MPAA Rating: R/ Genre: Horror-Comedy/Stars: Vince Vaughn, Kathryn Newton, Katie Finneran, Celeste O’Connor, Misha Osherovich, Alan Ruck, Uriah Shelton, Melissa Collazo, Dana Drori/Runtime: 101 minutes

I think it can be safely said to start this review off that, were there ever a tricky combination for a slice of cinema to nail down in terms of its respective genre, I definitely think the genre mashup of horror comedy would be one that would be near or even at the top of that list. Indeed, this is because horror-comedies, by and large, typically manage to fall into at least one of trinity of distinct groups. The first is that it is a comedy with laughs a’plenty, but only qualifies under the “horror” label by having it take place at a locale where spooky stuff usually occurs, happens during an incident involving the undead, or both (Shawn of the Dead for as great as that film is). Then there is the second group that are full-blooded horror films and have all the trappings right down to copious amounts of gore, clueless and angsty teenagers, and people getting picked off left and right, but nowhere to be found is a sense of humor about what is going on….at least as far as I know (You’re Next). That then brings us to the third group and honestly these are the ones that are truly iconic and include such slices of cinema as An American Werewolf in London, the Happy Death Day movies, Ready or Not, 2022’s Bodies Bodies Bodies, and even The Cabin in the Woods. These are ones that yes incorporate a healthy degree of terror to the mix, but also remember to include a sense of humor about the proceedings as well (however dark or gallows that sense of humor can wind up getting) The reason I bring this up to you dear reader is because I am convinced that we can now add a new entry to the list found in the third group that takes the form of the slice of cinema I am reviewing for you today, 2020’s Freaky. Indeed, here is a film that has the aforementioned visceral horror and sense of humor about itself, but it also has something else. Namely it also has characters you can relate to, a surprising degree of pathos to be found, and even some delightfully potent analysis on the realm of horror cinema itself. Suffice it to say that when you combine these elements alongside a pair of lead performances that prove to be genuinely enjoyable in all the best ways, what you’re left with isn’t just a terrific new entry in the horror-comedy pantheon. Rather, you are left with something truly special that I promise people will come back to time and time again.

The plot is as follows: Freaky tells us the story of a teenager by the name of Millie Kessler who isn’t exactly the most noteworthy individual in the realm of the living. Indeed, when she isn’t having to deal with her mom who is very attached to the bottle or her cop of a sister, our heroine is someone who finds herself dealing with a teacher who is a complete and utter jerk, desperately trying to cope with an unrequited crush on a guy she’s had her eye on for awhile now yet never tried to even talk to, and also spending time with her loyal (albeit only) pals Nyla and Josh. Yet perhaps the worst thing that our young heroine has going for her is the fact that she is a high schooler residing in a town known as Blissfield which must have gotten its name through someone wanting to play a cruelly ironic joke on the rest of the community at large. This is because, for as long back as anyone can remember, this seemingly tranquil community has been menaced by the story of a vicious serial killer known as (get this) The Blissfield Butcher (gotta love the originality on display there) whose favorite target is high schoolers around that distinct time in their lives known as homecoming. Of course, whilst the Butcher has long been held to be nothing more than just a rip-roaring campfire-style story to scare the beejesus out of the town’s younger population, we see that there might be some truth here when a quartet of students are brutally murdered. Even worse than that for our heroine Millie however is the fact that, one night following the end of the homecoming football game, she finds her path crossing with that of the butcher. Now normally, in a movie like this we would see this young girl get viciously and brutally stabbed over and over and she would either die a tragic and bloody death or she would live only so the creative team could then kill her off in an even more visceral manner in the sequel. However, we soon see that’s not the case as yes, our heroine is injured in the attack, but she also survives it as well. The really creepy stuff doesn’t occur until the next morning when inexplicably Millie wakes up only to find out she is now in the body of the Butcher inside his lair. Likewise, we see that the Butcher has now woken up only to find himself in Millie’s body and in her room. To that end, we see that Millie soon learns what has caused this to occur and that if she wishes to undo the damage, she only has 24 hours to do so before she is stuck inside the killer’s body forever. However, with the body count rising due to the killer deciding to make use of this (for lack of a better word) freaky occurrence for his blood-thirsty benefit, can Millie and her friends undo what has been done or is Millie about to be stuck in an even worse situation than she was already in? That I will leave for you to discover dear reader…..

