FRIDAY THE 13TH meets FREAKY FRIDAY in the Vince Vaughn comedic mashup FREAKY, from director Christopher Landon (HAPPY DEATH DAY). It seems an unlikely pair of “Friday” movies and, really, it is the whole genre of teen horror films rather than just the one film. The parody mines the same comedy vein as the SCREAM and SCARY MOVIE series but here mixed up with another Hollywood favorite, the switched-body comedy.
When another teen and her friends are brutally murdered, 17-year-old Millie (Kathryn Newton) and the rest of Blissville Valley High School know that the Blissville Butcher of urban legend has returned, just as Homecoming approaches.
Packed with winking horror film and sexual references, the humor is broad and sure to delight fans of high school horror. While FREAKY FRIDAY was a family film, FREAKY’s R rating allows it to go full bore on the gore as well as the dark humor. There is a certain amount of fun in watching Vince Vaughn play a teen-aged girl, including the expected man-in-a-woman’s-body and vice versa bits. The comedy packs in as many winking sex jokes as possible, including the team mascot of the high school, the Beaver.
Horror comedy is a genre topped by clever stand-outs like SHAUN OF THE DEAD and fan-fav parody series like SCREAM and SCARY MOVIE. FREAKY leans a bit more to the latter style, but the best of them look beyond just parody of the genre’s tropes, and bring something fresh to the characters and upended expectations. High school scary movies have been well-mined by previous spoof series but plenty of movies have also made use of both the body-switch and gender-switch plot devices. That means the humor in this parody has been well-explored, which means its success falls heavily on the cast to bring the laughs. Apart from the clever title, this well-tilled landscape does not leave a lot for Vince Vaughn and the rest of the cast to work with.
Once FREAKY runs through all the gender-switch jokes and tilted scary movie references, the comedy rests mostly on Vaughn’s blushing shy girl bit. Like all good gender-switch films, it does offer commentary on inequality, scenes that Vaughn handles particularly well as the teen girl who suddenly finds herself in the body of a six-foot-five middle-aged man, with all the change in power that implies. Vaughn is both funny and thought-provoking.
The reversed role works less well, though through no fault of young Kathryn Newton Part of the problem is that Kathryn Newton, as shy, bullied Millie, seems too beautiful to be convincing as a nerdy girl that boys never notice. When she trades bodies with the villain, it is less shocking because that confident, empowered part actually seems a better fit. Still Newton brings some fun and glee to her mayhem as the killer discovers the power of distraction in looking like one of his victims.
The films also has the requisite rich girl getting her punishment, a horror film staple, and the high schooler who faces off with the killer has the requisite besties as well. In this case, her pals are a sweet Black girl Nyla (Celeste O’Connor), and a somewhat snarky gay guy Joshua (Misha Osherovich), who plays the sassy friend role. The part also gives the film a safe place to explore the inherent gay undercurrents of the romantic scenes between the girl in Vaughn’s body and her crush Booker (Uriah Shelton).
The film’s score is from composer Bear McCreary (Godzilla: King of the Monsters, 10 Cloverfield Lane, Outlander, Happy Death Day).
FREAKY is most entertaining for fans of the teen horror comedy but has moderate comedic appeal even if one isn’t, largely thanks to Vince Vaughn. FREAKY opens in theaters only on Friday, Nov. 13.
RATING: 3 out of 4 stars
