Blumhouse’s latest horror-comedy, Freaky, from director Christopher Landon, is a new take on the body swap genre. As if high school wasn’t hard enough for the not-so-popular senior, Millie (Kathryn Newton), who has enough on her plate dodging mean girls, unreasonable teachers, and her impending homecoming dance, she now has to juggle a serial killer too. Just when you think Millie will surely be another one to die at the hands of the infamous Blissfield Butcher (Vince Vaughn), a twist of fate causes the two to swap bodies with one another instead. 

As expected, Freaky plays heavily into a lot of teen film cliches, which are at times eye-roll inducing: the cheesy dialogue, the recycled subplots, and the unbelievable trope of the beautiful but somehow wildly unpopular girl suddenly getting all the attention after a simple change of wardrobe. But with Newton as the intimidating Murder Barbie and the Hashtag Stress-cited Vaughn competently at the forefront of this film, both bringing an impressive physicality to their roles, and great performances from the likes of Celeste O’Connor and Misha Osherovich delivering some truly hilarious moments, Freaky manages to feel exciting to watch even if it’s not necessarily offering anything new to the horror genre.

Despite the usual teen film tropes, what makes this slasher stand out amongst its horror counterparts is the endearing relationships amongst the main characters, which end up carrying the entire film, allowing you to really root for their survival.

Freaky is entertaining as hell and deliciously filled to the brim with stunts that provide the requisite amount of blood and guts, with the violence continuing to amp up until it reaches its climax. It all, of course, ends in a way that is hugely predictable, but is still satisfying to witness nonetheless.

RATING: 3/5

INFORMATION

CAST: Vince Vaughn, Kathryn Newton, Celeste O’Connor

DIRECTOR: Christopher Landon

WRITERS: Michael Kennedy, Christopher Landon

SYNOPSIS: High school senior, Millie, switches bodies with a deranged serial killer, then discovers she has less than 24 hours before the change becomes permanent.