What if Freaky Friday went from a teen drama to a teen horror? The storyline for the 2003 movie, based on a novel, was revamped to be a blood bath. Freaky starred Vince Vaughn and Kathryn Newton in the lead roles. A serial killer is on the loose in town and a seemingly ordinary unpopular girl becomes his latest victim.
The movie was highly anticipated due to its melding of other pop culture movie, The Hot Chick. The Butcher (Vaughn) uses a magical dagger with his latest victim causing them to switch bodies. The movie had its high points of comedy and ingenuity, but it's not a perfect score.
Great: The Gory Deaths & Blood
A selling point for the movie was that it didn't shy away from the gore. From the very beginning of the movie, there was a huge amount of blood. Some displays of blood were more realistic than others. What audiences would enjoy are the methods of murder before and after the body switch.
A six-foot killer has more than enough strength to lift and propel a victim onto a spear stuck in the wall. Or in the case of one victim, shove a broken wine bottle so far down their throat it breaks through the skin. Even when the body switch occurs, there's plenty of gore like using a table saw to slice a body in half.
Fell Short: Teasing Jumpscares
While the movie is tagged as a horror/comedy, it falls short of the necessary horror. In the opening montage of murders, there's a scene that teases too many jump scares. To a point where it gets a bit annoying and would rather get to the end. Most of the fear factor of the movie happens in the beginning when audiences get to see the Butcher in his prime.
Throughout the rest of the movie, audiences are mostly just watching people die. As the scenes progress, the fear of who's going to die next isn't really there. The minute the Butcher meets the snarky woodshop teacher, it's a done deal.
Great: The Teen Profanity & Comedy
Seeing as the movie is an R-rated teen horror with comedic elements, it's no surprise that there would be profanity. The inclusion of profanity sometimes made the storyline a bit more realistic and digestible. When being chased by a mass murderer, who wouldn't less lose a few curse words?
The movie also played upon the comedy in a way that elicited a small chuckle at its absurdity. There's a scene when Millie (Kathryn Newton), in the Butcher's body, is chasing after her friends trying to convince them it's her. In the kitchen, the friends grab metal spoons and ladle trying to fend him off. The only way they realized it's her is when the six-foot killer dances the team's football cheer. A short while later, Millie is fascinated by her male anatomy and makes it move from side to side.
Fell Short: Tried Too Hard To Make It Relatable
Freaky tried to make certain plot elements relatable, but it only felt forced and cringeworthy. The woodshop teacher has it out for Millie and berates her in a way that raises some eyebrows. He chastises her for not having her project that's due a week later. When Millie becomes the Butcher, he yells at her for "flirting."
There are multiple instances in the movie where sexual references were made that were either cringe or tried to make the plot seem relatable to what teens deal with. The movie was correct in having Butcher Millie having a hard time killing due to lack of strength.
Great: Use Of Details From Other Famous Horror Movies
The movie shows some fun usage of common plot elements to other famous horror movies. When first introduced to the Butcher, he wears an ancient mask that looks similar to Jason Voorhees's mask.
When Butcher Millie tries to kill one of the main characters, she's wielding a run-of-the-mill kitchen knife. Many can assume that it's a reference to Meyers. Before this scene, Millie wears a similarly shaped mask to that of Jason to try and hide her identity. The real Butcher also doesn't speak much like Meyers. Butcher Millie even uses a hook similar to The Candyman to kill a victim.
Fell Short: The Mediocre Low Points
No movie is perfect and sometimes horror movies aren't either. Seeing as Freaky is a comedy/horror, it had to try and incorporate comical scenes with the gore and fear of murder. But the movie sometimes fell short of keeping viewers attention. It mostly occurred in between scenes before the drama of possible murder.
Does the movie need to be paid attention to 100% of the time? Not really but it's a fun watch for some teen comedy, interesting use of methods of murder, and pop culture references.
Great: The Use Of Freaky Friday and The Hot Chick
It was obvious from the trailer alone that the movie would twist the storyline of Freaky Friday into a fun horror. In the Disney movie, a mother and daughter switch bodies after reading a fortune cookie. Now stuck in each other's bodies, they learn the trials and tribulations of each other's daily lives and must reconcile their relationship.
Millie and the Butcher trade bodies, but there's another movie storyline it uses. In The Hot Chick, a popular girl at school steals a pair of magical earrings. She accidentally drops one and it's picked up by a criminal. Once each wears the earring, they wake up in each other's bodies. In Freaky, the Butcher uses a magical knife that switches their bodies when he stabs Millie.
Fell Short: Overplayed Subplot
Many teen movies use the same subplot and Freaky was no different. Millie adhered to a common horror movie main character. She is a bit of an outcast and is often bullied by the popular girl. She also has a major crush on a popular football player but doesn't have the guts to ask him out. To top it off, she's also dealing with heartbreak over losing her father.
Her father's death leads to her mom shutting down at times and resorting to a bottle of alcohol. There's also the grown-up older sister who holds resentment towards her mother and isn't so sisterly with Millie. Millie also deals with the guilt of whether or not to move away for college, fearing her mother will be alone. By the end, she becomes the heroine.
Great: Butcher Millie Is A More Effective Type Of Scary
A fun aspect of the movie is that audiences are more afraid of the Butcher as Millie than when he was in his own body. Butcher Millie has an evil look to her eye. Actor Kathryn Newton plays a much more convincing serial killer than Vince Vaughn does. It might be the attitude, the aloofness, or her facial expressions.
Seeing as Butcher Millie is stuck in a teen body, she's more relentless to kill. When trying to kill the woodshop teacher, he overpowers her but it only angers her more. There's a scary look of satisfaction when she finally gets to kill him or any victim.
Fell Short: The Very Awkward Car Scene
Slight spoiler ahead. There's a particular scene in the movie that left audiences flabbergasted and perplexed. Millie's crush knows that she's trapped in the Butcher's body. While waiting in the car, they have a heart to heart. It turns a bit unusual and some might find it comical.
Booker (Uriah Shelton) admits that he always liked Millie and he gets a little courage in him. Despite Millie being in the body of a grown six-foot man, he's still attracted and kisses the Butcher. The scene is comical but too bizarre to watch and fathom.