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Freddy vs. Jason (2003)
The Ultimate Battle Between the King of Slice-and-Dice and the Machete-Wielding Madman
Freddy vs Jason was well made in that it sticks to the basic formulas that both the "Nightmare" and "Friday the 13th" movies had previously established. Yet, the story is able to intertwine the two formulas without watering down the story. The dialog exchange between some of the teenage characters is somewhat cheesy. But that was the kind of dialog we heard in the original movies that came out back in 1980 (Friday the 13th) and 1984 (A Nightmare on Elm Street). It's possible the cheesy dialog is used on purpose.
Freddy's snappy one-liners shows that he hasn't lost his comedic touch. Of course, Jason doesn't speak. So, his menacing presence and strength are played out to the fullest and speak volumes without words.
The movie contains a number of subplots during the first half of the movie, which all stem from the main plot of the Freddy/Jason battle, and play a large part in helping the teenagers figure out why Freddy and Jason have teamed up. Amazingly these subplots, while there are many of them, are easy to follow and give the characters reasons to want to stop this battle once and for all and put an end to the hellish antics of these two feared nemeses of Camp Crystal Lake and Springwood USA's Elm Street.
All in all, this is a movie worth seeing on the big screen for the action-packed battles between Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees. The one-liners by Freddy are always clever and sometimes funny. There are a few times where you are taken off-guard by moments of terror and shock. And aside from some poor dialog between some of the minor characters, the main characters, used as pawns by Freddy to get to Jason, act their parts well. The gore and blood in Freddy vs Jason are plentiful. Squeamish viewers may want to pass on this hack-and-slash fest. If you can stand the slicing and dicing, don't be afraid to go see one of the most intense battles ever fought on the big screen - Freddy vs Jason.
The only thing you have to fear...is fear himself!
Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School (1988)
Not really your classic Scooby-Doo movie (INCLUDES SPOILERS)
This movie, just re-released this year (2001, originally came out in 1988), appears to be a two-part movie. The first part has Scooby, Shaggy (in a red, not the signature green, shirt) and the annoying little Scrappy-Doo driving to the school where they are to teach gym at an all girls school. Little do they know, when they arrive, it is really an all "ghouls" school, where the pupils are the "daughters of the world's most frightfully famous monsters". After being unsettled by who they are going to teach, they proceed to get the "ghouls" ready for a volleyball tournament against the local boys military school (who are "normal", not ghoulish, kids). The second part of the movie, sliced in half by the tournament itself, consists of a monster named Revolta, who is out to kidnap the "ghouls" and to become the most powerful witch in all of monsterdom.
The movie is kind of cutesy. And the usual formulaic solving of a typical Scooby-Doo mystery is non existent. Scrappy-Doo removes the "fear" content that Shag and Scoob usually show off. It was not mentioned anywhere on the video box cover, nor was there a picture, that Scrappy-Doo was in this film. I would not have purchased this film if Scrappy had been mentioned. To me, it's like when Oliver was added to the cast of the Brady Bunch. Unnecessary, and diminishing to a classic Scooby-Doo movie. I think Shag and Scoob could pull off a movie on their own, without Scrappy-Doo. But, I do truly like to see Velma, Daphne and Fred there, too. Knowing full well that this movie is really for kids (I am an adult of a 4 year old who absolutely loved the movie), I gave it a 6 instead of the 3 I wanted to give it.
Buy it for your kids if you must, but avoid it if you are looking to re-kindle the kid in you with memories of a Scooby-Doo mystery.