Mental, emotional, and psychological exhaust need to go on an extended siesta! Times like the one we’ve been living this year call for something special. Something so “over-the-top,” it makes you crave it just by a glance. It’s been a long while since we’ve had some ridiculous flick fun. (Especially fright-flick-fun!) But I think the wait is over, and we can thank the dark souls at Blumhouse and director Christopher Landon for it. As luck would have it, that time has arrived. The team of contemporary terror treats us to the bizarre world of FREAKY, starring Kathryn Newton and Vince Vaughn. The angle? Well, what usually has the humorous approach, now has had horror added in its ingredients of entertainment as the narrative now shines its familiar yet, unique spotlight, on a story that follows a teenage girl switching bodies with a ruthless pycho killer. That’s right, folks… the good old body-swap genre is back!
Like all teens, 17-year-old Millie (Newton) is still afloat as she continues trying to navigate waters of fantasy and drama at Blissfield High. All she wants is to be accepted and hang with the cool kids. You know? Just a little pop-life to get her through her remaining school year. But as grey clouds would have it, things take a dark turn when an unneeded and/or unwanted twist changes her lane as she becomes more than just a target for her town’s infamous killer known as The Butcher (Vaughn). So much, teenage worries and wonders become an afterthought for her and her usual band of losers.
If you’ve seen one body-swap pic, you’ve seen them all. You know the premise – and that’s part of the fun! FREAKY takes the concept and makes it its own. I really enjoyed this flick. Quite frankly, a lot more than expected. Chris Landon has a knack for this kind of genre (if we can even call it that) and aims at providing his audience with a unique, entertaining experience. As he does with HAPPY DEATH DAY, FREAKY takes elements of silly and sinister, sprinkled with a little Sci-Fi, and goes on a chaotic cinematic journey. One that once again has teens running wild trying to figure out how to survive.
From the moment the flick starts, it exposes an unapologetic approach on the kind of joyride you’re embarking on. FREAKY gives you everything you enjoy about crazy horrors and elevates its harsh slashery with enjoyable humor. In nutshell, it gives you clever killings, great one-liners, cat-n-mouse chasing, ridiculous scenarios, the one cop in every flick that doubts, and more to help come full circle! Overall, it’s a quick, enjoyable watch. A typical popcorn piece that’ll garner its inevitable fandom of fright flicks. It may not be meant for everyone, but I think everyone should give it a chance. The reason I say that is because if you placed 2011’s CHANGE UP and 1997’s FACE/OFF in a blender for about 2 minutes, you’d wind up pouring yourself one hell of a FREAKY smoothie!
This FREAKY experience hits whatever theaters remain open in America on Friday, November 13th!
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Genre: Horror/Comedy
Rated: R
Run Time: 1:40
Starring: Vince Vaughn, Kathryn Newton, Katie Finneran, Celeste O’Connor, Misha Osherovich, and Alan Ruck
Director: Christopher Landon
