I personally feel like Christopher Landon is one of the most interesting directors currently working in the film industry. Since unshackling himself from the Paranormal Activity sequel train, his continued attempts at re-invigorating the horror genre through interesting means have never failed to capture my attention. His most recent efforts in the Happy Death Day films only strengthened this notion that Landon’s brain just works differently to most directors, and that’s great. So, when his new film, Freaky, caught my attention, I was immediately excited to see what Landon had up his sleeve next.
Awkward teenager Millie (Kathryn Newton) is gearing up to skip homecoming because she can’t pluck up the courage to speak to the guy she likes. But following reports of four of her classmates being murdered by the Blissfield Butcher (Vince Vaughn), the town is sent into a frenzy to find the notorious serial killer. When Millie runs into the killer and is stabbed by him using an ancient ritual dagger, the two switch bodies. With only twenty-four hours to reverse the effects of the curse, Milly (Vince Vaughn) must convince her friends to help her track down the Butcher (Kathryn Newton) before they go on a killing spree at the homecoming dance.
As I’m sure you’ve guessed by the premise, Freaky is what you get if Freaky Friday and Halloween made a baby, and it works brilliantly. Whilst the plot and characters are nothing particularly special, the premise and how well it’s executed is well worth the price of admission.
I had a lot of fun with this film, and mostly because it knows to play up the campiness a whole lot. Characters are over the top, the gory deaths are really well done and super bloody, the dialogue is often extremely clever, funny, and self-aware. It’s all the good signs of a great post-modern slasher film.
Awkward teenager Millie (Kathryn Newton) is gearing up to skip homecoming because she can’t pluck up the courage to speak to the guy she likes. But following reports of four of her classmates being murdered by the Blissfield Butcher (Vince Vaughn), the town is sent into a frenzy to find the notorious serial killer. When Millie runs into the killer and is stabbed by him using an ancient ritual dagger, the two switch bodies. With only twenty-four hours to reverse the effects of the curse, Milly (Vince Vaughn) must convince her friends to help her track down the Butcher (Kathryn Newton) before they go on a killing spree at the homecoming dance.
As I’m sure you’ve guessed by the premise, Freaky is what you get if Freaky Friday and Halloween made a baby, and it works brilliantly. Whilst the plot and characters are nothing particularly special, the premise and how well it’s executed is well worth the price of admission.
I had a lot of fun with this film, and mostly because it knows to play up the campiness a whole lot. Characters are over the top, the gory deaths are really well done and super bloody, the dialogue is often extremely clever, funny, and self-aware. It’s all the good signs of a great post-modern slasher film.
Vince Vaughn and Kathryn Newton are both excellent in this film. Vaughn in particular brings some great physical comedy in the same kind of style the newer Jumanji films have done. He doesn’t move, speak, or behave the way Vince Vaughn normally does, and he does a great job of playing a female high-school senior. Newton meanwhile does a great job of establishing Millie in the first act of the film and then does this excellent 180 on her physical performance to be the dominating and frightening presence on screen. This is juxtaposed with some very funny physical comedy, with the Butcher not used to being in a body that is physically smaller and weaker than his own, but even with those moments she makes a very convincing murderer.
The only thing I really didn’t enjoy about Freaky was the final scene, and I feel like the five minutes that that scene went on for could have been better spent giving Millie more character development with her mother and sister at the start of the film. The finale feels tacked on and kills the pacing of the film, just chop it off and allocate that time to more important things.
Overall, I had a really fun time with Freaky. It’s not going to be remembered as one of the greatest slasher films of all time, but along with Happy Death Day, I feel that Freaky has created this awesome niche sub-genre for self-aware and post-modern slasher films that appeal to the youth of today by handling issues that are relevant to them. Landon could be leading a slasher revival here and I’m all for it.
The only thing I really didn’t enjoy about Freaky was the final scene, and I feel like the five minutes that that scene went on for could have been better spent giving Millie more character development with her mother and sister at the start of the film. The finale feels tacked on and kills the pacing of the film, just chop it off and allocate that time to more important things.
Overall, I had a really fun time with Freaky. It’s not going to be remembered as one of the greatest slasher films of all time, but along with Happy Death Day, I feel that Freaky has created this awesome niche sub-genre for self-aware and post-modern slasher films that appeal to the youth of today by handling issues that are relevant to them. Landon could be leading a slasher revival here and I’m all for it.