FREAKY REVIEW

 *MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

Writer/director Christopher Landon is best known for combining the classic Bill Murray comedy, Groundhog Day, with the famous serial killer films, Friday The 13th in his films, Happy Death Day and its sequel, Happy Death Day 2U. The films followed a college student who is murdered on the night of her birthday and begins reliving the same day repeatedly as she tried to find her murderer and prevent her death. Both films were successful at the box office, with critics describing it as “darkly humorous sci-fi spin on slasher conventions”. Landon’s latest film is Freaky, however, is it as entertaining as his previous films?

Seventeen-year-old Millie Kessler (Kathryn Newton) spends her days trying to survive high school and the cruel actions of the popular crowd. But when she becomes the latest target of the Blissfield Butcher (Vince Vaughn), the town's infamous serial killer, her senior year becomes the least of her worries. When the Butcher's mystical dagger causes him and Millie to magically switch bodies, the frightened teen learns she has just 24 hours to get her identity back before she looks like a middle-aged maniac forever.

With Freaky. Landon brings the body swap antics from the 2003 Disney comedy, Freaky Friday, with the thrilling serial killer action from Friday the 13th. This results in a thoroughly entertaining film, filled with gruesome murders and amusing physical humour. 

Like Happy Death Day, Freaky never takes itself too seriously which makes it all the more fun to watch. However, those who are squeamish will probably want to avoid this as it’s very violent with characters being killed off in gruesome and stomach churning ways. The opening sequence introduces viewers to the Blissfield Butcher who kills off a small group of teenagers using a wine bottle, a toilet lid, a tennis racquet and by impaling one of them. It’s a great way to start the film as it fully captures the Butcher’s violent and murderous personality. Following the intense opening, Freaky introduces Millie who is a shy and insecure teenager, with her long, blonde hair hiding her face. She has two friends, Nyla (Celeste O’Connor) and Josh (Misha Osherovich) and has a crush on Booker (Uriah Shelton). Millie is also bullied by popular mean girl, Ryler (Melissa Collazo) and her teacher, Mr. Bernardi (Alan Ruck). These characters later become the Butcher’s next victims who, because he’s trapped in Milly’s body, takes advantage of his new body. Although Milly is shocked to be in the body of a serial killer, she too makes the most of her new found strength by standing up to one of the bullies. 

After performing as a mascot during a game at school, Milly encounters the Butcher whilst she’s waiting for her mother, Coral (Katie Finneran) to pick her up. The Butcher stabs her with a mystical dagger that causes them to switch bodies. The scene where Millie first wakes up in the Butcher’s body is one of the funniest in the scene, with Vaughn delivering one of his most amusing performances. It would have been easy to have delivered an over the top performance that could have come across as caricatured and irritating, fortunately, that’s not the case here. Vaughn’s performance is similar to Jack Black’s in the recent Jumanji films, Welcome to the Jungle and its sequel, The Next Level. Newton is equally as impressive, both as the shy and quiet Millie and the serial killer trapped in her body. It can be challenging trying to convince as an entirely different person stuck in the body of someone else, however, both Vaughn and Newton succeed. As Millie’s best friends, O’Connor and Osherovich provide memorable supporting roles. 

Freaky was first released in cinemas in the United States in November last year. Since then it’s received a mostly positive response from critics who described it as an “entertaining slasher with a gender-bending, body-swapping twist”. Eight months later, with cinemas finally reopened in the United Kingdom, Freaky has been released. Although there’s a lot of films currently showing in cinemas, including the riveting thriller, A Quiet Place Part II, uplifting musical, In The Heights and intoxicating Danish drama, Another Round, I think that Freaky is definitely worth seeing at the cinema as it provides 101 minutes of much needed escapism through bloody and gruesome murders and physical comedy. 

7/10