Review of Freaky (2020) by Moviemitch96 — 15 Nov 2020

The body-swapping subgenre gets a fresh horror-comedy twist in this film! A young high school girl, Millie (Kathryn Newton) finds herself at the hands of a notorious serial killer (Vince Vaughn), but in an unexpected twist of fate, due to him using an ancient cursed knife to stab her, they find themselves in each other's bodies.

Millie, now in the killer's body, must track down and retrieve her own body back with the help of her friends before more innocent lives are taken, and before the swap becomes permanent. Brought to us by the same director and studio that put a horror twist on the time-loop subgenre with the 'Happy Death Day' films, this film takes the premise made most famous by 'Freaky Friday' (hence this film's title), and gives it a fun and campy slasher spin.

There's plenty to enjoy here too, espe the performances from both Vaughn and Newton, who both do a great job at playing themselves, but also each other, as they capture the essence of each other quite well when in each other's bodies, making for some really funny and crazy moments.

The story felt surprisingly fresh despite being somewhat recycled, and the only minor issue is the slight over-reliance of past horror film homages and cliches thrown around just for the sake of winks and nods without being employed in a clever way usually.

The ending also felt a little abrupt and ridiculous, but the ride along the way was well worth it and plenty of fun. Overall, it's got plenty of fun to offer, and even a surprising amount of heart to it too, and Vaughn and Newton are both hilarious, making it easier for me to enjoy and revel in this film's campiness while also being able to mostly overlook the occasional forced horror homage/reference thrown in.