Freddy Vs. Jason

It was inevitable, no doubt, that the two teen-slasher franchises would hook up eventually. The only surprise is that Halloween’s killer, Michael Myers, isn’t on hand to make it a threesome; did negotiations fall through? The script (by David S. Goyer, Damian Shannon and Mark Swift) is incomprehensible, but it hardly matters; the title says it all, and we know what to expect: teenagers indulging in sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll and then paying for it in ingeniously grisly ways. Director Ronny Yu knows exactly what’s expected of him; he keeps the blood flowing and doesn’t dawdle over the holes in the plot. The cast—except for Robert Englund as Freddy and Kelly Rowland (of Destiny’s Child) as the trash-talkin’ black chick—are largely nobodies, and most of them deserve to stay that way.