn't there anymore. The actor portraying Jason in this movie is stiff, lumbering, and rather like a robot in his actions. Kane Hodder, on the other hand, had a very smooth style about his movements, and portrayed a quiet and eternal rage through the constant heaving of his chest and shoulders when standing still. When he moved, his head moved before his body, with his body following after. While this might seem a very small detail, for fans of the series, it is certainly noticable. Not only that, but the "new" Jason was much lankier than Hodder. He didn't have the broad shoulders and barrel chest that we've come to expect from Jason. Hiring someone other than Hodder for the role was a very bad decision on the part of the casting director, and the film does suffer for fans of the series as a result.
Not to mention, they completely regenerated Jason's body so that he no longer looks like a zombie. However, I can forgive this since they handled it in a story fashion (his body does, in fact, regenerate at the beginning of the film). Unfortunately, the deformity makeup they did on the adult Jason (the young Jason who drowned in Crystal Lake also makes an appearance) doesn't look very real.
My only other problem was that when they arrived at Crystal Lake (a camp stated to have been abandoned for well over 10 years), there is a construction site with well-maintained equipment, and full propane tanks just waiting to be used for mass carnage. My fellow moviegoers and I justified this as the beginning of construction on the Crystal Lake research facility seen in Jason X (which takes place--or begins--in 2010). Truth be told, it's a Freddy and Jason movie, though, so why bother justifying it? Just accept that it's there depsite the fact that it shouldn't be, and move on. You'll enjoy the film for your suspension of disbelief.
In summation, is this a piece of cinematic brilliance that will recieve a best picture nod? Not by a long shot. Probably won't even get nom'd for best makeup or special effects. But as a follow-up to both the Freddy and Jason franchises, I personally wouldn't have asked for more. If you're not a fan, you might miss many of the nods and inside jokes, mistaking them for cinematic cheese that tried and failed to be serious. Make no mistake, though; the camp is intentional and very well done at the end of the day. Fans of Freddy or Jason or both should have a grand old time slipping back into the nostalgic days of creative supernatural slasher films, and find themselves digging through their old VHS collections for those well-loved films of old. It was one of the most entertaining films I've seen in a very long time, and that says a lot. After all, that's what movies are supposed to be...entertainment.
