DVD Review HTF REVIEW: Freddy vs Jason (1 Viewer)

[Drew Reiber]

No disrespect meant to the reviewer, but I wouldn't refer to House of Frankenstein or House of Dracula as an all out bash. They were awful films churned out during WW2 when everyone of merit was probably off in Europe. I made the mistake of looking for them on VHS as Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is one of my all time favorites. Those two House films don't hold a candle to Meet Frankenstein or Freddy vs. Jason.

Didn't know if you're aware, but John Carradine plays this horribly unthreatening gentleman rendition of Dracula who just schemes and gets pushed around in his entries to the series. In fact, it's only the Wolfman and Frankenstein that ever run into each other through these films and their best confrontation was Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman. Even then Talbot spends most of the film whining and wandering around as himself, while Frankenstein lies still somewhere off camera.

Dracula never meets them, and in the horrendous House of Frankenstein, Dracula is dispatched in the first half before an obvious reel change. THEN the Wolfman appears again and finds Frankenstein somewhere. What's worse, House of Dracula's Frankenstein scene is a cheapo montage of all his other film rampages told in a dream sequence. And there is almost ZERO continuity between the two House films. Yeah, avoid these two at all costs. I'm not at all surprised Universal never even released House of Dracula on DVD.

 

[Michael Elliott]

I enjoy both HOUSE films very much, although I agree FRANK MEETS THE WOLF MAN is a lot better and IMO, one of the most entertaining Universal films. In HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, Dracula was going up against the doctor. Why this isn't as exciting as the monster going against the Wolf Man, the doctor was credited as one of the five "monsters" in the film. I agree the first half of the film was fairly boring but I did enjoy Carradine as the Count. The second half of the film is a lot better but like you said, we had seen this in the previous film. As for HOUSE OF DRACULA, it was really an embarrassing film, although I still don't mind watching it. In a later interview Lon Chaney, Jr. accused Abbott and Costello of ruining the monsters with their humor. I disagree completely because I think HOUSE OF DRACULA ruined the monsters. A&C MEET FRANK is the greatest horror/comedy ever made IMO and the greatest team up of monsters as well.

I think FREDDY VS JASON will be "FRANK MEETS THE WOLF MAN" and the sequel will feature Freddy, Jason and some other horror legend. There's some talk about this on the commentary but Ash of EVIL DEAD fame is talked about. Or, I really wouldn't be shocked to see New Line throw in a real comedy team. Say...Adam Sandler and someone else?

 

[Matt Pelham]

I really didn't like this movie very much at all, but I'm still picking up this disc, don't ask me why. Good review

 

[Drew Reiber]

About the Ash teamup...

I really hope it happens. Everyone from Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell to Robert Englund is all for it, but it still comes down to Robert Shaye giving the thumbs up. If he's smart he will because once Raimi finishes his Spider-Man commitments, he'll need a studio to produce the next Evil Dead entry. New Line could be that studio.

 

[Beau]

I was slightly dissapointed with this movie. Like some reviews I've read when it came out last August, it's basically ANOES Part 7(or 8 if you count New Nightmare)with a guest appearence by Jason. I'm a BIG Friday the 13th fan, and not too big of a Nightmare on Elm Street fan. When I first heard about this, I wasn't terribly excited, but got my hopes up WAY too high the closer it go to being released. I partly blame myself for being dissapointed because I should have know better that it would be more of a Nightmare movie than a Friday movie. BUT, I loved it when it got to the fights, which was worth watching an average Freddy movie to get to. Deffinatly gonna get this DVD.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

I absolutely loved FREDDY VS JASON. I'm primarily a fan of the old Universal monster films and I think that's why I wound up becoming a Jason fan early on, having seen every F13 film in the theater since 1981 with PART 2... because to me, Jason was like a modern Frankenstein monster, getting killed and coming back time and time again.

As a big Jason fan I've wanted this FVJ teamup for a decade or more. I was pleasantly surprised by this movie and thought it was well worth the long wait and felt it successfully pulled off the nearly impossible task of incorporating all facets of both the FRIDAY and the NOES movies. While it's true that the movie mostly serves as a NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET film, I can understand this because, quite frankly, even though I'm not a Freddy fan, it is obvious that Krueger has to be the means by which the plot is driven. I think it was the only way the story could be done, using Jason as a pawn of Freddy. It was ingenious how the script managed to include both the DREAM WORLD and the REAL WORLD throughout the course of the movie. And when the climactic fight occurs, it's a great one - good and solid, not over too quickly, some humor, lots of action, and a brilliant ending (which I won't divulge, don't worry). I think the ending was brilliant in that it managed to give the fans of each series a choice as to who they feel actually "won".

