Dustin McNeill - Slash of the Titans: The Road to Freddy vs Jason

Slash of the Titans :

The Road to Freddy vs Jason

By Dustin McNeill

Slash of the Titans: The Road to Freddy vs Jason 2017 by Dustin McNeill

ISBN-13: 978-0692033494

ISBN-10: 0692033491

Published by Harker Press

Freddy vs Jason, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th and related characters are copyright New Line Cinema, Paramount Pictures or their respective copyright holders. The discussion of Freddy vs Jason within this book is intended for editorial and informational purposes only. This unauthorized book is not endorsed by or affiliated with New Line Cinema or Paramount Pictures.

All original content of this book is the intellectual property of Harker Press unless otherwise noted.

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author or publisher. Violators will face civil and criminal penalties and the eternal wrath of Freddy and Jason.

This book is dedicated to all the monster kids out there who grew up envisioning this film years before they ever made it.

Table of Contents

Authors Introduction Welcome to my Nightmare.

Growing up, I was what youd call a monster kid, proudly raised on the Universal classics. I didnt just watch them - I studied them. Once Id explored every corner of that cinematic universe, I moved on to the more risqu Hammer films. Sure, the black-and-white Universals were wonderfully gothic, but who could resist the blood-red allure of the Hammers in terrifying technicolor? In fourth-grade, I became aware of horrors more modern monsters, namely Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, and Jason Voorhees. These were nothing like the Universals and Hammers. These were scary. I got the sense my parents were not going to let me rent these tapes anytime soon, but I simply had to see them - all of them.

I spent that October scouring my local newspapers television listings for these slasher flicks. I meticulously programmed my familys VCR to record at least a dozen of them, my introductions to franchises like Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Friday the 13th. At this age, such films were all beyond terrifying. I can honestly remember being grateful for the commercials just for a break in the tension. Watching a bloodless vampire bite wasnt that scary, but Ill never forget the first time I saw Freddy Krueger suck Johnny Depp into his bed, pure him, and spray his remains all over the room. That was the stuff nightmares are made of.

By the following October, I was hooked on these new franchises and determined to dress up as Freddy for Halloween. I saved my allowance for what seemed like ages until I had enough to buy a mask and glove. Some of you may remember this particular piece, which was based on the New Nightmare look, with its awkwardly cut eyeholes just above Freddys own bulging peepers. My toddler-sister was deathly afraid of this mask, a visceral fear that I fully confess to having exploited regularly. I often left it in the doorway to my room to ensure she wouldnt mess with my stuff while I was at school. Years later, I would follow up on this trauma by taking her to A Nightmare on Elm Street as her first big screen R-rated movie. Id like to think the experience was somehow therapeutic.

I remained a monster kid at heart heading into my teenage years. By my remembrance, 2003 was a pretty great year for horror. There were so many franchises returning on screens both big and small. We had new entries in ongoing series like Re-Animator, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Final Destination, Puppet Master, Ju-on: The Grudge, and Leprechaun. We were also introduced to House of 1,000 Corpses, Wrong Turn, Dead End, and Haute Tension. Best of all? On August 15, New Line finally unleashed the long-awaited Freddy vs Jason in theaters. Who could even believe this was finally happening? Freddy vs Jason seemed far more like schoolyard conjecture than an actual production. How often had my friends and I speculated on which slasher might win in a fight to the death? For us, it was all about the particulars. Is this human-Jason or zombie-Jason? Can Freddy turn into that snake creature from Dream Warriors? Is Jason using his machete or that weed-wacker thing from New Blood? Is this reality-Freddy or dreamscape-Freddy? And who gets home field advantage?

Your mileage may vary, but I had a fantastic time with Freddy vs Jason. In fact, I went to see it opening weekend on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. There was just so much to like! Robert Englund was back and still at the top of his Freddy game. The titans didnt fight just once, but multiple times. They even stole each others signature weapons to use in battle! We had the return of Mrs. Voorhees (sort of) and got a brief look at Springwood Slasher-era Freddy. The movie took us back to both Elm Street and Camp Crystal Lake. Of course, it majorly sucked that Kane Hodder wasnt playing Jason, but I thought the new guy did a terrific job. There was also the joyous thrill of finally seeing one of these movies on the big screen, which was a far cry from watching edited versions taped off late night cable.

We horror fans are an awfully curious bunch. Its not enough simply to watch and enjoy these movies. We want to know how they were made. We want to learn about the mythologies. We want to see shooting scripts, workprints, and deleted scenes. Most of you reading this can probably remember a time before the internet when it wasnt so easy to read up on your favorite scary movies. The best you could hope for growing up was finding back issues of Fangoria or Gorezone. Having said that, getting a two-disc Platinum Edition DVD for Freddy vs Jason was a huge thrill. Suddenly, we had filmmaker commentaries, featurettes, deleted scenes, and storyboards. What more could there possibly be to say on the subject of Freddy vs Jason? Quite a lot, it turns out. First came Peter Brackes lavish Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th coffee table book in 2006. Then came Daniel Farrands His Name was Jason: 30 Years of Friday the 13th documentary in 2009. Farrands teamed with co-director Andrew Kasch to give us Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy the following year and later wildly outdid himself with an eponymous documentary adaptation of Brackes book in 2013. What a glorious time to be a horror fan with these incredible resources at our disposal.

I first learned of Freddy vs Jasons troubled development in the pages of Fangoria magazine. The article was by future Sharknado director Anthony C. Ferrante. As it turned out, New Line Cinema had spent nearly a decade trying to find the right screenplay for the crossover. That revelation stunned me. Ten years? Lets not kid ourselves, The Godfather this wasnt! This was a fun popcorn movie, a rompy slasher throwdown. Nothing about the film suggested it should have taken so long to develop. The book and documentaries above would shed further light on the subject, even including interviews with some of the original writers. This was all fascinating, but it wasnt the whole story. It was just enough to make me even more curious. So I began researching Freddy vs Jasons history and immediately found a handful of unused screenplays online and several more available offline. These were intriguing reads, all wildly different from the 2003 film. I thought to myself, There might be an interesting What-if? book in all of these unused drafts. Reaching out to the screenwriters only led me further down the rabbit hole to additional drafts and conspirators. And here we are.

Contained within this book is the story of Freddy vs Jasons ten-year journey from script to screen. Id like to think its a fairly balanced account with perspectives from both the Freddy and Jason camps. Why was it so difficult finding the right script for this movie? In large part, the answer is because those three words - Freddy vs Jason - conjure up vastly different images in our minds. My vision for what the film should be and your own vision may be nothing alike. This was certainly the case for dozens of attached executives, producers, screenwriters, and directors throughout the years. To complicate matters further, this was a project with split creative control. No one person ever had the clout to force it into production. In retrospect, its almost a miracle that Freddy vs Jason was ever made at all.