Can we talk a little bit about FREDDY VS. JASON? Yeah, the big showdown where two legendary slashers fought to the death – well sort of – and killed a bunch of teens along the way. Here's the thing, I love this movie. It’s ridiculously goofy. Every damn time I heard either the NIGHTMARE or the FRIDAY THE 13th theme, I was giddy with excitement. And yes, even the kills were generally impressive. When they recreated the death of Jesse Hutch’s “Trey” at Universal’ Studios' Halloween Horror Nights, I was ecstatic. Seriously, that one sequence is one of the best kills in the movie. In fact, that will easily go down as one of the best scenes in all the FRIDAY and NIGHTMARE films combined. Props to Hutch for making him such an awful jerk that we wanted to see him as fodder.
So why do I want to talk about FvJ? Well, for starters, I caught this movie recently on cable and I remembered how much I adored it. And then there is a certain news story that we ran here at AITH. It appears that the fine folks at B-D managed to dig up a memo from creative exec Jeff Katz. In it, the possibility of a sequel called FREDDY VS. JASON VS. ASH was discussed. Not only would we see this incredible mix of EVIL DEAD, FREDDY and JASON, but we’d apparently get to see the official demise of the child killer Krueger. For horror fans, this could have been a freaking Han Solo, FORCE AWAKENS moment. If anybody is going to finally kill either Freddy or Jason on Elm Street or Camp Crystal Lake, Ash could be the one.
With all this time passed since FvJ came out, do I still want a sequel? Hell yes I do. I’ll never forget going to see FREDDY VS. JASON in theatres opening night with a good friend. We waited in a long line with a bunch of fans wearing an impressive selection of F13 and NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET t-shirts. They were thrilled. They cheered. They laughed. And yes, it was an awesome experience on every level. How good is the movie officially? Well, maybe it’s just nostalgia that led to my admiration of Freddy and Jason trying desperately to kill teens and everybody else. Or perhaps, after so many years of being a fan, watching these two screen legends together was something I just couldn’t resist. Yeah, it was occasionally hokey, and a few of the performances weren’t all that impressive… but for me it was a stupendous theatrical experience.
The second Freddy gave the audience a knowing wink near the end of FvJ, I knew that there had to be a sequel. How could you not put these two together once again for a little glorious mayhem? Perhaps with another horror legend? It also helps that this flick grossed just over 114 million worldwide box office with a budget of 30 million. That’s not too bad folks. You’ve got a flick that fans seemed to mostly appreciate and it made solid dough, why didn’t we get a sequel? Why didn’t we spend a little more time on Elm Street or with horny campers drinking booze, smoking pot and having sex at Camp Crystal Lake? I would’ve been happy to see a continuation of both of these psychotic fellas together. And of course, it didn’t happen. Yet this wasn’t the end of either Freddy or Jason.
Instead of a cool sequel to FREDDY VS. JASON, we were given a horrendous remake of A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET and a brand new FRIDAY THE 13th – that one I actually enjoyed. I’m not going into the whole history of why this happened, because frankly most of you are probably aware of the story. There was talk about bringing Pinhead into the series for awhile. They wanted to make a sequel and expand the world. The problem with different studios having their hands in different properties can make this kind of thing very f*cking difficult. That's one of the most frustrating things for fans – at least for this one. If you have the means to bring this many iconic figures to the big screen, and it was fairly successful once, just go for it! Make the damn movie! Let’s just deal with the red tape and bring Freddy, Jason and Ash together.
Maybe it’s the booze taking, but we still want to see FREDDY VS. JASON VS. ASH. I love FRIDAY THE 13th. I love A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET. And I most definitely love EVIL DEAD. And even with the past remakes since FvJ and a Starz series, I’d love to see Bruce Campbell take on a hockey mask wearing freak and a weird nut job with knives for fingers. This is a movie that has the potential to be one of the coolest horror events of all time! Come on studios, work out the deals and bring these three together for another fright filled mashup. Can you imagine Freddy, Jason, Ash and a bunch of Deadites? This will never happen, but I sure as hell wish it would!