Review Detail
9.7 8 10
Overall rating
9.6
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
10.0
Enjoyment
8.0
Freddy vs Jason is at its core, a botched if well meant team-up of 2 of the greatest horror villains in cinema history. It was in development hell for years and went through numerous different scripts before director Ronny Yu came on board to turn Damian Shannon and Mark Swift's version into reality. The results, for what is basically a ridiculous concept, were quite fun to sit through in the cinema, but on repeat viewings have at least for me dwindled somewhat. Yu tries to instill an energy to the picture, but the whole concept is pretty stupid - and is highlighted by some heavy exposition from Freddy himself at the start of the film. I suppose it is a "vs" movie, so therefore what should one expect? Anyway, I was intrigued to see what The Butcher could bring to the table, as he's a very talented editor whose work I have admired in the past.
One of the clear intentions with the edit was to cut back on some of the more over the top humor from Freddy. This is definitely a good move, as in the theatrical cut Freddy in all honesty feels very much like the version Englund played in the risible Freddy's Dead - The Final Nightmare. Overall, The Butcher succeeds with this balancing act here, although personally I would have gone even further and stripped it back further still - however, that's not taking anything away from a job well done.
The biggest plus point I felt, was the use of flashbacks from previous Friday the 13th films, instead of the awful CGI morphing camp counselors. This was executed superbly - to the point where you would never know that it was not part of the film in the first place. Indeed, my wife, who had never seen the film, had no clue and when I told her, she agreed it was seamlessly done.
Quality wise, everything is spot on. I watched the large 20GB+ MKV file and it looked excellent. The visual edits and audio edits are perfect, as one would expect from a skilled editor like this.
So, why only 8/10 for enjoyment? That's purely down to the film itself. Even with the various improvements, Freddy vs Jason is still a very clunky film. Still, it's a big improvement from the theatrical cut and I would still highly recommend it as I had a blast watching it on a Friday night. Now, if only you had cut Freddy's wink to the camera at the end - I might have pushed the score higher ;)
One of the clear intentions with the edit was to cut back on some of the more over the top humor from Freddy. This is definitely a good move, as in the theatrical cut Freddy in all honesty feels very much like the version Englund played in the risible Freddy's Dead - The Final Nightmare. Overall, The Butcher succeeds with this balancing act here, although personally I would have gone even further and stripped it back further still - however, that's not taking anything away from a job well done.
The biggest plus point I felt, was the use of flashbacks from previous Friday the 13th films, instead of the awful CGI morphing camp counselors. This was executed superbly - to the point where you would never know that it was not part of the film in the first place. Indeed, my wife, who had never seen the film, had no clue and when I told her, she agreed it was seamlessly done.
Quality wise, everything is spot on. I watched the large 20GB+ MKV file and it looked excellent. The visual edits and audio edits are perfect, as one would expect from a skilled editor like this.
So, why only 8/10 for enjoyment? That's purely down to the film itself. Even with the various improvements, Freddy vs Jason is still a very clunky film. Still, it's a big improvement from the theatrical cut and I would still highly recommend it as I had a blast watching it on a Friday night. Now, if only you had cut Freddy's wink to the camera at the end - I might have pushed the score higher ;)
L