Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s Freaky Tales is an edgy, kinetic love letter to a whole smorgasbord of things. Musically, we have awesome cameos and classic songs by Bay Area legends like Metallica and Too $hort. Cinematically, we get a blast of punk energy spliced with Tarantino-esque storytelling. The ’80s setting visually echoes a lot of the gritty cult classics of the era. B-movie action vehicles such as Repo Men, The Warriors or the Death Wish sequels come to mind. Lastly, we get one of my favorite cameos of all-time from an epic A-list actor. It’s the type of epic moment that needs to be seen and enjoyed by all fans of cinema. Led by the filmmaking duo of Boden and Fleck, Freaky Tales is a chaotically wicked fairy tale that favors cult vibes, extravagant flair and frenzied fun over anything else.
Punk Fiction
Set in the year 1987 in Oakland, California, the audience is presented four loosely connected stories revolving around an array of colorful characters. Back when punk rock music and style was all the rage, the San Francisco Bay Area had its share of iconic bands and music venues. Some of these are seen and displayed beautifully in Freaky Tales. The opening tale kicks things off with a rag tag group of punk rock kids uniting to stand up to a gang of Nazi skinheads whom have been terrorizing the community.
The vicious chaos that ensues would make director Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim vs The World) smile with glee—a highly stylized battle infused with notebook doodles and visual sound effects that is such a blast to witness. It’s even better because it involves the smashing of Nazis. This section sets a refreshing in-your-face tone for the rest of the movie.
Dirty Harry meets The Last Dragon
The second tale sees a couple of female rappers (Dominique Thorne & Normani) engage in a rap battle with local hip-hop icon Too $hort (DeMario “Symba” Driver). Thorne is especially hilarious and delightful to watch. I also love the idea of two women standing up for themselves in a music genre that can be disturbingly misogynistic. However, this second story takes the largest detour of the four narratives and doesn’t tie together quite as nicely.
The final pair of stories are when Freaky Tales really starts to cook. We are introduced to a menacing muscle man named Clint, portrayed devilishly well by superstar Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian, The Last of Us, The Fantastic Four: First Steps). The actor’s natural charisma makes it seem effortless; a little bit Clint Eastwood (HA!), a little bit Charles Bronson, Pascal is pitch-perfect as a no-nonsense badass who is hellbent on vengeance.
Then, there’s Jay Ellis’s portrayal of real life NBA All-Star Eric “Sleepy” Floyd in my absolute favorite tale of the movie. Ellis is both smooth like Shaft and ice cold like Bruce Lee. He runs into his own gaggle of Nazis, led by Ben Mendelsohn as “The Guy.” Mendelsohn’s performance is one-note but he is naturally pretty great at being a sarcastic villain. In a grand, blood-soaked finale (the likes of we haven’t seen since the Kill Bill films), more out-of-control Nazi carnage goes down. This film being bookended by two different fantastic Nazi killing sequences is one big reason why I left the theater with a huge smile on my face.
Bay Area Love
Pairing Freaky Tales with Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s Grindhouse would make an epically twisted triple feature. The B-movie sensibilities, the VHS/grimy film aesthetic along with the over the top ultra violence make for a hell of a ride. Accompanying those characteristics is a very obvious reverence and respect for the city of Oakland and the culture of the surrounding East Bay.
I grew up in Hayward, California, which is about 16 miles south of Oakland, and have lived in the San Francisco Bay Area all of my life. I immediately noticed the Loard’s ice cream shop, the 1/4 Giant Burgers spot, or the Dick’s restaurant we see in the film. That is not to mention I damn near jumped out of my seat when a local Bay Area band (Gulch) showed up to play at the legendary Berkeley music venue 924 Gilman. This is a venue that has seen the early days of Grammy Award-winning pop punk icons, Green Day.
We get Bay Area sports hero Marshawn Lynch (Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy’s Westworld Season 3, Bottoms) driving an AC Transit bus. Although this much area-centric detail may alienate some, I really hope people not from around here can, at the very least, find some form of appreciation for Oakland. It’s a city and community that is so refreshingly unique and very much its own character.
Huge Trouble in The Big Ol’ Town
The amount of films that take place in New York or San Francisco is staggering. To not only see more of San Francisco’s sister city across the Bay in more depth but to also see it come to life in such a grandiose way is immensely pleasing. Much like the underdog narrative permeating throughout the movie, Oakland itself is very much an underdog of its own. It’s an area that doesn’t immediately slip off the tongue when referring to California. Maybe if the “grindhouse” action or punk rock attitude isn’t enough to sway viewers, perhaps likening to a fellow underdog will.
Admittedly, there is nothing terribly groundbreaking about men seeking revenge for their families, youth defying bullies, or women standing up for themselves. Normally, style over substance is generally frowned upon. Yet, when told with such infectious swagger and defiant will, Freaky Tales proves to be the exception to the rule.
4.5/5 Stars
For more film news and reviews, follow The Cinema Spot on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Bluesky! Also, follow us on Letterboxd for further feature film, short film, and limited series reviews!
