FREAKY: BODY SWAP, SERIAL KILLER AND A GOOD LAUGH
For someone who has a fried attention span this movie did keep me hooked. Hello peeps, it's Abeegail again, and welcome to my daily dose of horror/psychological thriller. There I was just scrolling on my movie box looking for a movie to watch while I eat breakfast (creamy oats and bread, mmmhhh very delicious😋🤤) because yes, I can't eat without one form of media. So, I stumbled upon freaky, and the initial premise caught my attention. So, I'll introduce you to it today.
Freaky is a 2020 horror-comedy directed by Christopher Landon, starring Kathryn Newton as Millie Kessler, a high school student who already has her plate full, and Vince Vaughn as the infamous Blissfield Butcher, a serial killer who just makes everything worse.
The story begins with Millie trying to survive high school, which is exceptionally worse as she is social awkward and doesn't fit in quite well. This further makes things worse as she is bullied for being the odd one out because teenagers will question what they don't understand. She's also dealing with grief if losing her father and her mother doesn't help too, leaving her to carry thig that a teenager shouldn't. As if all that isn't enough, she crosses path with the Butcher, and after a stab from a mysterious ancient dagger, she swaps body with the Butcher the next morning.
Yes. A teenage girl is now inhabiting the body of a terrifying serial killer, while an actual serial killer is walking around in the body of a teenage girl.
This swap was no mistake because the butcher realize that no one would suspect an awkward teenage girl, while he goes on his killing spree and Millie has less than 24 hours to reverse the switch before all this becomes permanent.
The premise sounds ridiculous, but stay with me.
Now remember I said it was a comedic horror, which is kinda ironic but this movie makes it work. What made it horrifying and also comedic was how people were killed, the movie doesn't shy away from blood, so if you can't stomach that, just don't watch it. But at the same time this death are so elaborate that you just sit down and wonder what was going on in the heads of the writers, that you just have to laugh at the creativity. It was equally terrifying as it was funny, it's the balance for me, there's a middle ground, not one trying to over shadow the other.
There's no way I would talk about this movie with out the stellar performance from both Vince Vaughn and Kathryn Newton. They delivered, ate and left no crumbs. The movie ability to do well rested heavily on how well they acted and boy, did they deliver.
Kathryn Newton starts, with playing Millie as an awkward, insecure girl who seems to have accepted the position that she can never be anything more, but after the body swap, has to act the polar opposite, of being a serial killer, who has things that are desperately wrong with him, she had to portray the expressions, looks and unsettling behaviour of a serial killer while sit being a petite, innocent looking girl.
Then there's Vince Vaughn, who I found genuinely entertaining as he had to play Millie, as she is trapped inside the Butcher's body. There's something just funny about a large grown man acting like an awkward teenage girl, he has to play out her fears, mannerisms and awkwardness through the body of a man who looks like he could knock someone out with a punch.
The real horror is not even in the bloodshed and gore killings. It's in the fact that people will come to conclusions based on what they see, the assumptions they make, because who is going believe that a 60 pound huge man is a sweet heart at first sight, he'll be treated as a threat until people can be sure their safe and a petite innocent girl will be underestimated until she does something freaky right in front of you. But Sometimes these assumptions influence how much authority we people, how much danger we think they pose, and whether we believe what they tell us or not.
Now something my extremely witty self realised under this comedic gore, was how much of ourselves do we see through the lens/perspective of others. Before the swap Mille was some that was easy to pick on, because she looked less intimidating, so people just think that she will take the crap they dish, and Millie how has been billed a long time just goes along with it. Then she finds her self in a body that is powerful, intimidating and one that command fear, she now knows what it feels to occupy a body that people instinctively take seriously. Her physical presence changes the way people respond to her. There's something freeing about the fact that people who hadn't taken her seriously has a reason to be afraid now.
There's something about being treated like you're insignificant and how that can slowly affect the way you see yourself, especially when you're surrounded by people who seem to agree that you're not worth taking seriously. Millie discovers just how differently people behave when they believe the person in front of them has power.
And although the move touches themes like, grief, family difficulties, friendship, bullying, and confidence, it doesn't really dwell on it, it just wasn't fully explored and that is not all bad because sometimes it not something that needs to be explored in-depth. This movie only seeks to entertained, to keep you invested and it does that without you feeling like it is forced, if you are looking for a horror movie that is well thought out and follows logic this might not be for you, this movie is absurd, right from the premise, to the actors, and the entire plot.
I'll give this movie an 8/10. It not only comedic, it's ridiculous and surprisingly thoughtful when you think about it.
Anyways, stay safe because looks can be deceiving and try not to get stab by a serial killer with a shady dagger
It's Still Abeegail💗✨
Your horror movie fanatic
The first image is source and the rest are screenshots of the movie
Thank you for Reading😊✨