There are only so many stories to tell before you inevitably start tracing someone else’s. In the case of Blumhouse, the micro-budgeted production studio doesn’t seem to mind taking familiar tropes and shaping them into fun little horror movies. We saw them do it with Happy Death Day which took the concept from Groundhog Day and shaped it into a brilliantly entertaining slasher. And now we are getting Freaky, a new movie from Happy Death Day director Christopher Landon which is putting a horror spin based on classic body-swap comedy Freaky Friday.
The original 1972 story has been adapted several times to screen, but most recently in 2003 with Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan playing a respective mother and daughter who magically swap bodies for a day, allowing them to grow and learn to respect each other more. It’s a trope that has been done many times since, but this could be the first time we see it turned into a genuine horror story.
Well. kind of, as the first trailer for Freaky shows this new version is still filled with plenty of teen humour and not trying to take itself too seriously.
In Freaky we see Kathryn Newton play a quiet and unpopular teen Millie with Vince Vaughn playing a serial killer nicknamed The Blissfield Butcher. The pair swap bodies after Millie gets stabbed with a magical dagger, leaving her 24 hours to try and reverse the sap or she will forever be in the body of a serial killer while the true killer is out slaughtering her school friends.
It is honestly a good take on the usual trope, though I do feel in focusing too much on the comedy angle here, Blumhouse has missed out on an opportunity to show a very different side to the story. It does still look like a bucketload of fun though.
Freaky was also written by Landon, alongside Michael Kennedy and also stars Celeste O’Connor, Misha Osherovich, Uriah Shelton, Dana Drori, Katie Finneran, and Alan Ruck. It is excepted to hit theatres on Friday the 13th of November. One of the few movies willing to brave the pandemic and perhaps hoping that with big blockbusters out the way, it can make a bigger than expected take.
Last Updated: September 11, 2020
Insomnia is fun
September 11, 2020 at 17:37
Vince Vaughn FTW. Adam Sandler can learn a few things, actually everything here.
Son of Banana Jim
September 11, 2020 at 14:53
Hahahah! This actually looks a lot more fun than McG’s The Babysitter: Killer Queen.