Today’s Prayer Focus

Freddy vs. Jason

MPA Rating: R-Rating (MPA) for pervasive horror violence/gore, gruesome images, sexuality, drug use and language.
Moral Rating: Extremely Offensive
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience: Adults
Genre: Suspense Horror
Length: 1 hr. 45 min.
Year of Release: 2003
USA Release:
Copyright, New Line Cinema Copyright, New Line Cinema Copyright, New Line Cinema
Relevant Issues
Copyright, New Line Cinema

FILM VIOLENCE—How does viewing violence in movies affect families? Answer

FEAR, Anxiety and Worry—What does the Bible say? Answer

Featuring Robert Englund
Jason Ritter
Ken Kirzinger
Monica Keena
Kelly Rowland
Director Ronny Yu
Producer Wes Craven
Sean S. Cunningham
Distributor
Distributor: New Line Cinema. Trademark logo.
New Line Cinema
, division of Warner Bros. Pictures
Copyrighted, New Line Cinema

Here’s what the distributor says about their film: “A group of teenagers finds themselves stuck in the middle of a battle between two forces of evil: silent stalker Jason Voorhees (Hodder) and gabby dream master Freddy Krueger (Englund), as the battle wages from Elm Street to a climactic finale fought at Camp Crystal Lake.”

Learn about DISCERNMENT—wisdom in making personal entertainment decisions

cinema tickets. ©  Alexey SmirnovEvery time you buy a movie ticket or buy or rent a video you are in effect casting a vote telling Hollywood, “I’ll pay for that. That’s what I want.” Read our article

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.


Viewer CommentsSend your comments
Neutral—As a fan of scary movies since I was a child (and especially of the Friday the 13th series), I saw this movie fully knowing what I would see—violence, bad language, sex. Both of these franchises have a history of very non-Christian themes. However, the movie did have some entertainment value. The violence is heavy, but mainly between Jason and Freddy as opposed to the victims in the movie. It gets especially gory between Jason and Freddy towards the end. This is definitely not a movie for children or early teens. Also, it is not for anyone who has strong convictions about the movies they see. Overall, it is extremely non-Christian (what else could we expect?), but is entertaining.
My Ratings: [Very Offensive / 4]
Brian Henson, age 26
Comments from young people
Negative—Wow, where to begin? My friend and I got free tickets to see this show and went today. The whole movie is about killing, none of the jokes were funny at all but crude and offensive.

All the teenagers in the film think only about sex. The whole occult theme scares me, and makes me wonder why those soul-less movie makers are intent on making demons “cool.” I emplore everyone to stay away from this movie and send a message to those who want to profit on this filth. I was so horrified that I cried, out in my car after the movie for everyone that had to watch such horror.
My Ratings: [Extremely Offensive / 1]
Kenny Frisch, age 19
Neutral—Going into this film, you know you’re not going to get christian entertainment. It’s going to be a film with murder and drugs, and sex—the things the bible condemns the most. But it is a good reminder of what people can become with our lord, Jesus Christ in their lives.

Robert Englund did a really good job in his return as Freddy Krueger, and the guy who played Jason did really well, too. The production values in this film look really good, too. I mean, it’s almost like a comic book come to life. The film’s director certainly has a great eye with filmmaking as well.

I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone who is offended easily or doesn’t like a whole lot of blood, but it’s not really a bad film, compared with other films in the horror genre.
My Ratings: [Extremely Offensive / 3]
Adam Danser, age 19
Neutral—This movie was horrible. The whole plot was based around killing and promiscuity which the Bible says both are bad. Parents, don’t let your children see this movie. Parent, don’t see this movie either. No one should ever see this movie!
My Ratings: [Extremely Offensive / 2]
Brady, age 20
Neutral—Well, here’s another “split down the middle” for me. When I heard that this film was coming out, I suddenly became a fan of horror movies and watched two movies from each series (“Nightmare on Elm Street” and “Friday the 13th”) to prepare.

Obviously, morality has degraded since those early films, and someone decided that this flick would sell better if the “good” guys promoted sex, drugs, and language. In reality, that just made me want to root for the bad guys. The film making quality of this was excellent, as it became more of a horror flick than the action movie I’d expected. The plot was surprisingly complex enough to justify why the two slashers come together. I just wish it would’ve been in spite of some heroes I could have cared about.
My Ratings: [Very Offensive / 4]
Reed Benson, age 20
Movie Critics
…witless, excessive and ultimately boring gore-a-thon. …the writers didn’t want to waste their time creating interesting characters that were going to get their heads lopped off pretty soon anyway…
Michael Rechtshaffen, Hollywood Reporter
…just another teen horror movie…
Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine
…extremely gory… full roster of promiscuous teen victims…
Matthew Turner, View London
…Profanity: Extreme / Sex/Nudity: Extreme / Violence: Extreme…
ScreenIt!
…excessive use of bad language …glamorizing the use of alcohol and drugs… graphic killings as entertainment …frequent sex scenes…
Preview Family Movie and TV Review
…The violence is brutal, gory and incessant. …People get cut in two, impaled, electrocuted, burned to a crisp, dismembered or decapitated …gratuitous nudity, explicit sex and sick humor… graphic display of necrophilia…
Bob Smithhouser, Plugged In, Focus on the Family
…In this fight, viewer loses… treats death the way porn movies treat sex, as a subject to be exploited…
Robert Denerstein, Denver Rocky Mountain News
…doggedly sub-stupid—an audacious achievement in arbitrary plot developments and incoherence. …teen characters liken their situation to the real-life tragedy at Columbine and to dream of incest. The sick just keeps getting sicker.
Ed Blank, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
…since neither Freddy nor Jason can ever really be killed, that means the whole last half of the movie is utterly pointless. Or, at least, more pointless than the first half of the movie. But maybe no less pointless than any other “Elm Street” or “Friday” entry…
Bob Strauss, L.A. Daily News

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