‘Freaky’ is a blood-soaked take on the body swap genre
In the first few minutes of Freaky, director Christopher Landon lets viewers no exactly what they are in for – unapologetic fun and gore mixing two genres that have no business working this well together. At, its core, Freaky is the story of The Butcher (Vince Vaughn), a masked killer intent on creatively increasing the body count as the movie progresses. However, then we meet Millie (Kathryn Newton) and her friends. Millie finds herself in the predicament of being the next victim of The Butcher.
As happenstance would have it, the world of magic and the supernatural interfere, and we find ourselves in the midst of a body swap.
The Butcher learns the pros and cons of being a teenage girl and how to continue killing through adolescence, while Millie learns the joys of peeing while standing. Millie also comes to learn that she has 24 hours to reproduce the magic or the change becomes permanent.
The gore continues throughout the movie, never letting up. Vince Vaughn is very funny as he convincingly relays the young girl suddenly trying to accommodate his enormous frame. The mix of comedy and horror work quite well together in Freaky.
If you enjoyed either of Landon’s efforts with the Happy Death Day movies, you will most likely appreciate the genre mixing efforts of Freaky. Do take into consideration though that this is an R-rated movie for a reason.
There is adult language and situations and an abundance of gore absent from Happy Death Day. Hardcore slasher fans might not like the comedy stylings often mocking the tropes of the genre, but the visual effects do payoff if you’re looking for the blood and guts of a movie heavily influenced by 80’s slashers combined with 90’s horror comedy.
Gordon’s Grade: B