As for the talk here about the HOUSE films from Universal, I think HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN is getting way too slammed here, but I do understand the "episodic" feel of the Dracula section of the film turning some people off. But when Michael Elliott says that HOUSE OF DRACULA ruined the monsters, I just cannot agree there. They were treated seriously and with respect. And I'd also have to disagree with Lon Chaney Jr. too regarding ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN - the monsters were given a respectable sendoff and were not "made buffoons of". Then again, maybe Chaney was referring to a moment where Lou Costello punches his Wolf Man in the nose and kicks him in the butt

 

[Michael Elliott]

During the commentary, as the closing credits are going England talks about a sequel with Ash. The funny thing is that the commentary was recorded the same day that the film opened so they didn't know how big the thing would turn out. England says the two characters wouldn't mix well with Ash but he then said that someone like Raimi could pull it off. I'm just curious if Raimi would be intersted in returning to the series.

 

[Beast]

I'm most intrested in the deleted scene of Jason without his mask. Since it's been hyped as being on the DVD. And the new NECA Freddy vs. Jason figure set that is coming out, features Jason with a removable mask. No pictures have surfaced yet though. :frowning:

 

[Ryan Wishton]

I was also not terribly happy with the movie. I just expected something unique and special (which IMO is what something like this should be) I suppose and had my hopes up too high. I enjoyed the Freddy (who did seem to be missing something to me) and Jason (who reminded me of a side character seeing as we didnt see to much of him) of course, but I absolutely loathed this cast so much. Too many boring moments with the characters as well. This cast was just so unlikable IMO and there was not one good cast member to root for.

Both series have had at least some likable characters in the past for those of us who followed the series, so it was a bit of a letdown.

I really believe that my feelings toward the cast really destroyed a part of the movie for me. And what was that acting? Dont get me wrong. I have seen plenty of bad acting before, but this (for what was suppose to be a pretty big film with a high budget for a horror film) was like an all out joke. Definately the worst acting in a whole in the entire Elm Street series IMO. I would even go out to say that it's worse acting than any of the Fridays. Even ones like Friday 5.

I think they should have went with a different cast all together.

As a childhood fan of both series, I am very disappointed to say that I probably will not be owning this movie. I would have sure never said that to you if you asked me a year ago, but this just didnt do it for me.

I will rent it though to check out the transfer and the groovy extras...

 

[Lev-S]

So bad it was good. I thought there were some things that could have been elaborated on like Jason as a kid (poor fellow) and the removal of the word "bitch" from Freddy's dialogue. Talk about an overdose! And as for the possibility of Ash entering the ring, it's just not going to happen. Why? Ash is comedy, Freddy and Jason are horror. Hell, as much as I love him, Ash would probably shat his pants and run (just like he did in Evil Dead 1-3) if he saw Freddy and Jason!

 

[Scott Temple]

Target has the "Freddy vs Jason" DVD advertised for $15.99 on Tuesday, January 13th.

I love this film. I'd say it's the best Friday the 13th/Jason film since Part VI: Jason Lives way back in 1986. I knew Freddy Krueger would be great in this because Robert Englund never disappoints.

 

[John KB]

I just watched the dvd this weekend. Great transfer and audio. I liked the extras but would have liked more. Maybe a better making of, or at least some more interviews with other cast members, aside from Robert Englund.
The cover is cool, but very hard to see when laying flat. Just nit picking though, awesome dvd, awesome movie!!

 

[TonyD]

i dont see how ashe would fit into any of this.
wouldnt michael myers be a better fit?

 

[Ryan Wishton]

Who is Ashe???

Anyways, dont ever count on Myers being crossed with these two series... Myers belongs to a different company... Most likely the only way it would happen is if somehow New Line ever got the character...

Freddy vs Jason took years and years to get made... Talk started in 1985... Friday 7 in 1988 was originally going to be the movie to combine both characters, but fell through... There was even a script at the time...

Add another character and it would probably take years for a movie combining all 3 characters to ever get made... I dont even know how all three characters could even be connected...

One things for sure... None of these characters will be going anywhere too soon with their successful box office runs lately... Get cozy... These 3 are the James Bond of horror and you will probably see them pop up every now and again for years... Same as we still see Dracula, Frankeinstein, and The Wolfman every now and again..

I would actually like see a movie with either or all of these characters that is well made and attempts to scare and is creepy... But, I guess those days are probably gone... I think the Freddy and Jason characters have good backstories and origins, it's just that no one has done much of anything with them...

