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Movie Review: Freaky

Mike Tyrkus
Kathryn Newton in Freaky

Kathryn Newton in "Freaky."

The horror/comedy Freaky is a stylistically pleasing hybrid of genres that allows a group of tremendously gifted actors the ability to shine their respective roles. However, it gets a little too lost early on trying to adhere to the horror genre than embrace what it ultimately proves to be far better at, the comedic aspect of the combination.

Seventeen-year-old Millie Kessler (Kathryn Newton) is introduced trying, like most teenagers, to simply survive high school by enduring the cruelty inflicted upon her by the more popular kids. Then, after the school’s big game, she somehow becomes the target of the town’s infamous serial killer, the Butcher (Vince Vaughn). But, being hunted by a psychopath is the least of her worries. Somehow, a mystical dagger in the Butcher’s possession causes Millie and he to mysteriously switch bodies. Now, the teenage girl is trapped in the body of a middle-aged maniac, who is conversely strutting around town, wreaking havoc in Millie’s body.

While this is all a perfectly acceptable setup for either a horror tale or a comedic take on the same story, Freaky wants to have it both ways and attempts to set itself up as the next Scream franchise in its rather graphic preamble prior to the “Freaky Friday” style body switch that results in the two leads swapping bodies and hurtling the story forward. However, apart from that opening and the graphic manner in which most of the killer’s victims are dispatched, the film plays much better as a comedy that as a horror film. This is something star Vaughn seems to grasp wholeheartedly from the onset as he embraces the chance to play the teenaged girl following the aforementioned body switch, turning the film into a sort of homage to Big (1988).

Vince Vaughn and Kathryn Newton in “Freaky.”

Writer/director Christopher Landon, however seems hellbent on delivering a gory horror movie despite whatever other methods may better serve the story (something that similarly plagued his better than average 2015 offering to undead genre Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse). That is a shame as both Newton and Vaughn are fabulous in their roles and supporting characters all around do a fantastic job throughout the film. If it had simply not been so dead set on establishing itself as a straight-up horror gore-fest prior to the opening credits, it would have been a much better film.

Ultimately though, Freaky delivers what it sets out to do. It offers enough scares to make it a decent horror film and there are plenty of heartwarming moments to give it the approval of anyone looking for a decent comedy about teenagers and the trials of getting through high school. It is just a shame that it didn’t stick to its guns and decide on one or the other instead of trying to be both.

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Mike Tyrkus

Editor in Chief at CinemaNerdz.com
An independent filmmaker, co-writer and director of over a dozen short films, the Editor in Chief of CinemaNerdz.com has spent much of the last three decades as a writer and editor specializing in biographical and critical reference sources in literature and the cinema, beginning in February 1991 reviewing films for his college newspaper. He was a member of the Detroit Film Critics Society, as well as the group's webmaster and one-time President for over a decade until the group ceased to exist. His contributions to film criticism can be found in Magill's Cinema Annual, VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever (of which he was the editor for nearly a decade until it too ceased to exist), the International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, and the St. James Film Directors Encyclopedia (on which he collaborated with editor Andrew Sarris). He has also appeared on the television program Critic LEE Speaking alongside Lee Thomas of FOX2 and Adam Graham, of The Detroit News. He currently lives in the Detroit area with his wife and their dogs.

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