FRIDAY THE 13TH VS. HALLOWEEN VS. NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET: A TRIPLE FRANCHISE COMPARISION (CONCLUSION)

1 point

2 points

So, with Freddy Krueger's incinerated ashes still still not re-resurrected (to date), that only leaves these two titans of terror left to slug and slash it out for their respective franchises.

 

You can read my review of Halloween (2018) HERE.

My initial feeling after watching Friday the 13th (2009) on opening day was one of overwhelming disappointment. Given the potential to finally unshackle Jason from the censoriously snippy choppy inclinations of both the MPAA and the BBFC I found the majority of the kills largely unimpressive and lacking the visceral punch of the early 80's Savini latex heydays. The characters were easily some of the most hateful and unsympathetic creations ever to (dis)grace the franchise. The cinematography and scoring were uninspiring and bland, the limp jump scares failed to land, and the blink-or-you'll-miss-it tokenistically grudging monochrome flashback prologue with Nana Visitor's Mrs Voorhees foreshadowed the overall throwaway complacency of the production. Just to be clear here, none of the above criticism is directed towards Derek Mears' portrayal of Jason - which was kinetically excellent in itself - both in the cloth sack and hockey mask - and frankly deserved a better showcase.   

But, as both these lumbering sultans of slash are heavy-breathing down the back of my neck, and despite Jamie Lee Curtis' return to the retconned (with the emphasis on 'con') Halloween franchise, I am awarding 2 points to Jason and 1 to Michael. (Neither warrant the 3 maximum points).

Final score after 11 rounds (and whilst acknowledging the last 2 rounds were sans Freddy altogether): 

Friday the 13th 22
Halloween 20 & 

Nightmare on Elm Street 20

“Yes, yes, well done, Jason...’ pronounced Dumbledore. ‘However, recent events must be taken into account...”

Well, by virtue numerically of subsequent installments alone, Michael technically takes the crown from Jason, given that Mr. M from Haddonfield has now notched up both Halloween Kills (2021), and Halloween Ends (2022). Full disclosure, I thought Kills was garbage and can't bring myself to actually pay to see Ends. 

Will we ever see Jason or Freddy on the big screen again? Perhaps now that the legal tug of war between Victor Miller and Sean Cunningham appears to be finally resolved we can maybe look forward to a return to Crystal Lake. As to whether a trip to Elm Street will ever be on the cards again...

(This blog entry was updated on 16th October 2022).

Paul Worts