The son of Little House on the Prairie and Highway to Heaven star Michael Landon, Christopher Landon has emerged as an irreverent voice as both a writer and director in horror films. Debuting as a director with Burning Palms (2010), Landon hit his stride writing several of the Paranormal Activity sequels (directing the fifth installment, The Marked Ones) before hitting it big with Happy Death Day (2017) and its sequel, Happy Death Day 2U (2019); for the follow up, Landon again mixed comedy and horror with the body swapping formula to create Freaky. Scream Factory has licensed the movie – which has already been released on Blu-ray by Universal (HTF’s Todd Erwin reviewed that release here) – for its UHD Blu-ray debut.
The Production: 4/5
The Blissfield Butcher is only an urban legend… or so they say in the small town of Blissfield. But one night after the Homecoming football game while waiting for a ride home, Millie Kessler (Kathryn Newton) comes face to face with the Butcher (Vince Vaughn). Instead of becoming his latest victim, Millie and the Butcher swap personalities due to a mystical dagger called La Dola; now, the Butcher continues the bloodshed as Millie – several of her tormentors at Blissfield High find out the truth the hard way – while Millie has to stay a step ahead of the police while in the Butcher’s body while getting help from friends Nyla (Celeste O’Connor) and Josh (Misha Osherovich). Time is of the essence though, as the body and personality swap will become permanent in 24 hours if they don’t retrieve the La Dola dagger and reverse the switch.
A horror spin on the body swap troupe, Freaky combines both chills and laughter for a unique take on the slasher genre. Director Christopher Landon – who co-wrote the film’s script with Michael Kennedy – creates a singular and gender bending take on the Freaky Friday formula that also sends up the slasher film at the same time. The main shortcoming here is that when it comes to both scares and laughs, it’s a bit uneven at times since not each joke or scare hit their marks. However, when they do, it’s both thrilling and hilarious due to the solid work of makeup effects artist Tony Gardner and the go-for-broke performances of the cast. With a heady mix of the supernatural, gore and humor, Freaky is a candy-coated delight that’s willing to play with the tried and true formulas of the horror genre while also clever with the new twists it offers to the genre.
Best known for playing comedic roles and infamous for playing Norman Bates in Gus Van Sant’s misguided remake of Psycho (1998), Vince Vaughn combines the best of both horror and comedy with a spot-on performance as the Butcher; it ranks as one of his best roles in years. Appearing on the Hollywood radar with Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017), Kathryn Newton has given likely the best performance of her career so far as Millie; she has recently entered the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, playing Cassie Lang. Also worthy of praise here are Celeste O’Connor and Misha Osherovich as Millie’s friends who have to go to great lengths to save her from a permanent personality change; this is Osherovich’s most recent feature film to date, while O’Connor followed up this movie with Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Rounding out the cast are Katie Finneran as Millie’s alcoholic mother, Dana Drori as Millie’s police officer sister, Uriah Shelton as Booker, Millie’s crush, Melissa Colazzo as Millie’s chief tormentor Ryler (who ends up having to “chill out” in a memorable death scene), Michelle Ladd as Josh’s mother and Alan Ruck in a gleefully nasty turn as the unsympathetic woodshop teacher Mr. Bernardi, who ends up with more than just a splitting headache.
Video: 5/5
3D Rating: NA
The movie is presented in its original 2:39:1 aspect ratio for this release; the movie is presented in HDR 10 on the UHD Blu-ray disc while the Blu-ray disc accompanying this release presents the movie in SDR. Color palette and fine details are faithfully represented with no cases of scratches, dirt or tears present. This release builds upon Universal’s already technically solid Blu-ray release and is likely the best the movie will ever look on home video.
Audio: 5/5
There are two audio options on both UHD Blu-ray and Blu-ray discs: a 5.1 and a 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio track. Both tracks exhibit strength and clarity in terms of sound mix, dialogue and Bear McCreary’s music score with next to no cases of distortion, crackling, popping or hissing present. This release is likely the best the movie will ever sound on home video.
Special Features: 3/5
On both UHD Blu-ray and Blu-ray discs
Commentary by director/co-writer Christopher Landon –Â Originally recorded for Universal’s Blu-ray release, Landon reveals the easter eggs and details of the making of the movie, as well as commending his cast and crew for braving the sub-freezing temperatures in Georgia during filming.
Blu-ray Disc Only
Crafting the Kills (3:37) –Â A look at some of the gruesome special makeup effects in the movie created by Tony Gardner; featuring behind-the-scenes footage of the shooting of Mr. Bernardi’s death scene.
Split Personalities: Millie vs. The Butcher (2:26) –Â This brief featurette looks at both Kathryn Newton and Vince Vaughn approaching how they played each other’s character during the personality swap.
Final Girl Reframed (2:50) –Â This brief featurette looks at how the slasher movie’s tried and true troupe of the “final girl” is turned on its head in this movie.
Christopher Landon’s Brand of Horror (2:37) –Â The writer/director talks about how he approaches the horror genre in this brief featurette.
Deleted Scenes – The Butcher Lends a Hand (1:43), Char Hears a Rumor (0:37) & Late for the Party (3:10)
Theatrical Trailers (2) (4:14)
Bonus Trailers –Â Happy Death Day (2:34) & Happy Death Day 2U (2:22)
Overall: 4/5
Successful with critics and audiences, Freaky put a comedic spin on the slasher genre while featuring exceptional performances from its two leads. Scream Factory has now delivered the best home video release of the movie to date, with a great HDR transfer while carrying over the special features from Universal’s Blu-ray release. Highly recommended.
Freaky – 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray [4K UHD]
$29.49 $26.95
Mychal has been on the Home Theater Forum’s reviewing staff since 2018, with reviews numbering close to 300. During this time, he has also been working as an assistant manager at The Cotton Patch – his family’s fabric and quilting supplies business in Keizer, Oregon. When not working at reviewing movies or working at the family business, he enjoys exploring the Oregon Coast, playing video games and watching baseball in addition to his expansive collection of movies on DVD, Blu-ray and UHD, totalling over 3,000 movies.
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