Shocktober 2026 - Freaky (2020)

“Don't underestimate a straight white man's propensity for violence Isaac, I don't care how fucking old they are.” – Ginny

Let’s start off with a quote, no, I don’t mean the line of dialogue up above, I mean mine of mine; “There’s nothing better than getting more than you bargained for, and this is certainly the case with Freaky, a film that almost slipped under my radar.”

That was the opening line to my review of Freaky when I first saw it on its UK theatrical release on July 6, 2021 though it had been released Stateside November 13, 2020. (Remember, UK cinemas were closed from October 8 2020 and wouldn’t re-open until May 15 2021 due to the Covid pandemic. Hence almost slipping under my radar.)

That original review is still available online on the archived copy of my then-site over at this link. That being the case, why am I writing it up again? Fair question – that was a review I wrote at the time, intended to be spoiler free – but this is a retro piece so I don’t worry about spoilers. All new material here.

As I alluded in that review, horror comedy is a tough nut to crack successfully, you’re usually seeing a comedy with some familiar horror tropes thrown in for theme, or you’re seeing a broad parody like Scary Movie. It’s rare to see a film that delivers both some scares AND laughs – and this is that rarity. Moreso, imagine a horror movie based upon the same conceit as the Disney body swap comedy Freaky Friday, where a mother and daughter swap bodies. Surely, that concept is the most unlikely to succeed as a horror comedy?

Originally to be titled Freaky Friday the 13th, the film opens with four teens – typical slasher movie victims, discussing the local legend of the Blissfield Butcher, allegedly he rises around Homecoming week and kills some horny teens, as per the holiday themed maniac-on-the-loose trope. Thing is though, the legend is real and the Butcher pays these tens a visit, slaughtering them all with ease. And by pure chance, he steals an ancient dagger from the collection of one of the teens’ father.

The Butcher (Vince Vaughn) is big and he’s powerful – to a degree he appears unstoppable, and he wears a mask that appears to be a cross of Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees’s preferred face wear. But worse – he hasn’t just stolen ANY random dagger, no, he’s grabbed the La Dola, a mystical artefact that causes the user to swap bodies with the victim.

So, the following night, when he picks his next victim, a lone high school teen named Millie (Kathryn Newton yes, we remember her from Lisa Frankenstein) – he gets a surprise. As he plunges his dagger into her shoulder, an identical wound appears on his. Scared off with a warning shot from Millie’s sister Char (Donna Drori) who’s a cop, the Butcher has no idea what’s begun.

By the following morning, when The Butcher wakes up, Millie’s in his body, likewise on the other side of town, The Butcher wakes up in Millie’s body – in her bed, with her mother fussing over her and then sharing the breakfast table with the cop who shot at him a few hours earlier.

The situation doesn’t get any better for anybody but the Butcher who attends High School that morning as Millie, but not recognising and of her friends. All he sees is a target rich environment. Meanwhile, a clearly distressed Millie is making her way to school in the body of the Butcher, who keeps getting recognised by people. He/she needs to find her friends for help.

As soon as she finds them, they panic, seeing only a large, burly serial killer – despite a high point of the film being Vince Vaughn’s portrayal of a 16 year old girl, screaming, screeching, hand flapping, over reactive, jumping up and down and being generally vacuous. (I’m sorry, but come on – they tend to be…right?) And it’s that behaviour that convinces her friends that he is who she claims to be. But coming face to face with the Butcher in Millie’s body presents another BIG problem.

Her friends discover that the dagger’s body swap spell has a condition. Millie has to stab the Butcher with the dagger before midnight or the body swap will be permanent. Meanwhile, the Butcher has no interest in returning to his former body. Millie’s body grants him the perfect disguise, while she is trapped in his with the police in hot pursuit – and in Millie’s body, the Butcher is still killing.

Consequently, the Homecoming dance that was planned at the high school is cancelled due to a curfew resulting from the killings, but the Butcher suggests they hold one anyway – at the Old Mill, which is his hideout. The Butcher is caught by Millie’s friends, but escapes to the dance where he kills three bullying jocks who intend to rape Millie, plus another who tries to assault one of her friends. (So, he’s not ALL bad.)

Millie finds the Butcher and while her friends hold him down, she stabs him with seconds to spare. As soon as the return body swap is complete, the police shoot the Butcher, saving Millie.

But, as we all know by now, these slashers aren’t easy to kill – after faking his death in an ambulance, the Butcher makes his way to Millie’s home for one last stab, as it were. However, a now more streetwise Millie is ready for him. With the aid of her mother and sister, Millie stabs him in the back and through the heart with a piece of broken furniture, finally killing him.

For what is a horror comedy, this is a surprisingly gory movie with the murders in particular being pretty gross and graphic. Also, some of the themes like the attempted rape and assault scenes aren’t exactly what you’d expect in a comedy film. But then again, seeing Vince Vaughn as a serial killer prancing around like a cheerleader aren’t what you’d expect in a horror movie. But it’s this mix, so perfectly blended together, that make the film an exceptional entry in both genres.

Next time, oh boy. The Wild West might never recover from the first part of a double bill I saw back in my early teenage years.

Until then…

Don't forget the Piercing the Veil Shocktober Special at this link.