Freddy vs Jason was an excellent chance to go into things such as Jasons dreams, Freddys past, (both of which they did, but it was hardly even touched on) etc., but instead they gave us too many teen character moments that didnt amount up to much of anything...

 

[Bryan Tuck]

I will probably grab this today. I thought it was a lot of fun; not scary, but enjoyable. And as usual, New Line can be counted on to deliver a quality package, certainly a lot better than any other studio would have done for a film like this.

As for the whole Ash thing; it would make no sense whatsoever to put him in the mix, but I'd go see it. May be a little goofy, but that's what Jason's always been, and what Freddy became pretty quickly (of course, Wes Craven proved that Freddy could still be scary in New Nightmare. At any rate, Englund is correct; Raimi could probably do something interesting with it if he wanted to. We shall see, I suppose.

Anyways, dont ever count on Myers being crossed with these two series... Myers belongs to a different company... Most likely the only way it would happen is if somehow New Line ever got the character...

Well, that's what they bought Jason for; anything is possible.

 

[Beast]

Well, that's what they bought Jason for; anything is possible.

Not with Akkad owning ole Mike Myers. Since he shot down plans by John Carpenter and Clive Barker to team-up. Both were in talks to collaberate together for Helloween. Which would have been a return to John Carpenter directing a Halloween picture. And Clive Barker having something to do with the Hellraiser franchise. Both were to work on the scripting process. :frowning:

 

[ChrisBEA]

I love Freddy v Jason. I think a Freddy v Pinhead would a been cool too.

As for Ash, This is what I would like to see a horror icon version of Destroy All Monsters. Ya know you have Freddy, Jason, Michael Myers, Pinhead, Djinn, Lepruchaun, basically whoever you want on one side. On the other You have Ash rallying a group of unknowns against the forces of evil. It would surely be a classic!

 

[Ryan Wishton]

Back up a few posts, I said who is Ashe? Never mind... Mind bubble I guess... I assume you meant Ash, so now I know who it is...

Chris, while that idea is interesting, that would be headed way into camp comedy... They might as well just label the movie Action/Comedy...

I dont really know... I just think adding Ash to the mix would be a bad idea... Ash would get most of the spotlight because he is the human character and most people would be asking who this guy was??? Most of the mainstream dont have a clue who Ash is... Then you would have Ash making wisecracks with Freddy... This would be total campy comedy...

I guess it could be fun if done right, but it certainly wouldnt be scary... Then again, FVJ was never scary... Ash would certainly make a better hero than Lori from FVJ... She was one of the dullest heroines ever... I was hoping for FVJ to have some scarier moments and some classic bits, but I guess with a title like that, I was looking in the wrong place...

I actually thought the original Djinn from Wishmaster 1 was an interesting villian, unfortunately he just came at a bad time and didnt make much of an impact... His first movie was only passible at best which is another problem... All 3 of the DTV sequels were really bad... When they switched the Djinn with a different actor it became even worse...

 

[todd stone]

what about just a wrestlefest of all huge horror film classic villians. It would be a huge rumble *though studio rights would be a nightmare to obtain *

 

[Ryan Wishton]

What I thought would have been interesting would be a fighting video game with a bunch of horror characters... They all have their special weapons, etc... Freddy with the claw, Jason with Machete, etc... You then pick from a variety of levels, each level representing of someones home turf (Crystal Lake, Elm Street, etc.)... They then all have different powers (Freddys dream powers, Jasons strength, Leprechauns magic, Pinheads box that he throws down as a special power that shoots out chains at the other characters, etc)... I think it would be really fun and interesting... Sort of Like Super Smash Brothers, but more realistic and violent...

As unlockable levels, you can even have Black and White levels from old movies, like the Bela Legosi Dracula and Black and White Dracula Castle... Freddy vs Dracula in a Black and White setting would be interesting... Although Freddy would be calling Dracula an A**hole before Drac turns into a bat, etc... It would be wild...

Game should allow for at least 4 players to make things really interesting...

Talk about Clearence rights being hell... But, I think it would be really neat if it had the quality of game of the month material... 9 to 10 out of 10 or so...


Another idea I always like would be an adventure game featuring these characters... Your human character has to go through the villians levels and you have to fight that villian at the end of the level... Exploring Crystal Lake, Haddonfield, Pinheads Hell, etc, and then having to fight that particular villian to escape the level at the end of it... Although, I would have no idea who to make the head boss and last level of the game... Probably Pinhead because his level would be Hell afterall... But, I am sure many people would argue over this saying so and so is better, so and so is stronger, etc...