Friday the 13th Movies: Ranked Worst to Best

7. Freddy Vs. Jason (2003)

New Line Cinema

Freddy Vs. Jason was kinda' fun for me. While I don't consider The Nightmare On Elm Street series to be on the same level as Halloween or Friday The 13th, I still love Freddy and want to see as much of him as possible. Apparently I'm not alone in that respect.

Set in Freddy's town of Springwood, Jason is released from Hell by Freddy in hopes that a killing spree by Jason will dredge up long-forgotten memories of Freddy. This will in turn allow Freddy to escape the dimension he's was relegated to once the children of Springwood forgot about him. Clear enough? Eventually, as you can tell from the title, Freddy and Jason end up fighting each other with seemingly disastrous results.

While it's a bit trite, I found the ending of this film to be quite interesting. It seems as if Jason appreciates the help of Lori in his battle with Freddy. That's a side of Jason we've never seen, but the idea is a natural for a series of films that often tries to portray Jason in a very subtly sympathetic way (Think about Alice Hardy, the sole survivor of F13 Part 1, and her concern for the little boy in the lake. Also think about Ginny's concerned rant in the bar in F13 Part 2.).

Jason is further humanised in his battle with Freddy when Freddy discovers Jason has a fear of water. This fear is well-founded due to the young Jason drowning in Crystal Lake followed by Jason being entombed in the lake at the conclusion of F13 Part VI and Part VII. The writers did themselves proud by working Jason's inevitable hydrophobia into the script.

I also like that Jason was the seeming victor in the battle with Freddy, although both are shown alive at the end of the film. To my way of thinking, this means Jason won the battle but the war is not over. I pray they don't make another Freddy vs. Jason film, but at least there's the possibility of future F13 and Nightmare movies.

Contributor

Tim is a varied character. He's lived on three continents. He hates ice cream. He has been a highly-paid computer programmer. He invents collectible card games. He is a coffee shop owner. He has had fantasy stories published in magazines. Eventually he wishes to retire from life and become a professional 10-pin bowler who writes articles while living in his RV and traveling from bowling tournament to bowling tournament with his faithful wife in tow. And of course, Tim is a major horror and science fiction fan.