Welcome back to Behind The Scenes Saturday! Although it’s divided many fans in the horror community, Freddy vs. Jason has become one of my all time favorites! It was practically the film that introduced me to these horror legends. I’ve been wanting to do this one for a while, and I finally collected enough pictures and bits of trivia for you guys, so I sincerely hope you enjoy it!

(Trivia provided by IMDb.com)

(Pictures provided by google.com and IMDb.com)

(TRIGGER WARNING! PICTURES MAY BE GRAPHIC!)

(SPOILER ALERT!!!)

• Ken Kirzinger (Jason) had to get some dental work done during filming. Because getting into and out of Jason’s makeup took way too much time, he opted to go to the dentist still in his Jason costume – sans hockey mask, of course. People at the dentist’s office almost called the cops on him because they thought he was an escaped psychopath.
• When Robert Englund (Freddy) was in his Freddy makeup, it was so thick that he was unaware exactly how hot everything was from the fires. It wasn’t until he went to get the makeup off that he realized it bonded to his face.
• There was a lot of conflict between Katharine Isabelle (Gibb) and the film’s director, Ronny Yu. Before Katharine signed on, she was promised she wouldn’t have to do any nude scenes. When filming began, Ronny went back on his word and tried to pressure her to appear nude. They eventually agreed to use a body double for the shower scene.
• Betsy Palmer was asked to reprise her role as Pamela Voorhees, but she felt the part was too small, so she turned it down.

• The lake used in this film was also used in the film X2: X-Men United. X2 and FVJ were not only being filmed at the same time, the two casts were even staying at the same hotel.
• Robert Englund was a big fan of Ginger Snaps, and he was excited when he heard Katharine was cast as Gibb.
• Kane Hodder, who played the role of Jason Voorhees more than any other actor, volunteered to come back as Jason for this film. However, New Line Cinema pictured a David and Goliath sort of dynamic with Freddy and Jason. They felt Hodder was too short and bulky to play their version of Jason.
• Monica Keena (Laurie) admitted she thought the script was terrible and only agreed to the film for money and to boost her profile.

• Seventeen different scripts were written for the film. Some of them included cults that resurrected Freddy and Jason solely for the purpose of seeing them fight.
• In an earlier draft of the script, it was going to be revealed that Freddy either raped or had consensual sex with Pamela Voorhees (Paula Shaw) and inadvertently impregnated her with Jason. Another link between Freddy and Jason considered was Freddy used to work at Camp Crystal Lake and he was the one responsible for Jason’s drowning. Both ideas ended up being scrapped.
• Rob Zombie turned down the offer to direct in favor of his film House of 1,000 Corpses.
• Brad Renfro was originally cast as Will, but he had to be replaced. Jason Ritter initially wasn’t liked for the part, but he ended up replacing Brad less than a week before filming began.

• Before Jason Ritter was cast, Ian Somerhalder was considered for the role of Will. However, Ronny Yu felt Ian was too pretty for the role.
• The film’s writers, Mark Swift and Damian Shannon were deeply disturbed by Kelly Rowland (Kia) throwing a homophobic slur while taunting Freddy. They’ve mentioned many times that that line of dialogue was nowhere in their script.
• The scene where Jason kills Trey (Jesse Hutch) was initially rejected by New Line Cinema. Mark Swift and Damian Shannon fought for the scene so hard, they went as far as reenacting the kill to convince Ronny Yu. He was convinced and that kill scene ended up getting the biggest reaction from the test screening audiences.
• The whole concept started off as Michael Myers vs. Jason Voorhees. However, the pair was considered too similar and people felt that having different killers made things more interesting.

• Gibb’s red baseball cap and pigtail braids are an homage to Norma (P.J. Soles) in Carrie.
• Zach Ward (Bobby) and Brendan Fletcher (Mark) are good friends in real life and they were very excited to hear they were cast as brothers in this film.
• Ken Kirzinger went to New Line Cinema to find a stunt-coordinating job. When the producers noticed his height and built, they asked him to audition for Jason, and that’s when he won the role.
• The stunt doubles for Monica Keena and Jason Ritter ended up with their wigs melted due to the heat from the fires.

• In another early draft of the script, Jason was captured by authorities and put on trial for most of the film. The lead character would’ve been Jason’s defense lawyer.
• When Ken was unavailable when there had to be reshoots, Douglas Tait stepped in for a few scenes. One particular scene that Douglas played Jason in was the very last scene, where Jason walks out of the lake holding Freddy’s head.
• Sean S. Cunningham, the creator of Friday The 13th, was involved with the project at one point. Due to delays and false starts, Cunningham grew frustrated and eventually dropped out.
• Katharine Isabelle was originally cast as a girl named Jenny, and Lauren Lee Smith was cast as Gibb. After rewrites, Jenny was eventually eliminated and all of her lines became Gibb’s. Then, Katharine Isabelle was given the role of Gibb and Lauren Lee Smith was out of the film completely.

• Christina Ricci was the original choice to play Laurie, but she turned it down in favor of Monster.
• Kia’s death scene was originally a little bit different. She was supposed to stand up to Jason and tell him she’s not afraid of him anymore. She was going to try and take his power away the way Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) did to Freddy in the first Nightmare On Elm Street film. However, this obviously didn’t work since Kia tried it on Jason, NOT Freddy. Freddy then would appear, saying, “Wrong one, b***h!” before killing her.
• The ending of the film was changed quite a few times. One ending had Laurie sleeping with Will for the first time. Will ends up hurting Laurie and sprouting Freddy’s knives out of his hand. This ending was cut because it left angry fans with a lot of questions.
• Another ending included Freddy and Jason fighting on the dock. After the explosion, they end up in the fiery lake as it begins to drain. Jason drains with it and he drags down Freddy with him. The next day, Laurie and her father revisit a now dry Camp Crystal Lake. Laurie’s dad, Dr. Campbell (Tom Butler) ends up finding Freddy’s glove in the ground and vows to himself to destroy it. That’s when Freddy’s arm shoots out from the ground, grabs Dr. Campbell’s leg, and pulls him down into Hell. Cut to: in Hell, Freddy and Jason prepare to fight again when chains shoot out to restrain them. When they’re held back, Hellraiser’s Pinhead would step out of the shadows and ask, “Now, what seems to be the problem?” The idea was scrapped because New Line Cinema didn’t want to pay for the rights to a “low rent character.”

• Other endings had the gist of Freddy and Jason battling in Hell for all eternity in front of Satan, demons, and tortured souls.
• Because the script didn’t indicate who won, Ronny Yu originally didn’t want to direct the film. Robert Shaye, the film’s producer let him change the ending and decide. Although, Shaye was the one who included Freddy’s wink at the very end. Thus, we’re given a winner of the battle, but no clear winner of the war.
• Ken Kirzinger expressed that the most difficult scene to shoot was when Jason sinks into the lake after stabbing Freddy. The tank they shot the scene in had a lot of chlorine in it. Ken had to hold his breath and keep his left eye open for the close-up shot as he’s sinking into the water. The chlorine ended up burning both of his eyes.
• Before the film’s release, Ronny Yu stated in an interview that the film was going to have three endings, like Clue. People speculated there was an ending where Jason won, where Freddy won, and where neither of them won. A lot of people believed that each theater would play one of the three endings, like they did with Clue. Of course, that was not the case.