FREAKY slashes its way onto Blu-ray [review]

One of the best horror releases of last year, Freaky combines the body-swapping plot of Freaky Friday with an unstoppable killer out of Friday the 13th for a bloody and hilarious mash-up that manages to deliver on both the comedy and horror fronts.

Millie Kessler (Kathryn Newton) is a shy high-school student just trying to get through the throngs of asshole jocks who seem intent on harassing her (and everyone else) on a daily basis. Living in the town of Blissfield (which is anything but), Millie soon has a run-in with a serial killer known as the Blissfield Butcher (Vince Vaughn), who recently brutally murdered four local teenagers. Attacking her after the homecoming football game, The Butcher stabs Millie with an antique knife he stole on his recent teen murdering spree before he is chased off by Millie’s older sister Charlene (Dana Drori) who happens to be a police officer.

When Millie wakes up the next day, she finds herself in a decrepit hideout and realizes she is somehow in the body of the Blissfield Butcher, while The Butcher wakes up in Millie’s body. Hunted by the police, Millie (in the body of the Butcher) has to try and convince her best friends Nyla (Celeste O’Connor) and Josh (Misha Osherovich) that she’s really Millie and not a middle-aged serial killer, while The Butcher quickly realizes the benefits of being in a teenage girl’s body as he hides out from the police and keeps upping his body count.

Directed and co-written by Happy Death Day‘s Christopher Landon (along with Michael Kennedy), Freaky maintains the fun and wild energy of the Happy Death Day franchise while considerably upping the blood and gore, resulting in what might be the most brutal horror-comedy of all time. The tone perfectly oscillates between the savage horror elements and the wacky body-swapping hijinx, with Kathryn Newton and Vince Vaughn delivering extremely solid (and very physical) performances. Watching Vince Vaughn grind out a high school dance routine might just be the most memorable horror scene of 2020.

After a limited theatrical run in the midst of the pandemic, Freaky arrives on Blu-ray with stellar audio and video and a worthwhile set of extras. We get a trio of deleted scenes, some fun making-of featurettes featuring interviews with the cast & crew, and an informative and jam-packed commentary track with Christopher Landon who covers everything from the writing process, the stunts, the actors, and how COVID affected production, along with pointing out some assorted easter eggs he slipped into the film that might’ve slipped by on the first watch.

Freaky is the rare horror-comedy that genuinely delivers on all fronts. The acting is engaging across the board, and the movie bursts forward with a contagious manic energy that quickly puts viewers under its idiosyncratic spell. The “Killer Switch Edition” Blu-ray is a solid presentation of the film, and Landon’s enthusiastic commentary track almost makes you feel like a part of the production give how much it manages to cover. While it’s a bummer there isn’t a 4K UHD version out, at least the included download code redeems in 4K, making this Blu-ray an easy recommendation for anyone looking to get FREAKY.

Freaky is available on Blu-ray/DVD now.