Freaky
As reported by Dollyforme
Onward to more Redbox movies. Can’t wait to see movies in the theatre again. My latest trip to Redbox got me Freaky, a very funny take on Slasher flicks.
Freaky is the latest twist on the body-swapping concept and is not even remotely family-friendly. In Freaky, an homage to classic teen slasher movies like Friday the 13th (1980) and Scream (1996), Vince Vaughn stars as an aging serial killer who switches bodies with a hapless teenage girl. Universal Pictures debuted the film at Beyond Fest in October. The film hit theaters (despite the pandemic) on Friday, November 13, garnering solid reviews and eking out $7.2 million at the box office so far—not a bad showing considering how many movie theaters remain closed. It's now available on VOD and makes for an entertaining, if familiar-feeling, weekend watch.
Director Christopher Landon is no stranger to horror, having helmed three films in the Paranormal Activity franchise. He's also the mastermind behind 2017's delightful horror/comedy mashup, Happy Death Day—basically a combination of Scream and Groundhog Day, in which sorority sister Theresa "Tree" Gelbman (Jessica Rothe, Utopia) is murdered on her birthday by a killer in a Babyface mask and finds herself reliving that day over and over. Landon followed up with last year's equally entertaining sequel, Happy Death Day 2 U, which added an ingenious multiverse twist and paid particular homage to Back to the Future II. So a horror/comedy mashup of Freaky Friday and Friday the 13th seems like a natural follow-up.
We won’t spoil much about what happens from there, but both characters encounter others with whom Millie has a history, from her initially terrified friends to a mean girl to a bully to a teacher played by one-time “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” star (and Northeast Ohio native) Alan Ruck, with generally hilarious results.
As entertaining as “Freaky” is, it does have its issues. The script doesn’t support Ruck’s character’s extremely antagonistic attitude toward Millie, who doesn’t give off the problem-student vibe. More importantly, by the movie’s final stretch, “Freaky” has burned through much of its fun as it works to bring the two primaries back together for a switch back.
That said, the third act does offer one, um, interesting component as Vaughn's Millie shares some heartfelt moments with Shelton’s Booker.
Those awesomely awkward scenes serve only to crystalize the brilliance of casting Vaughn (“Swingers,” “Old School,” “Wedding Crashers”) in this role. Watching him act like a female teen is an absolute joy. (As you’d imagine, Vaughn is a delight in multiple scenes set in men’s bathroom stalls, discovering both the kinds of things young men write on the walls and certain male equipment.)
While Newton (“Big Little Lies,” “Blockers”) can’t match Vaughn in terms of comedy chops, she certainly does her part to make “Freaky” fly when she’s portraying The Butcher. If anything, Landon and Kennedy do the actress a disservice by not making The Butcher more talkative. Then again, when the character does say something — such as the not-so-veiled threat whispered into the ear of an aggressive high school boy — it has the desired impact.
Nonetheless, Landon is deserving of taking the biggest bow. His direction is, as usual, topnotch.
Whether he gets to make a third “Happy Death Day” flick, a “Freaky” follow-up or something different, we can’t wait to see what hilarious horror he brings us next.
A big thumbs up as a rental at Redbox. Funny, Funny, Funny.
