Movie Plot- Freaky: A young girl exchanges her body with a deranged serial killer. Soon she discovers that she only has 24 hours before the change becomes definitive.
Director: Christopher Landon
Writers: Michael Kennedy, Christopher Landon
Cast: Vince Vaughn, Kathryn Newton, Celeste O’Connor
Horror with a funny twist
Freaky opens with a situation we know all too well from countless other horror films: young people sitting around a campfire at night with a beer in their hand, trying to scare each other with a local legend. In this case, it’s all about ‘The Butcher,’ a serial killer who returns to the American village of Blissfield every year and is supposed to be targeting unsuspecting teenagers. Well, then, of course, you can expect him to show up a few minutes later to cause a massacre.
The opening of Freaky is deliberately very cliché. By dealing with archetypal characters (the stupid blonde, the hit ‘hunk’, etc.) in the first few minutes, screenwriter and director Christopher Landon immediately announces that he wants to take a completely different path with his horror film.
In turn, you could describe Freaky as a kind of crossing between Freaky Friday and Friday the 13th. On paper, this combination actually sounds so fun and surprising that you wonder why no one ever came up with this idea before. When ‘The Butcher’ one evening decides to stab the insecure teenage girl Millie with a magic dagger, the two end up in each other’s bodies and Millie has to find a way to convince her friends of her innocence. However, they must hurry, otherwise, the curse will be forever.
Vince Vaughn as a teenage girl
It is clearly visible that the actors and actresses had a lot of fun on set during the shooting of Freaky. Their enthusiasm radiates to the end result. Especially the fifty-year-old Vince Vaughn has the laughs on his hand, because he effortlessly switches from an unscrupulous killer to a giggling schoolgirl. Moreover, during an emotional scene in a cubicle, Vaughn shows that his acting arts reach much further than many would think; he is no longer just that superficial comedy actor. I have really enjoyed his acting as a teenage girl. There were many times that I laughed out loud. And his role is really crucial, because if it wasn’t convincing enough this would be a serious flop. Still, the other actors are funny too, but he really is the star of Freaky.
Kathryn Newton deserves a mention as well, since this blonde can sometimes seem quite creepy with a lifeless look in her eyes and a razor-sharp butcher’s knife in her hand.
There are sometimes stereotypical jokes, but they are said to be very light-hearted and funny. Such jokes, of course, make the film even funnier.
The only nitpick I did have was that the last part was a bit unnecessary. There is a moment where you think that the movie is almost over, but then there’s still a bit more to come. In itself, that was not a disaster, but unnecessary.
Conclusion
Lovers of horror with a comic approach are certainly at the right place. Freaky is quite violent at times, but still, the strongest points lie in its hilarious story of the body switch.
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