Just like a stopped clock tells the right time twice a day, every year has at least one Friday the 13th. Sometimes there’s even 3! This year, we only get two but you better believe a company like Blumhouse wants to take full advantage of it. We’re not ones to argue when they’re using a slot like this. Specially not when they’re putting out the latest film from the Happy Death Day series director, Christopher Landon. So feast your eyes upon the first trailer for the body-swap slasher, Freaky.
Here’s the official synopsis, which is almost as long as the trailer:
“Seventeen-year-old Millie Kessler (Kathryn Newton, Blockers, HBO’s Big Little Lies) is just trying to survive the bloodthirsty halls of Blissfield High and the cruelty of the popular crowd. But when she becomes the newest target of The Butcher (Vince Vaughn), her town’s infamous serial killer, her senior year becomes the least of her worries.
When The Butcher’s mystical ancient dagger causes him and Millie to wake up in each other’s bodies, Millie learns that she has just 24 hours to get her body back before the switch becomes permanent and she’s trapped in the form of a middle-aged maniac forever. The only problem is she now looks like a towering psychopath who’s the target of a city-wide manhunt while The Butcher looks like her and has brought his appetite for carnage to Homecoming.
With some help from her friends—ultra-woke Nyla (Celeste O’Connor, Ghostbusters: Afterlife), ultra-fabulous Joshua (Misha Osherovich, The Goldfinch) and her crush Booker (Uriah Shelton, Enter the Warriors Gate)—Millie races against the clock to reverse the curse while The Butcher discovers that having a female teen body is the perfect cover for a little Homecoming killing spree.”
Say what you will, but Freaky looks like an absolute blast. Vince Vaughn is clearly having a good time and that’s almost good enough on its own. Kathryn Newton looks primed to head her own horror series. The humor flies fast and appears to be all over the place. If you liked Happy Death Day or Happy Death Day 2U, then this would appear to be right right right in the same tone. Not something to complain about at all. Horror comedies are notoriously difficult to pull off, but if the trailer is any indication, Landon’s done it yet again.
Of course, as alluded to above, there’s the “Friday the 13th” of it all. In this case, November the 13th. What’s nice about that is seeing a horror film come out right as the heart of “prestige season” is getting underway. In fact, Freaky gets have that weekend to itself. Before the likes of Disney and James Bond invade the space. Maybe it’ll have a chance to carve up the competition. Not likely, but one can dream.
