Although Freddy vs. Jason was far from critically acclaimed upon its release, the 2003 slasher showdown originally had a much worse ending that viewers were thankfully spared. While Freddy vs. Jason’s original plans changed a lot during the movie’s lengthy production, the finished film was a surprisingly solid addition to both famous franchises. The Springwood slasher’s much-hyped faceoff against Camp Crystal Lake’s hulking killer was a bit campier than many fans expected, but Freddy vs. Jason’s fast pace and a streak of dark humor ensured it was relatively well-liked by most viewers.
However, this was not always destined to be the case. The original ending of Freddy vs. Jason was both too dark for the movie and utterly nonsensical in terms of storytelling, and could well have derailed the project if kept in place. In an example of test audiences changing a movie for the better, Freddy vs. Jason’s poor early screening reactions resulted in this ending being replaced by the far superior closing scene it has today.
The original changed ending saw Monica Keena’s Freddy vs. Jason final girl Lori go home with her boyfriend, only for him to turn into Freddy and slash her to death mid-coitus. It was brutally cruel, but also illogical, and it rendered the rest of Freddy vs. Jason’s action a confusing mess for numerous reasons. First, the original ending implied that Freddy won the titular bout despite him clearing losing only one scene earlier. Second, it suggested that Freddy could possess people with ease, which upended historical canon as it was something Freddy Krueger had always struggled to pull off. More, if he could easily possess people, it made no sense that he wouldn't have done so throughout Freddy vs. Jason if it had been an option. Third, the scene killed off the movie’s most likable character for the sake of a cheap and meaningless shock twist.
While A Nightmare on Elm Street’s franchise lore has made it clear that Freddy can sometimes possess his victims, the mechanics by which this is achieved are rarely explained and Freddy vs. Jason had already made it clear that he couldn’t simply hop into one of the character’s bodies. Not only that, but the corny setup of the sex scene (complete with candles, mood lighting, and obligatory sexy music) made the impending twist incredibly obvious to anyone who had ever seen any horror movie, let alone the slasher fanatics likely to seek out Freddy vs. Jason. Fortunately, test audiences balked at the sequence and a more fitting ending (wherein Freddy winks at the audience after being decapitated by Jason) won out.
Although director Ronny Yu’s earlier Bride of Chucky featured a similar scene wherein a romp turns unexpectedly bloody, Nightmare on Elm Street couldn’t copy Chucky in this instance as the scene’s comedy felt too broad and out-of-place after the preceding movie. The rug-pull twist didn’t make sense in terms of story and undid all of Jason and Freddy’s fighting, rendering the plot pointless. As such, Freddy vs. Jason was right to follow the advice of early screenings and scrap the corny twist.