The inaugural battle of this blog section was between two renowned champions. One a slasher, the other a zombie. The first win went to Carpenter, despite Romero being the overall more influential director/writer.
Today i am going to back up the debut of my ‘VS.’ section with a showdown between undoubtedly the two most well known horror villains in pop culture history, Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees. The three sections i will be pitting them against each other in are, film success, abilities and scare factor.
Film Success:
Freddy Kreuger is the face of Nightmare on Elm Street. This very street in Springwood is where his killing spree begun. The child sex offender turned supernatural serial killer, Freddy terrorised generations of kids both on the infamous Elm street and around the area. The franchise reached a mass of 9 movies including spin offs (Freddy vs. Jason) and reboots. The franchise is well known both inside and out of the horror realm, and as far as accolades and monetary success, the franchise has amassed a total of $370,495,086 in grossing totals and more than 10 nominations and wins.
Jason Voorhees on the other hand is the main antagonist in the Friday the 13th franchise. Although not the original killer of the series, the indestructible hockey mask wearing, machete-wielding gigantic deformed killer made his debut in the 2nd Chapter . Since then Jason has cast a reign of terror over the genre , creating room for a sizeable amount of films. Including the same spin off as Freddy, the total amount of films both the franchise and his character reached is 12. It also was included in IGN’s 2006 top 25 franchises rankings in history. The franchises total gross $464 million and more than 30 wins and nominations
Despite being tightly contested, Jason and his franchise did claim more films, more wins, more nominations and more money. Although it being replicated in similar fashion and almost identical in ave. grossing per film by his opponent, Jason and Crystal Lake edge out Freddy here.
Jason > Freddy
Abilities:
Freddy Kreuger is almost unstoppable. In a literal sense,this is true, but as we know from the remake and throughout the original series he is susceptible to injuries. Yet, he only dies in the final nightmare, and that is only to an extent because the definiton of surviving in this example is being trapped in hell. By dying i mean that due to the fact his existence becomes a forgotten memory to the survivors of his massacres, he iskept powerless and effectively not real. This is a testament though to his ability to withstand mutilation, stabbings and pain, whilst conjuring almost any sort of nightmare with his supernatural abilities. Freddy’s signature claws are still the most dangerous and powerful weapon at his disposal despite his superntural abiities. Overall Freddy is almost overpowered, being susceptible to almost nothing and having the ability to conjure anything upon command, even running out of video game lives as a killing method.
Jason on the other hand is seemingly a more eerie and strong presence, yet seems to only have a small array of abilities to hone. Water being his vital weakness due to his misleading ‘death’ and the fact he is human meaning he can be psychically slowed and maimed. Being murdered on multiple occasions, or even allegedly murdered he still has officially been murdered once at the end of Final Chapter, making him a vincible foe. Offensively he is incredibly strong, Hulk strong. He is an artist with his machete and has the ability to use a plethora of weapons as if he is Aragon from LOTR. His abilities though are sub par when pitted against numerous villains whose super powers make them almost unconquerable, when in reality he is just a overpowered mortal man.
Freddy being an infinite being whilst having the ability to murder physical victims in more than one way means his overall abilities are an A+ in relation to other horror antagonists. Jason is strong and combat talented, yet he is still a human who if pitted against the right weapon or human(s) could be murdered and beaten. Therefore Freddy takes this round comfortably despite the ambiguous ending to their fight in the namesake film.
Freddy > Jason
Scare Factor:
Freddy Krueger’s demented face and the helpless power he posses you with is literally the definition of a living nightmare. Although comical in his punchlines, his deep voice when growling, and his rare seriousness combined with his aestheticism is horrifying. Yet what is most scary about this legendary killer is the fear his approach induces you in. Only in your sleep will he be able to kill you, and avoiding sleep and his assault is impossible. What lies between death and safety is your ability to stay awake, and the very fear that lingers in the intense heightened feel of fear that hangs with heavy eyes is as scary as your death. Noting can compare to knowing you will die, except having no date or time.
Jason Voorhees’ fear lies in his intimidation and overall persona. The hockey mask that cloaks his deformed face is freaky and intimidating, cloaking a sense of humanity that sits hidden behind the mask. His large stature and overall physical shape is dominating and almost unfathomable in real life, which makes him scary. Also knowing that he can kill you at any second, awake or asleep. With his strength, killer instinct and almost indestructible body, when it comes to a living breathing killer, he would be the worlds scariest.
This category is almost a draw, both are fearsome in the way they deliver kills and their overall scare factor are both at the very height of horror cinema. Yet, forgetting Freddy makes him redundant, but forgetting Jason won’t do you any good as this man can strike you at any time, anywhere. As for Freddy, having only a certain window to strike, his scares do have a limit whilst he is alive, as for Jason will forever cause terror until he is finally put to sleep. Freddy is almost scarier when it comes to the suspense that drives his kills, but to know someone like Jason is out there and is as unstoppable to any one individual is a scarier thought then one who strikes in dreams.
Jason > Freddy
Verdict:
It’s almost unfair to crown a winner between these two vastly different killers. Both have their unique attributes which cause them to be indestructible to a certain extent, and both are two of the most revered and feared horror movie characters of all time. Both have also been the mainstays in their franchises which are undoubtedly the two greatest horror franchises. Although this is all said, there must be a winner, and in this case, Jason has taken the crown.
Jason > Freddy
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