Freaky
Imagine if Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees had their hulking bodies switched with their petite teen victims. That's the delicious premise of this body-swap horror-comedy from the director of Happy Death Day
After the nifty melding of the slasher genre with a Groundhog Day-esque time loop in Happy Death Day, writer-director Christopher Landon has come up with another deliciously high-concept premise. What if a brute like Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees were to swap bodies with their ‘final girl’ victim, Freaky Friday-style? That’s what happens to the Blissfield Butcher (Vaughn) when he stabs goofball high-schooler Millie (Newton) with an enchanted Aztec dagger he pilfered from a previous victim – she wakes up in his hulking body while the Butcher finds his consciousness transferred to her petite frame.
As with every body-swap movie, much learning is done while walking in another’s shoes. The put-upon Millie develops newfound confidence when she now has the power to throw her classmates across the room. There’s rich, cathartic pleasure too in watching as the school’s bullies and fuckboys discover that Millie is now less of a punching bag when she’s possessed by a psycho killer.
Gorehounds should be sated by Freaky’s brutally inventive death scenes and sly nods to slasher films of old. But most of the fun emanates from Newton and Vaughn's game comic turns once roles are reversed. The 6’5”, 51-year-old Vaughn is particularly wry as he hams it up as a shrieking teen girl but it’s not all caricature: Freaky has a sentimental streak that requires some surprising moments of vulnerability from this actor not known for his tenderness. The blend of gory murders, goofy laughs and teen longing is a winning combination.
Released 25 Jun by Universal; certificate 15