Freaky
Ratings: 4.2/5
Duration: 1hr 42 mins
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Comedy
Director: Christopher Landon
Writer: Christopher Landon, Michael Kennedy
Producer: Jason Blum, Greg Gilreath, Adam Hendricks, Zac Locke, Couper Samuelson, Jennifer Scudder Trent, Franses Simonovich, Ryan Turek
Music: Bear McCreary
Cinematography: Laurie Rose
Editing: Ben Baudhuin
Art Direction: Hillary Andujar, Tim Pope
Release Date: 13 November 2020
Released In: Theatres
Star Cast: Vince Vaughn, Kathryn Newton, Celeste O'Connor, Misha Osherovich, Emily Holder, Nicholas Stargel, Kelly Lamor Wilson, Mitchell Hoog, Dana Drori, Katie Finneran, Alonzo Ward, Dustin Lewis, Jennifer Pierce, Uriah Shelton, Melissa Collazo, Zack Shires, Alan Ruck, Magnus Diehl, Dane Davenport, Nick Arapoglou, Charles Green, Michelle Ladd, Don Stallings, Brooke Jaye Taylor, Sarafina King
Plot:
With a twist on Freaky Friday, the film tells the story of a teenage girl who unintentionally switches bodies with a middle-aged male serial killer. After swapping bodies, the young girl in high school discovers she has less than 24 hours before the change becomes permanent.
Review:
Freaky is a slasher flick/body-swap comedy starring Kathryn Newton and Vince Vaughn. It acknowledges and has fun with horror-movie clichés with teens getting murdered. And those deaths seem to revel in being over the top. There is lots of gore, and weapons include household items, chainsaws, and even cursed knives.
There is no cutting away from any of the tasteless scenes: there is usually a close-up of the gory wound. It is intentionally campy and outrageous, meant to make viewers cringe, while also laughing in shock with friends.
Freaky's premise is very simple: Kathryn Newton who plays Millie, a high school student, who unexpectedly switches bodies with a middle-aged serial killer, the Blissfield Butcher, played by Vince Vaughn. That is basically it.
Vaughn and Newton successfully pull off playing both the killer and the teenage girl, giving each of them characteristics that could easily have gone wrong, but it thankfully didn’t. Both characters are pierced with vigour, commitment, and physicality, and the levity and the right amount of darkness required for this genre.
There is an intensity to Newton's stare as the killer that matches so well to Vaughn's Millie, which genuinely makes you wonder if this is to be terrified of or ridiculed at. While Newton has nailed the performance, Vaughn is back big time!
Directed and co-written by Christopher Landon, Freaky is a perfect companion piece to another of his movies, Happy Death Day. Reteaming with producer Jason Blum and Blumhouse Productions, they work their magic again, playing the field while maintaining a freshness and uniqueness that never feels boring.
The ending is something of an anti-climax considering the build-up to it. However, without a doubt, Freaky is one of the most entertaining films of the year and has the potential and the ground to entertain the audience throughout.
