Written by Michael Kennedy and Christopher Landon
Directed by Christopher Landon
Starring Vince Vaughn, Kathryn Newton, Misha Osherovich, Celeste O’Connor and Uriah Shelton
Running time: 1 hour and 42 minutes
MPAA rating: R for strong bloody horror violence, sexual content, and language throughout

by Audrey Callerstrom

It had been a while since I gave blood, so I forgot how it works. I was like “OK I guess I’ll go do this and be on my merry way, go home, make dinner, exercise, etc.” Did you know that they let you hold it? The bag of blood. It’s so warm! I went home, made dinner and found myself unable to do anything else.  Your body needs to replenish the blood it has lost, so you must be a couch blob, drinking water, eating those crap mini Oreos (THE WORST OREO), waiting until you can get up without feeling faint. Once I realized that, I was like, fuck it, I’m going to spend $20 and sit here and watch Freaky. Give blood, get blood.

Freaky is a horror take on the body-switch comedy from Christopher Landon, the director of the delightful Happy Death Day movies. It undoubtedly borrows from many other horror films in its script. But if you’re inclined not to think that hard, you will sit back and enjoy gags about how Katharine Newton is trapped in Vince Vaughn’s body and she’s not used to having testicles or being really tall. Newton plays Millie (a very “high school outcast” character name), who has a drunk for a mother (A Nightmare on Elm Street) and a father who passed away exactly one year ago (like Sidney’s mother in Scream). Millie’s sister is a cop (again, Scream). And title cards use big, Friday the 13th-type font. One night (Friday the 13th)  as Millie is waiting to be picked up by her drunk mother after a football game (she is the school mascot, which is a beaver, cuz), she is tackled and stabbed by the “Blissfield Butcher” (Vince Vaughn). Only he doesn’t slaughter her like he does the teens in the film’s opening sequence, which included death by digested wine bottle. No, the Butcher stabs her with a magical dagger called La Dola, and the next morning, they’ve switched bodies.

Both Vaughn and Newton have fun with their roles. In fact, everyone seems to be having fun, and the energy is infectious. The Butcher, inside Millie’s body, wears bright lipstick and a red leather jacket, turning heads at school. Meanwhile, Millie, in the Butcher’s body, likes the power that comes with being big, but she’s also in the body of a wanted serial killer. With most body swap movies, it’s usually more fun to watch one of the two performers, and here it’s more fun to watch an insecure teen girl inhabit the Butcher’s body. Anyone over 5’ 4” will know that once you get in the backseat of a car, you have to ask people to move their seat up. Millie (as the Butcher), is now 6’ 4”, and she has to ask her friends to, please, scooch your seat up a little more? Just a little more? I’m sorry, just a little bit more? Newton is more of a silent killer type, but in spite of the Butcher’s murderous tendencies, he’s still in the body of a small girl, and unable to win a fight with a particularly awful shop teacher, an aptly cast Alan Ruck (Cameron from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off).

Freaky is largely able to coast on this formula. Landon, who co-wrote the script with Michael Kennedy, knows when to ease the tension of the violence with a joke or a gag. While on the run, Millie’s friends Josh (Misha Osherovich) and Nyla (Celeste O'Connor) throw an Aaron Rodgers Halloween mask over Millie, which renders her unable to see, stumbling and tripping everywhere. Another film that Freaky borrows from, much like the Happy Death Day movies, is Back to the Future. There’s a moment where Millie, in the Butcher’s body, flirts with her mom through the door of a dressing room. It’s a cute scene but it outstays its welcome. The film’s most memorable scene involves Millie, inside the Butcher, flirting with her crush, Booker (Uriah Shelton). It’s actually kind of… sweet? I was very warm and comfortable watching this movie that I could forgive some of its missteps, including a scene where the Butcher (in Millie’s body) encounters would-be rapists. It doesn’t fit with the tone, and feels like it would be more at home in this film. Making Millie’s sister a cop seems like an easy way to get access to the evidence room, and it doesn’t help that the actress in the role struggles with some of the lines. Freaky is everything you would expect, and that’s fine. Some days, I’m not inclined to be challenged by art. Some days it just feels good to hide under a blanket pile and watch Vince Vaughn shriek about how great it is to pee standing up.

Freaky is now available to watch on demand and in select theaters.