‘Freddy vs. Jason’: The controversial horror line the writers call “a real stain on the movie”
A crossover can often be a desperate last throw of the dice for a flagging franchise, but in the case of stagnant horror icons Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees, pitting them against each other worked at treat, from a fiscal perspective at least.
While the hockey mask-wearing figurehead of Friday the 13th had very recently appeared on-screen in the futuristic sequel Jason X, it was the character’s first movie in almost a decade after the law of diminishing returns had gradually chipped away at audience interest.
Meanwhile, the razor-gloved antagonist of A Nightmare of Elm Street had been completely absent since the delightful postmodernism of Wes Craven’s New Nightmare slathered the flailing series with a fresh coat of self-aware paint. In the eyes of the studio, the best way to maximise both was to drop them into the exact same story.
Given the hype levels among genre aficionados everywhere, Freddy vs. Jason became the highest-grossing film to feature either of the title characters as the argument debated endlessly by fans of blood-soaked cinema was made flesh. It hasn’t dated well over the last 20 years, though, and not just because the soundtrack boasts tracks from Spineshank, Mushroomhead, Sevendust, and several other notable nu-metal mainstays.
One scene that caused controversy at the time involved Kelly Rowland, who was already a curious addition to the ensemble of an R-rated horror crossover considering her status as a bestselling musical artist and member of Destiny’s Child after her interactions with Robert Englund’s Freddy came under fire for their reliance on racism and homophobia.
Beyond the nightmarishly scarred murderer questionably referring to Rowland’s Kia Waterson as “dark meat,” when being confronted by the noted enthusiast of striped jumpers, she asks “what kind of faggot runs around in a Christmas sweater?” for reasons known only to the filmmakers given the questionable deployment of such offensive terminology.
In most cases, the blame would be laid squarely at the feet of the writers, except for the fact Damian Shannon and Mark Swift weren’t responsible at all. Instead, the scribes revealed they didn’t pen that exchange and were just as shocked as anybody when they heard it spoken out loud.
“All we can tell you is we didn’t write it, and we were really shocked when we heard it in the movie,” they told Bloody Disgusting. “We complained about it after the first screening, but it was never changed. It’s a real stain on the movie, in our opinion.”
If it didn’t come from them, then it must have been added by either director Ronny Yu, some unscrupulous producers, or improvised on the day by the cast. None of that makes it any better, especially when it contributes absolutely nothing to Freddy vs. Jason.
