Freaky - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Freaky


Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras: :
Final Score:


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Movie
Horror comedies are usually a sticky situation as it’s SOOOOO easy to go overboard. Too many times you get a slapstick comedy with some gore, or a gorefest that is slogged down with stupidity. Sometimes you can get it JUUUUUUST right with films like Army of Darkness or mostly right with stuff like Happy Death Day (sorry, I really like that one). But who really came up with the idea of blending Freaky Friday and Friday the 13th into a film an greenlit it? Well, it seems that they did just that with Freaky, turning it into Freaky Friday the 13th and actually doing a rather good job of it. I will fully admit that he premise is dumb, the movie is dump as a whole (to be fair, most horror movies are not works of art to begin with), but it just ends up being ridiculous fun despite some awkward Vince Vaughn moments.

Millie (Kathryn Newton) is a mousy young high school senior who is the butt of nearly the entire school’s jokes. She’s recently lost her father and has turned even more introverted than she normally is. However, her life is about to change for the worse (or better depending on your point of view) when a serial killer known as the Butcher (Vince Vaughn) murders a cabin full of teenagers (I got a SERIOUS Friday the 13th vibe off that opening murder scene) and is on the loose. As luck (or fate) would have it, Millie is the next attempted victim of the killer by sheer dumb luck. Only thing is, the Mayan dagger that he uses to try and kill her with (stolen from the owner of the opening murder spree) turns out to be curse, causing the two to body switch in Freaky Friday fashion.

The next morning Millie wakes up to find out that she’s a 6 foot 3 inch hulking serial killer, and The Butcher wakes up to find out that he’s a 95 lb high school girl. Naturally Millie wants to get back into her body, but it’s KIND of hard when the body you’re in is plastered all over the news as a killer. Simultaneously The Butcher is having a blast glamming up Millie to the max, turning her from the class joke into a self confident queen of the roost, all the while stacking up the body count as “she” now has full reign of a whole bevy of defenseless teenagers.

Not going to lie to you. Freaky made me roll my eyes when I read the concept. It’s campy, and the idea of a body switch movie is nothing new. However, this movie just made my night as it was so much more fun that I actually expected. Kathryn Newston totally steals the entire movie, even beating out Vince Vaughn for both serious moments AND the comedic elements. Vince does great when he’s acting seriously, but when he tries to act like a teenage girl he gets a little cringey. It’s really the only major downside to the film as I really liked the entire production up until the 2nd half when Millie comes back as The Butcher’s form. Vince did a good job when Millie is being serious, but when he tries to “like totally!” her and act like a stereotypical teenage girl then it just fell apart.

That being said, the film itself flows smoothly and I got a chuckle out of all the homages to previous horror films. Except for the Friday the 13th comparisons (seriously, a hulking mute killer with a mask on who slaughters teens? Not a hard comparison to make) most of them are rather subtle. If you watch for them you can get little winks and nods to I know What You Did Last Summer, The Shining, Nightmare on Elm Street and several more. Usually those little inferences were in the kills themselves. Basically, fun little movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously and actually makes a little bit of uniqueness in a body swap movie, turning Millie into of the better “final girls” out there.




Rating:

Rated R for strong bloody horror violence, sexual content, and language throughout




Video:

Freaky comes to Blu-ray with a very stable looking 1080p image that has a few mild flaws. Compression issues are near nonexistent, and fine details are all around very nice. Facial details are crisp and clean, backgrounds are nuanced well, and colors really pop. The red of Millie’s jacket is bright and rich, while the neon colors of the party scene near the end really add some great high saturation moments. Both low light and daylight scenes alike DO show some digital noise swarming around, but it’s never overly aggressive or obtrusive. You just notice it’s there and move on. Blacks are generally solid, though I did notice some millkiness in said low light sequences (colors can look a bit faded in those bits). Despite said minor flaws, the 2.39:1 framed Blu-ray looks all around excellent.








Audio:

Universal’s 5.1 DTS-HD MA track delivers a horror track extravaganza in spades. The mix isn’t an Atmos or DTS:X track, but it still hits hard and fast with some great openness as well as pulse pounding bass and massive sound stage. The film starts out with a bang, with screaming filling all 6 channels and the film’s crushing score pounding you into the seat. The film gets a bit quieter for a bit, but as soon as the butcher and Millie find each other the movie kicks back up into high gear. Bass is earth shaking for the party scenes and the kills, and the surrounds get more than a hefty workout with the screaming, running and general chaos of the movie .Vocals are still cleanly replicated in the center of the room as expected, and overall, this is an expertly balanced mix that really delivers the horror goods.
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Extras:

• Audio Commentary with Co-writer/Director Christopher Landon
• Deleted Scenes
• Split Personalities: Millie vs. The Butcher
• Crafting the Kills
• Christopher Landon's Brand of Horror
• Final Girl Reframed

Final Score: ​

Freaky isn’t original (or shall I say that it’s general structure isn’t original as it pulls from about a half dozen classic horror films), but then again, many of the classic slashers weren’t exactly original either. I can’t say whether Freaky will ever be considered a genre classic, but I had way more fun than I expected to, and loved Kathryn Newton’s performance. The flick did a great job of balancing horror humor, winking homages to past classics, and some pretty nasty and gory kills for the horror hounds. Universal’s Blu-ray is generally very good, with good video and great audio, and even a decent amount of extras. Much like Happy Death Day and it’s sequel, I may be in the minority, but I greatly enjoyed what I saw as a fan of slashers. Check it out.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Vince Vaughn, Kathryn Newton, Celeste O'Connor, Misha Oshervoich, Emily Holder, Nicholas Stargel
Directed by: Christopher Landon
Written by: Michael Kennedy, Christopher Landon
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, French, Spanish DTS 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Studio: Universal
Rated: R
Runtime: 102 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: February 9th 2021

Recommendation: Fun Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. Never heard of this one but after reading your review, will check it out once available on amazon prime/netflix.

 

[Asere]

Thanks for the review. I will check this one out.