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Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
While we haven’t had a Friday the 13th film in over a decade, Universal Pictures has delivered us with something great of its nature. If you haven’t seen Freaky, you may be familiar with Christopher Landon’s direction in the Happy Death Day films as well as his remarkable writing in Disturbia and the Paranormal Activity films of the early-2010s. Indeed, the filmmaker knows what he is doing, and by having Blumhouse produce this film, fans of the horror genre should know that he has taken the right path.
Freaky follows a teenage girl named Millie Kessler (Kathryn Newton) as she is living with her single mother Paula (Katie Finneran) and policewoman older sister Charlene (Dana Drori) as they cope with their loss of a loved one. At school, Kessler is the typical high schooler, filled with anxiety as she is constantly bullied and harassed by numerous peers and a teacher, but she does have a couple of friends: Nyla (Celeste O’Connor) and Josh (Misha Osherovich). The stresses of the girl’s life seem to drop into a spiral when she is attacked by a serial killer on the loose named the Blissfield Butcher (Vince Vaughn). By utilizing the respective elements of Friday the 13th and Freaky Friday, the resulting end-product is a fun 102-minute horror film about playing in the tropes of both a slasher flick and a coming-of-age film.
During BlumFest in late-October of this year, Landon and the main cast members of the film promised to bring a grounded depth to the characters. After finally watching this movie, it definitely does not disappoint! We are introduced to Kessler as a young woman troubled by the milieu of her home and school, confiding in (and growing with) a diverse group of trustworthy companions: Nyla being a Black girl; Josh is a member of the LGBTQ+ community; love interest Booker Strode (Uriah Shelton) a high school jock with a heart. Landon’s writing in this film purposefully posits these individuals into their character roles, never forcing them to cry out into the world about who they are. These characters simply blend into the story as the most humane and wisest of human beings, and when watching this film, it’s almost as if we are on this journey with these friends. They are free, allowing themselves to break out of any given stereotypes.
Meanwhile, we also have Vaughn as the semi-silent serial killer who seldom gives a care what happens to his victims. Of course, however, his and Newton’s characters switch bodies, and it is soon Vaughn who then plays the girl and Newton who plays the killer. The actors settle immediately into each other’s character roles and it’s a beautiful sight to see. Newton, most especially, plays the teenager and the psychopath perfectly. She was made for this movie.
(Unrecognizable, Alan Ruck of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off fame makes an appearance in this movie as one of Kessler’s bullies, and I believe the actor’s inclusion in Freaky is a good reference to how this film’s characters also try to ditch school in the same intense and comedic manner as Bueller and his friends do.)
Aside from how the characters are developed in Landon’s writing, we also need to look at the smaller aspects that manifest from the screenplay pages.
- Landon pens in the symbolism of masks, which plays a crucial part in the slasher genre. Freaky‘s killer uses a mask at first, but we also see the teenager wearing her own types of masks — physically and psychologically. Her physical ones can be rather hilarious, while the mental ones hold and conceal the emotion of her character.
- Secondly, we are given smart dialogue out of the characters’ mouths. The genius move made: when the male killer and the teenage girl switch places, Landon points out the use of pronouns and to never mislabel the identities of the two protagonists.
- Thirdly, the music and the cinematography. You’ll have to see for yourself and judge how incredibly they appear.
- Finally, we have the kills. Oh, the kills! It’s no surprise how creative Landon can be as a screenwriter. Without revealing much, the Butcher is brutal with his bare hands from the get-go. The introductory scene of the film is enough to lure in any horror fan.
This movie examines Freaky Friday and the Friday the 13th franchise and makes major enhancements. A fortune cookie was the plot device used in the Lohan-Curtis film, but in Freaky, a different object is used to play into the horror. (Additionally, would it be surprising if the jock character shares the same surname as Curtis’s character in the Halloween movies?) With the exclusion of the first installment, the movies that Jason Voorhees appears in lack a concrete story. Freaky fills in all the holes with characters who have meaning (or long for one) and a story that guides them to it.
Overall, Freaky is a must-see slasher film to see, looking at the historicity of 21st-century society, notably in terms of digital technology, political correctness, the inclusion of diversity, and more. The secondary characters tend to point fingers at who’s who and never once question the concept of identity until the truth is revealed. Landon plays this well through scares, comedy, and drama. This is a reminder to gain from in 2020: Never assume things about people just from the surface of their being. As Strode says in one scene, “Strength doesn’t come from size.” It comes from the heart and mind.
Here’s to hoping Freaky will in fact be a part of the Happy Death Day universe! When the day comes, will you be ready?
Have you seen Landon’s film yet? If so, voice your comments and tag us! For more, Blumhouse, and horror-related news and reviews follow The Cinema Spot on Twitter (@TheCinemaSpot) and Instagram (@thecinemaspot_).
Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
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