FILM REVIEW: Body-swap slasher flick "Freaky" blends comedy and horror with mixed results
Ah yes, the good old slasher movie. Since the days of early cinema, directors and producers alike have been inventing (and then re-inventing) new ways to frighten audiences to their core. Recently, audiences have been treated to slightly lighter horror films that aim to entertain just as much as they do to scare. Enter director Christopher Landon. Known since his Disturbia days (2007) for his stylistic writing style, Landon decided to pursue directing with his surprisingly great debut hit, Happy Death Day (2017). Cementing his own style of horror that combines comedic performances with over the top gross-out slasher kills, it was safe to say everyone was excited to see what he would do next. Cue Freaky.
17-year-old Milly (Kathryn Newton) is a shy, slightly awkward teenager who is struggling with her father’s death and her mother’s slight alcoholic tendencies. The town of Blissfield is plagued by an old wives’ tale of the Blissfield Butcher – a notorious psychopath who kills teenagers each year around homecoming. The film’s opening scene is a solid introduction into our gruesome antagonist, with each kill becoming more creative than the last. The audience revels in the sheer insanity that is how ridiculously entertaining they are. The film’s opening is really the highlight to a film that sadly does start to go downhill from there.
We see the plot really develop when our Main character Milly finds her mundane world shaken up when she – of course - wakes up in the body of the notorious serial killer himself. Think Scream-meets-Freaky Friday, but with an excellent performance in Vince Vaughn that could be his funniest yet. The majority of the film’s laughs are anchored around Vaughn acting like a 17-year-old girl navigating around life’s biggest questions when you’re a teenager; high school and boys. Hilarity ensues when Milly (in Vaughn’s body) and her best friends realise they only have 24 hours to rewind the mystical body-swapping before it becomes permanent.
The best part of Freaky is the casting. Kathryn Newton fits perfectly as the perfect mix of “normal teenager turned psychotic killer”. It is a refreshing spin on the usual serial killer profile as her non-intimidating character quickly turns into someone you seriously wouldn’t want to run into at night. The only thing that lessens Vaughn’s performance is that we don’t really get to see much of serial killer Vaughn. We only see him after the body-swap, meaning we miss seeing him in all his terrifyingly psychotic glory as the myth that haunts the fictional town. Witnessing him as a blood-thirsty maniac would be a real treat, but comedic Vaughn is truly hilarious, providing a stand-out performance that keeps the slightly boring plot alive.
Freaky starts on a gloriously high and gory note, and sadly goes pretty off-pitch. The overall plot becomes dated and predictable, with even some of the jokes missing to hit the mark as the audience is truly just trying to hang on with it. Still, an entertaining movie nonetheless that goes hard on the laughs but lacks the substance that even a silly thrasher sometimes needs.
