8 More Movie Sequels With Visual Effects Inexcusably Worse Than The Original
4. Freddy Vs. Jason
The proliferation of CGI throughout the 1990s and early 2000s meant that a lot of long-running franchises switched over to digital effects, even if they might have had more practical roots. It's almost like the filmmakers felt like they had to use the latest hot thing, and since CGI offers more flexibility in post-production, it's no surprise that digital started to take over. And the results were mixed.
We've already talked about The Exorcist, but other horror franchises like Alien, Friday The 13th, and Nightmare On Elm Street are good examples. Despite their flaws, Alien: Covenant, Prometheus, and even Alien Vs. Predator all look great - with Prometheus in particular proving a mesmerising CGI treat - but the same cannot be said for Freddy and Jason, who were handed a rough bag in their 2003 face-off movie.
There's some good practical effects work on occasion, yes, but the CGI is generally pants from start to end. There's a shot of a digital ghostly Freddy that looks ridiculous, a moment where Jason twists a man's head around that's more funny than scary, and then, the pièce de résistance of crap special effects: that weird caterpillar thing.
In the context of the scene, one of the human characters gets high and starts seeing some strange stuff, prompting this creature to crawl through a door and start smoking with him. It looks so terrible that it really has to be seen to be believed: the effect is poorly blended with the real environment surrounding it, and the render simply looks unfinished, with the creature almost stuttering as it moves.
When you compare this scene to the stomach-curling practical effects found in the early Friday The 13th and Nightmare On Elm Street movies, it really does make you question why the filmmakers chose to go so CGI-heavy.