Now in terms of the contributions to this slice of cinema from behind the camera, it should be noted that this film’s scribe and helmer Christopher Landon is one who, as of late, has become regarded for his always engaging cinematic efforts. Indeed, following his time as a writer and director on the Paranormal Activity franchise and as the scribe of 2007’s vastly underrated Disturbia, we see that Landon finally set out on his own and struck cinematic gold with his highly engaging pair of films (as of this writing) in the Happy Death Day franchise. Indeed at their core, here are a pair of slices of cinema that can best be summed up as the following: “what if the movie Groundhog Day dealt with Bill Murray trying to solve his own vicious murder?”. Sure it might sound incredibly simplistic, but it is also a narrative hook that worked so well that it managed to conjure up a pair of films that were wonderfully engaging and novel out of an idea that I feel the majority of people might raise a skeptical eyebrow at. The reason I am telling you this is because this slice of cinema operates as a mash-up as well, this one being “what if Lindsay Lohan in Freaky Friday didn’t switch bodies with her mom, but instead a bloodthirsty serial killer?” and honestly this film might just be better than those two movies. I say that because not only is this film as on-point and funny as those films, but it is also (to the happiness of gore hounds out there) easily more visceral as well. Yes, based off this film’s marketing and the tone that the Happy Death Day movies operated on, I can see how you might put this movie in your DVD/Blu-Ray player and assume that you are going to see a film that is more comical than homicidal. Thankfully, we see that Landon does a wonderful job of throwing that notion off the side of the cinematic building not only right from the word go, but also in how he manages to incorporate into the film some of the more visceral and distinct scenes of bloodshed I’ve seen in a while. Indeed be it a hook or a toilet bowl, there is seemingly no limit to what can be utilized here as a weapon with particular regard to one scene with a table-saw that would most definitely get a thumbs-up from both Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees (be it their own thumbs or the thumb they ripped off a recent victim). Yet unlike the latter’s series of films, this one is able to a genuinely fun time to be had rather than one that’s fun simply because of good ol’ irony to say nothing of the fact that the teenagers in them are also, by and large, complete and utter morons. Yet what is also particularly noteworthy about this film is that it may enjoy what it is doing with both its vibe and its plot, but it does take the cast of characters and their emotions fairly seriously. Indeed, as shown to us in the film, Millie is going through quite the wringer in terms of her personal life and thankfully, the film permits this inner turmoil be shown to us in a way that is not only realistic, but also allows our main heroine to grow as a person despite being trapped inside a homicidal maniac’s body. Suffice it to say that it is a wonderfully welcome path for a slice of cinema such as this one to make the choice to traverse along, but I feel that this film’s helmer and his wonderful crew behind the camera manage to travel it in a manner that is quite brilliant.

Now in terms of the work done in front of the camera can I just say that the casting in this was really freaking awesome? Indeed, nowhere in this is more evident in the casting of the two, for all intents and purposes, leads as the performances they give definitely make this slice of cinema work leaps and bounds better than it could have. This starts with, as Butcher-Millie, Vince Vaughn and I must confess that yes I know there are movies he’s done where his comedic chops weren’t utilized all that well recently (Unfinished Business from 2015 hands down). On top of that, he hasn’t really put them to use that much recently since he has been choosing to be in more hard hitting and visceral slices of cinema and television like Hacksaw Ridge, Dragged Across Concrete, and the 3rd season of True Detective. Suffice it to say that if you can easily be forgiven for thinking that maybe Vaughn’s comedic chops had gotten a wee bit rusty. Thankfully I can say that is most definitely not the case here as Vaughn does a wonderful job of really, for lack of a better way of wording it, acting as if he has been possessed by the soul of a high school girl with a joy and enthusiasm that is surprisingly delightful. Indeed Vaughn is able to go with a skill that has to been seen to be believed into how Millie talks, in hitting on the guy she has a crush on, in showing off a routine the cheerleaders do, and even in joyfully discovering the potential positives that come with being able to do…..certain things whilst standing up (think about). Thus, and with the aid of more than capable support work from Misha Osherovich and Celeste O’Connor as Millie’s delightful pair of BFFs, Vaughn makes the absolute most in terms of comedy gold that can originate from a tall, middle-aged guy acting like a teenage female and gives us a performance that is both surprisingly realistic yet also incredibly funny as well.  Meanwhile we see that Kathryn Newton, who has easily become one of the more talented actresses of her generation since her cinematic debut in 2011’s Bad Teacher, also proves to be quite effective in her role of Millie-Butcher. Indeed, there is kind of a perverse sense of humor to be found in this character finding his deranged attempts to keep his murderous ways alive being hilariously interrupted by such things as his host body’s mom telling her (?) she needs to get going or she’s going to be late to school. On top of that, we see that as the killer starts to seriously makeover his host body into one that is a stone-cold, leather jacket rockin’, bad to the bone kinda chick, the narrative takes just as much delight in permitting Millie-Butcher to, in a variety of visceral ways, go through everyone from her main tormentor, some of the more lecherous members of the jock clique, and even her jerkish shop teacher (a surprisingly enjoyably slimy Alan Ruck!) that has given her life immeasurable grief as of late. Suffice it to say that Miss Newton does a wonderful job not only in the role of the anxiety-stricken high school girl who finds herself getting the chance to really become her own person as a result of her quite surreal experiences, but also as the ice-cold killer as well.

All in all it is always a delight for me when I discover a slice of cinema that manages to surprise me by not only being enjoyable, but also quite creative in terms of both its narrative as well as in the execution of said narrative as well. I guess you should know then dear reader that I really did dig the heck out of this movie. Sure there are some issues to be found with it including the fact that the support cast really isn’t as fleshed out as I may have wanted them to be and the ending does fall a little flat among other things, but these really are just teeny-tiny little nitpicks in the grand scheme of the framework that this film is operating with. Indeed the helmsmanship is solid, the script is brilliant, the comedy is legitimately funny (especially from Vaughn), the kills and other horror elements are wonderfully gnarly and visceral, there is a surprising yet also delightful degree of heart to be found, and the two leads are brilliantly cast and give truly top-notch performances in every sense of the word. Suffice it to say that if you ever wanted to see Vince Vaughn embrace his inner teenage girl (or you just wanted to see one of the more fun horror-comedies of the past 5 years) then definitely give this one a try. I promise you won’t regret it. Make of that what thou will dear reader. On a scale of 1-5 I give Freaky “2020” a solid 4 out of 5.