Let me try to put my finger on the emotion I was feeling as I exited the theater after seeing the iconic slasher showdown movie, “Freddy vs. Jason.”

Shock, revulsion, horror … no, no – although it was a particularly gruesome film, to be sure.

Disappointment, boredom, anger at having paid money to see it – well, not entirely.

Fright?

Puh-lease.

What I was feeling was … mirth. Yes, mirth. “Freddy vs. Jason” put me in a terrifically good mood, probably because I hadn’t had such a good laugh in ages.

This is easily the funniest film you’ll see at the movies all summer. It is a movie that unabashedly plants itself with a speaker-rattling thud in the epicenter of its slasher film legacy, and proceeds to chew up and spit out every single horror film convention ever dreamed of.

I can easily see “Freddy vs. Jason” turning into an audience participation cult film. During an early scene, a tight camera shot followed a character as she warily walked along a tall, dense hedge. The music swelled suspensefully, and then the theater audience erupted in laughter as everyone had thought to suddenly reach out and grab the person next to them – at exactly the same time as an arm from behind the hedge caught the girl onscreen! We all knew unequivocally what was going to happen, and the movie didn’t disappoint.

Both the “Friday the 13th” and “Nightmare on Elm Street” horror film franchises are built on simple premises: Jason is an undead victim of neglectful camp counselors and a domineering mother, who returns every now and then to exact his revenge on sexually active teens. Freddy is an undead child murderer who returns in children’s dreams to continue his hobby of slicing and dicing.

Actor Robert Englund, who originated the Freddy Krueger character in 1984, explained that this movie was the natural destination of both franchises, referring to the playground games where kids argue over which movie monster could beat up the other. He also said that he had been wanting to do a “Freddy vs. Jason” movie for a long time, but had been waiting for just the right script. (Bwah hah!)

For the script we can thank fledgling screenwriters Damian Shannon and Mark Swift. Their screenplay careens down the slasher formula path like a tornado on roller skates, never once veering off into originality, sensitivity or intentional humor. They center the action on a motley group of high school students forced together by circumstance to fight both bad guys, and a more stereotyped bunch you’ve never seen. Even the casting and costuming is intended to mimic other teen icons, but instead of parodying them, the movie plays them straight! Sure, they have generated many more laughs that way, but I’m quite sure they didn’t mean to.

“Freddy vs. Jason” is the epitome of modern slasher films. The characters are sketchy. The acting is subpar. The plot is miniscule. The blood and body parts fly with gratuitous, shameless abandon. But rarely does one see a movie this bad that unapologetically revels in its awfulness. I was actually glad I went to see it.

“Freddy vs. Jason”Rated – R

for pervasive strong horror violence, gore, gruesome images, sexuality, drug use and language

Starring: Robert Englund, Ken Kirzinger, Monica Keena, Jason Ritter

Director: Ronny Yu

Length: 97 minutes

Now playing at: Astoria Gateway Cinemas, Cannes Cinema in Seaside

Short take: Slasher granddaddies Jason of the “Friday the 13th” films and Freddy Krueger of the “Nightmare on Elm Street” series go head-to-head in this utterly laughable horror movie that holds absolutely no surprises except maybe how much blood and gore the filmmakers can throw at the screen.

Rating: 2 stars

Rating system:

4 stars: Absolutely the best

3 stars: Good, solid entertainment

2 stars: Wait for the video

1 star: Don’t waste your time

Movie Trivia: Director Ronny Yu hails from the Hong Kong film tradition. What other American slasher film can we thank him for?

Movie Trivia answer: “Bride of Chucky,” 1998