“Freaky” Review: A Solid Horror-Comedy that Boasts Excellent Performances

Freaky is written and directed by Christopher Landon and stars Kathryn Newton as Millie Kessler, a young girl who swaps bodies with The Blissfield Butcher (played by Vince Vaughn) after being stabbed by a mystical dagger. After waking up in his body, Millie then discovers that she only has 24 hours to swap back before the change becomes permanent.

Perhaps the greatest thing on display in this film has to be the performances. Vince Vaughn pretending to be a teenage girl is one of the funniest things I've seen in a film all year long. So much so that I would suggest venturing out to a theater solely for his performance. Kathryn Newton also does a pretty good job playing a serial killer in a teenage girl's body, even though she wasn’t really given that much to do.

Another great thing about this film is the perfectly balanced blend between horror and comedy. Similar to his work on Happy Death Day and its sequel, Christopher Landon continues to deliver many bloody gory kills, as well as lots of laughs, which makes me eager to see what Landon could do next. This film also strongly benefits from its concept, which is executed very well here. As I've already mentioned, Christopher Landon was able to perfectly blend horror and comedy, which really pushes this film over the top.

While there is a ton of things to praise about this film, I did have a few problems with this film. My first and most prominent problem is the screenplay. While there are admittedly a ton of laughs in this movie, I feel that the characters simply weren’t developed enough, so I wasn’t really able to empathize with them as much as I wanted to. I also felt that the supporting cast here was completely wasted. Misha Osherovich as one of Millie's best friends, as well as Dana Drori as Millie's sister, were among some of the best in the entire film, so it made me somewhat disappointed that they did not recieve more screentime. My other more prominent issue with this film is the runtime of this film. In my opinion, the entire last 7 minutes of this film could’ve been removed from the film, as it felt more like trying to overstretch the film that to add more storytelling. I won't go into any spoilers here, but I felt that the film should've cut to black at the second to last scene, and it would’ve set up a sequel.

While this isn't technically an issue with this film, I do believe that this film did not need to be Rated R. Similar to Happy Death Day, if they had just removed some of the F-bombs and taken out some of the gore, then this film could’ve been targeted for a much larger demographic, instead of only adults.

In the end, I did have a really great time with this film. The performances are great, and the concept is very well executed. However I felt that the supporting cast was wasted, the screenplay didn't develop the characters enough, and the film ran a touch too long. However all the laughs you get make that much easier to forgive.

Final Grade: B

Thank you all for reading this review. If you liked this review, make sure to like, share, and subscribe to my website and facebook page for many more coming very soon! Also if your interested in owning this movie, I'll leave my my amazon affiliate link to pre-order the blu-ray in the comment section!