THE OLD SWITCHEROO
Freaky has some murderous fun with its twist on the body-swap trope
The body-swap movie, like its cousin the time-loop story, is a sub-genre that is always ripe for reinvention. The basic premise is so simple — two people exchange bodies (or, if you like, minds) — that it can be paired with any number of flourishes.
The switchers can be related, as in the original mother-daughter Freaky Friday and its various remakes, but they don't have to be the same sex — see Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin in All of Me — or even the same species — see Disney's Dogmatic from 1999. Similarly, the method of transference can vary from wishes to science experiments to my favourite, simultaneous peeing in the same magic fountain in 2011's The Change-Up.
So, near-infinite variations. Likewise Vince Vaughn. Though he's still best known for goofball comedies such as Wedding Crashers and Couples Retreat, he has of late been showing up in more serious fare such as Hacksaw Ridge and Brawl in
Cell Block 99. And don't forget that as far back as 1998 he played Norman Bates in Gus Van Sant's Psycho remake. If he ever had a comfort zone, he moved out of it long ago.
In Freaky, Vaughn plays a serial killer known as the Blissfield Butcher. But he also stars as high school student Millie Kessler. Kathryn Newton similarly juggles both those roles, depending on whose mind is in whose body at a given moment. It sounds more confusing than it is.
Director and co-writer Christopher Landon doesn't really reinvent the serial-killer genre. In fact, the opening scene of Freaky amounts to a standard slasher movie in miniature, complete with an urban legend, a masked murderer, horny teens, sex, death and jump scares, all in a little under 10 minutes.
But the next night, Millie gets attacked. She survives, but she and the would-be killer end up with identical wounds from a magical knife. And that means that the following morning — Thursday the 12th, wouldn't you know? — she awakes to find herself in the body of the serial killer. He likewise swaps places with her. Now Millie has to convince her friends she's not a threat, while the Butcher uses his now innocent-looking form to wreak more havoc.
The film mixes lighthearted comedy with some rather gruesome effects, as Millie must stop her body from doing terrible things. There are, to be clear,
several annoying leaps in logic. (Why would Millie be able to convince several school friends relatively easily that she's not the Blissfield Butcher, but not even try to talk to her sister?) But the film also features some sweet revelations, like you know a straight guy really likes you when he's willing to kiss you, and your kisser looks like Vince Vaughn's.
In the end, Freaky is a middling success, neither top nor bottom in its class. But by an odd coincidence its director also made the 2017 horror/time-loop film Happy Death Day and its sequel. And he's dabbled in the zombie sub-genre with his comedy-horror Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse. I eagerly await his next work, which I'm sure will be a steampunk/alien invasion/ comedy/horror crossover.