THE VIEWING GUIDE
Freaky
IF YOU WANT your horror with a high-concept twist, Christopher Landon is your man. Following hot on the heels of his slasher-movie-caught-in-atime-loop movies Happy Death Day and Happy Death Day 2U, Freaky tells the story of a student (Kathryn Newton) who suddenly finds herself swapping bodies with a masked maniac (Vince Vaughn). And yes, it started life as ‘Freaky Friday The 13th’. Inventive, subversive, gory, and often very funny, it confirms Landon as a major talent.
Here, he runs Empire through its major moments.
KILLING CARD
The opening sequence sets the tone for Freaky right from the off, as Vaughn’s Blissfield Butcher stalks and kills a bunch of teens in incredibly innovative ways (example: ripping a tennis racquet apart and ramming both ends into a skull). Splatter abounds, and while there are jump scares aplenty, it’s clear that it’s being played for laughs. “Michael
[Kennedy, the film’s co-writer] and I very much wanted the opening to essentially act as a parody of slasher openings,” says Landon. “The kills are violent, but they’re also ridiculous. I have a weird knack for coming up with ridiculous kills.”