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IFDB Review: FvJ:

MCP

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As a fan of both the Friday the 13th and Elm Street movies (particularly the former), my interest is always piqued when I hear either series is being fanedited, and this 4 disc monster set from Juice4z0 and Neglify was no exception. From the 4 discs, there are actually 3 edits on offer here, and I started with Juice’s cut of Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare Horror Cut. Now, firstly I have to confess that I have always hated this movie. It’s horribly directed, features performances which appear to be actors sleepwalking through their roles, and has probably the weakest script of any Elm Street movie. Worst of all though, Freddy is reduced to little more than a comedian – and a bad one at that. In fact, I’ve always felt watching this movie to be a pretty depressing experience, as it just beggers belief how a creation as terrifying as Fred Krueger has succumbed to such low depths (something Craven would deservedly make fun of in the excellent New Nightmare). So, I felt Juice was onto a bit of a no-win situation with this, as to me this movie is virtually unsalvageable. Sure enough, that turns out to be the case. Despite his best efforts, Juice is unable to make Freddy’s Dead into an even half decent movie, but to give him his due, it is certainly a vast improvement. Most of the awful Freddy humour is gone (it was a particular relief to see no sign of the video game sequence), but unfortunately we’re still stuck with a very wooden Lisa Zane, Michael De Luca’s uninspired script and Talahay’s painfully inept direction. On the editing front however Juice equips himself very well. There were no hard cuts to speak of (at least that I noticed) and the picture and audio quality is fine throughout. Also, I would give high marks to the attempt to recreate the 3D of the original finale – although to be perfectly honest it’s still as rubbish as it was in the cinemas back in 1991. So, although this is a brave attempt by Juice, overall I would still say that The Final Nightmare Horror Cut is a poor movie. But as I say, it’s an improvement. Whereas the original version would probably get 2/10 for me, I would give Juice’s version 4/10. Please bear in mind however that I hated the original film and this low score in no means reflects Juice’s skill as an editor! Onto Neglify’s Friday The 13th edit, which combines elements from Jason Goes To Hell and The Final Chapter. Like Neglify, The Final Chapter is my favourite entry in the series. I really admire the direction from Joseph Zito and the way he was able to get good performances from a very able cast, but more than that, he and scriptwriter Barney Cohen even managed to make them likeable, meaning heck you even care about what happens to them. Never again would Jason be as scary as he was in this movie. So, I was intrigued to see what Neglify might do on this edit. Unfortunately, whilst the edit is technically very proficient, I was left somewhat disappointed with the finished result. Whilst the pre-credits scene from JGTH was fun, I think I was hoping for something a little more radical (although to be fair to Neglify, I’m not really sure what!!) throughout the rest of the edit. Sure, the scenes which were cut are not really missed and the film is basically as good as ever, but I think in the grand scheme of this monster 4 Disc edit, I was expecting or wanting something more. However, this is still a fine edit. Okay, the JGTH footage looks obviously different in terms of film stock to that of the rest of the edit, but it’s not a real problem and I thoroughly enjoyed the ride. I suppose one of the problems might lay with the fact that I love the original movie, so therefore see little fanediting potential, unless you’re gonna do something like create a silent movie version which changes the feel of the piece dramatically. So, to be fair to Neglify this is a good fanedit which I would not hesitate in giving 8/10 for enjoyment value, whereas the original film I would give 9/10. So, we come to FvJ itself. Now, at this point I would be willing to raise my mark on the other two edits if this final piece of the jigsaw supplied some kind of linking narrative between all three. After all, this entire project is called FVJ. Things start well enough, with another scene from JGTH as a pre-credit sequence and then to my delight we even get a scene from one of my movie guilty pleasures in Jason Takes Manhattan, which kudos to Juice and Neglify, actually works in context with the story of FVJ. As the edit progresses, there are some very skilful choices of scenes which are trimmed or cut altogether. I particularly thought the infamous “pinball” sequence was improved no-end – it’s a scene which always bugged me (probably because it reminds me as something you might see in Freddy’s Dead), but now it works pretty well. Also, Jason’s role feels a bit more important in this version, which being a F13th fan can only be a good thing. Whether this is due to the inclusion of the extra Jason scenes, I’m not entirely sure, but it certainly comes across more that Jason is most definitely an anti-hero who you can somehow sympathise with. By the time the finale comes about however, I’m, afraid the shortcomings of the whole Freddy vs Jason concept (the initial movie I mean, not this fanedit) are still there for all to see. Seeing the two horror monsters slug it out in a blood-soaked wrestling match is engaging up to a point, and to be fair Ronny Yu makes it as visually fun and stylish as one could hope for, but it still doesn’t quite work for me. Personally, I would have liked to see the battle trimmed further in FVJ, but to be fair to Neglify and Juice, this is a very impressive edit and for me, by far the best of the three on offer here. The much talked about twist ending will no doubt split opinions and will have its fair share of fans and detractors, but on the whole I liked it, even if it’s true value in the grand scheme of tying all three edits together doesn’t particularly hold up that well for me. So, whereas the original theatrical version would get 7/10 from me, I would actually give Negajuice’s FVJ 8/10. Well done guys. As for the extras? Wow, there are loads here and if I was scoring it for bonus content alone, this would easily get a 10/10. Three audio commentaries, all of which feature both editors, are the key feature, but to be honest I could only really get through the FVJ one properly. That one features the most interesting anecdotes, and it was particularly fun to hear Neglify trying to hold himself back from wanting to speak about the twist ending from about 5 minutes in. Of the other extras, unfortunately I have not had time to look through them all, but I look forward to doing so

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