Slasher franchises can get repetitive. For some slasher fans, that’s comforting, but there’s no doubt that the longer these series go on, the more they fall back on familiar territory.

The silver lining of that familiarity is that it provides a base for filmmakers to build on, to twist, to make new. It doesn’t always work, but occasionally you get something that’s truly one of a kind in horror history. Fortunately for all of us, one such movie is currently climbing the streaming charts on HBO Max.

Freddy vs. Jason emerged when New Line Cinema—the original home of Freddy Krueger and A Nightmare on Elm Street—landed the rights to the Jason Voorhees character, if not the Friday the 13th franchise name. After both franchises supposedly wrapped up with Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare and Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, the studio began plotting ways to bring the two horror icons together, complete with a post-credits stinger in Jason Goes to Hell.

It took a full decade for the crossover actually to happen. Still, it’s important to remember that Freddy vs. Jason arrived not only before the rise of superhero shared universes on the big screen, but also at a time when nothing like it had ever been done before. Crossovers between major horror icons had been discussed for years, but none had materialized. That this film was made at all is an achievement—but it’s not just a novelty.

Embracing the horror-movie style of the early 2000s while still paying homage to the past of both franchises, director Ronny Yu and writers Damian Shannon and Mark Swift dove into a story in which Freddy (Robert Englund) manages to yank Jason (Ken Kirzinger) up out of the grave and manipulate him into a new killing spree. The idea is that if Jason kills enough people on Elm Street, they’ll start believing in Freddy again—and then Freddy can return to his old ways. Of course, once Jason realizes he’s been puppeted by a dream demon, he’s not happy.

Revisit the trailer for Freddy Vs. Jason

Naturally, the duo faces a new band of teenagers who discover that something evil is afoot and fight to survive, including Monica Keena, Kelly Rowland, Jason Ritter, and Katharine Isabelle. It’s all very 2003—right down to the problematic jokes—but what makes Freddy vs. Jason stand out is how willing it is to play with the lore of both franchises. It’s a film that asks questions like, “What does Jason Voorhees dream about?”—and then plays in that sandbox for as long as possible.

Despite being packed with slasher tropes, the crossover bombast of it all makes the movie feel downright refreshing. Plus, even now, more than two decades later, we still don’t have anything quite like it to compare. It’s one-of-one, and that makes it both a must-watch for horror fans and what our own Tyler Doupe’ called a “perfectly imperfect” crossover movie. 

Freddy vs. Jason is now streaming on HBO Max.

Tags: A Nightmare on Elm Street Freddy Vs Jason Friday the 13th HBO Max Slashers

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