Cinema Junkie by Beth Accomando

Freddy and Jason have already battled so its only appropriate that two additional horror franchises face off in Alien Vs. Predator, or simply AVP (opening August 13 throughout San Diego). Freddy (of Nightmare on Elm Street) and Jason (of Friday the 13th) have amassed more sequels than Alien and Predator combined but the two monster aliens have developed a large following thanks to the comics, graphic novels and video games that paired the franchises long before the Alien Vs. Predator movie even hit development. Alien was a surprise hit in 1979 for Ridley Scott. After years of cute aliens from Star Wars and Steven Spielberg, Scott served up a lethal creature that scared audiences out of their seats. The elegantly evil creature was designed by H.R. Giger, and appeared in three sequels, although it never looked as good as it did in that first film. Predator made his first appearance in John McTiernans 1987 film bearing the creatures name, and Arnold Schwarzennegger as the star. The hulking extraterrestrial with cosmic dreadlocks and hi tech armor could make himself invisible as he stalked his human prey. Only one sequel, in 1990, came from this film but Predator became a popular character. Now these two killing machines meet up for the first time on the big screen in a story that avoids all the plots already played out in the comics and games.