Super Freaky

Although I'm always trying to find horror movies for Ms. Spenser, Freaky (2020), which is a slasher body-swap comedy, doesn't count. But I wanted to see it myself, and she was willing to try.

It starts on Weds the 11th. That right there would be a great title for a horror movie. Four rich teens are partying at a mansion when a large slasher, Vince Vaughan, in a ceremonial mask, kills them all, and makes off with a ceremonial knife.

Thurs the 12th, we meet Kathryn Newton, a quiet high-school girl. Her father died about a year ago, her mother is a needy alcoholic, and her older sister is a tough cop. She's bullied at school by the mean girls, but has two good friends, a black girl (Celeste O'Connor) and a gay guy (Misha Osherovich). She also has a crush on Uriah Shelton, who is in her woodworking class, where she is also bullied.

At the football game that night, she wears the Beavers' mascot costume (and get bullied), then waits alone for her mother - who has passed out after drinking a bottle of wine. Then the Vince Vaughan shows up, chases her around the field, and starts to stab her with the dagger. At just that moment, Newton's sister shows up and shoots Vaughan, wounding him in the same spot he wounded Newton.

That night, at midnight (Fri the 13th), a change occurs, and they wake up in each other's body. Newton, that is Vaughan playing Newton, wakes up in a scummy room in a deserted factory, filled with dissected mannequins, and other serial killer art projects. Newton, that is Newton playing Vaughan, sort of grunts his way through the morning - he gets gets a break because mom and sis figure she's a little shellshocked after being attacked. When he realizes he can go to school and kill all kinds of kids, he perks up.

So Vaughan-as-Newton has to convince her friends that she is body-swapped with the butcher. Meanwhile, Newton-as-Vaughan is going around the school killing bullies. So win-win. But the legend says that they have one day to reverse the curse, so they have until midnight.

This was directed by Christopher Landon, one of the writers and director of the Happy Death Day movies, and Scouts Guide to the Apocalypse. So I guess he sort of specializes in teen horror comedies. I think the original title for this was Freaky Friday the Thirteenth. It's pretty clever, and Vaughan acting like a teen girl is a lot of the fun. There's a spot where Newton's crush starts to make out with her (Vaughan), and the they have to stop because awkward. But also, the teens are pretty well written. Newton isn't a nerd like in Booksmart - she's the team mascot. But losing her father has made her withdraw, and some of the kids picked up on that, hence the bullying. The one black friend, one gay friend thing is played for laughs, but they don't get killed first. And Newton finds joy in being in a big, strong, imposing body. 

So if you don't mind a little gore (like a woodshop teacher being fed into a table saw), and like teen movies, you can give this a try. After all, body-swap movies are all the rage.