I HAD planned on reviewing the latest Fast and Furious movie this week. While quite enjoyable, they are the same thing over and over again, so Instead I am going to talk about Freaky.
Freaky was not really on my radar, but listening to a podcast recently which had Quentin Tarantino as a guest, he described it as the only movie he regretted not being able to see in a cinema during lockdown. I was surprised by this, but after seeing it I know exactly what he means.
The best films to see on the big screen are big comedies or fun slasher movies in the vein of Halloween or Nightmare on Elm Street, and Freaky has a great premise - Freaky Friday meets Friday the 13th.Freaky Friday was a 1972 movie remade in 2002 about a girl who switches bodies with her mother for one day and they both learn valuable life lessons. Friday the 13th was about a serial killer slashing his way through a summer camp of teenagers. Why not put them in a blender and see what comes out? That is what they have done here.
.
Milly is in her final year of high school. She is picked on by teachers and students alike and is having a miserable school experience. One day she is attacked by a local serial killer, but although stabbed, she does not die. Suddenly she wakes up in the serial killer’s body and he wakes up in hers. From there she needs to figure out how to switch back, the killer on the other hand is delighted to have a new disguise and goes about killing students as usual. It is that simple and at 90 minutes it is just right.
'Freaky plays with the conventions on the slasher genre the same way Scream did back in 1996'
Vince Vaughn is brilliant as the killer. He could have hammed it up but he opts for a more subtle approach and it really pays off. He has clearly studied Katheryn Newton, who plays Milly, and has her mannerisms down. I ended up watching this film twice and it is even better a second time when you see how brilliant his imitation of her is. Vaughn has always been a great physical performer and really gets to flex that here.
.
The whole concept has great fun with the modern discourse on gender identity/fluidity without being clumsy, ignorant, preachy, or condescending.
This is a great date or a group of friends movie. Clever in a brainless way, it plays with the conventions on the slasher genre the same way Scream did back in 1996. It will not be as big a hit as Scream, but I hope it finds an audience. Hey if it is good enough for Tarantino, right? If you do not mind a bit (OK, a lot ) of cartoonish violence you could do a lot worse.
