Film Review

Freaky (2020)

After swapping bodies with a deranged serial killer, a young girl in high school discovers she has less than 24 hours before the change becomes permanent.

Christopher Landon’s directorial breakthrough was Happy Death Day (2017), the horror-comedy that combined a slasher movie with the time-loop hijinks of Groundhog Day (1993). A less successful but equally creative sequel followed in 2019. And now he’s back with another high-concept twist on the slasher genre, which is best described as Freaky Friday the 13th.

Freaky concerns Jason Voorhees-style serial killer ‘The Blissfield Butcher’ (Vince Vaughn), who has become a legendary boogieman amongst teenagers. He resumes his killings in middle-age and takes an ornate Mayan dagger from the home of his latest wealthy victims, triggering a local panic that the notorious Butcher has returned. The next day, bullied high school student Millie Kessler (Kathryn Newton) becomes the masked psycho’s next intended victim, only narrowly escaping the attempt on her life after he stabs her with the stolen blade-after which they magically swap bodies…