Freaky Blu-ray Review

THE MOVIE — 3½/5

Plot Synopsis: 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 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.

Review: The body swap concept has been around for decades (according to Wikipedia the first in 1936 with The Man Who Changed His Mind) with varying successes, the first I recall was Like Father Like Son followed by Vice Versa and Dream a Little Dream. In addition, there have been three Freaky Friday films and now we get just Freaky which adds the horror genre, much in the same way Happy Death Day was a horror version of Groundhog Day.

Freaky is a film I thoroughly enjoyed and unlike Happy Death Day, which was straddled by a PG-13 rating, this one got a hard R and made the most of it, with some sexual content early on plus some of the more graphic scenes this side of Friday the 13th (not  coincidentally, this film takes place on that date). What helps, beyond the incredible gore, are the two leads in Vince Vaughn and Kathryn Newton, the former has shown his ability to do both a light and dark side, though most known him for his comedic skills (he did play a villain in the 2003 thriller, Domestic Disturbance).

Here, Vaughn plays a generic but menacing enough serial killer but turns the switch, so to speak, to comedy as a teenage girl. It’s pretty standard in terms of the character but Vaughn puts everything into the role, including making out with the high school crush. Not to be outdone, Kathryn Newton showed her dark side as she sliced and diced her way through the school, including Alan Ruck’s woodshop a-hole teacher who got one of the better deaths.

On the slight downside, albeit wouldn’t surprise me this was done on purpose, you do have some of those high school film clichés like the flamboyant gay best friend or the “mean girl” clique who taunt our heroine who, despite their best attempts, isn’t at all unattractive, even in her loose-fitting drab attire (kind of like trying to geek-up Rachel Leigh Cook in She’s All That), before with a wardrobe change, becomes a strong beauty.

Tonally, Freaky is similar to Happy Death Day, no surprise as this came from the same director, Christopher Landon, who also helmed and co-scripted the sequel, Happy Death Day 2U, which I enjoyed but didn’t quite live up to the original. In any case, Freaky and Happy Death Day would make for a great double-feature.

SPECIAL FEATURES – 3/5

This release comes with an embossed slip cover and inside a redemption code for the Digital HD copy.

Deleted Scenes (5:27) — Only three scenes here likely cut as it added nothing to the plot or characters.

Split Personalities: Millie vs. The Butcher (2:24) — Short featurette on Vince Vaughn and Kathryn Newton working together as their characters’ personalities switch.

Crafting the Kills (3:35) delves into the bloody murder scenes.

Christopher Landon’s Brand of Horror (2:35) is a profile on the co-writer and director.

Final Girl Reframed (2:48) on the twist of the “final girl” trope.

Audio Commentary — Co-Writer/Director Christopher Landon breaks down the process of making the movie, writing the script and working with the actors. Nothing great as it is a solo track and I tend to prefer multiple participants but it’s still worth a listen.

VIDEO – 4¾/5

AUDIO – 4½/5

OVERALL – 3½/5

Overall, Freaky is an entertaining twist to the body-swap model with full-throttle performances from both Vince Vaughn and Kathryn Newton who are wonderful in their opposite personas. Like Happy Death Day, which shares the same director, it’s a bit of a fresh air and just an all around fun experience.