Watch: Original Freddy Vs. Jason Ending Sees One Killer In Complete Control

One of the most common setups for pop cultural arguments is which cinematic titan would win a fight against another, with Freddy vs. Jason pitting the Springwood Slasher against the Camp Crystal Lake Killer.

The climax sees the two unstoppable stalkers face off in the real world after a bout in the dream realm, and ends with them both seemingly dead and falling into the icy depths beside Jason’s hunting ground. The movie’s final shot sees Jason emerging from the water holding Freddy’s severed head, seemingly victorious, only for the latter to wink at the camera and his distinctive cackle echo in the background, suggesting it could be another dreamscape ruse under his control. This allows the film to sidestep having to make a definitive declaration of who the victor was, but wasn’t the way things were originally planned to draw to a close, as you can see above.

Unlike several other endings that were considered, including drafting in Hellraiser’s Pinhead, this one was actually shot. It shows the film’s two survivors Lori and Will in bed together and about to cement their personal journey by having sex for the first time. As the foreplay continues, Will becomes increasingly aggressive, and at the final moment raises his hand to display familiar razor blades extending from his fingers, which then slash down as Lori screams before the shot immediately cuts to the credits.

To be honest, it’s not hard to see why test audiences were unsatisfied with the denouement. While it perfectly fits the typical climax of a Nightmare on Elm Street film that suggests Freddy is defeated but still alive and ready to reassert his malign influence on the world, it disregards the Jason aspect of things and thus defeats the entire point of the movie. As such, the ambiguous ending of Freddy vs. Jason that allows audiences to decide for themselves what happened was probably the best choice all round.

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