Like cartoons, horror franchises attempt to keep the formula fresh by changing the locale and adding new characters. And, if that fails, there's always the potential of a crossover movie. It took Freddy Vs Jason fifteen years to reach the screen, and by that time, Messrs Krueger and Voorhees had become Scooby villains, laughable boogeymen surrounded by wisecracking teens that behaved in stupid ways. The filmmakers knew this, so they littered their film with references to Scooby Doo. Take the Freeburg character - a long-haired stoner who says "like" and "dude" a lot and calls Freddy a "pussy who comes after you in your dreams." Clearly based on Shaggy, his ride is even referred to as a "Scooby Van" by one of the movie's Keystone Kops. None of the police officers in the film fare particularly well, possibly because the Sheriff is played by Garry Chalk, who also played an ineffectual authority figure in Scooby Doo! The Mystery Begins. "You can't trust the police," announces the Damsel In Distress. "You can't trust any of the adults!" That's because all of the parents, in true Scooby fashion, have been keeping secrets from their offspring and unwittingly placed them in danger.
Ian Watson is the author of 'Midnight Movie Madness', a 600+ page guide to "bad" movies from 'Reefer Madness' to 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.'
