By all rights, I should hate this movie, a semi-remake of Freaky Friday that instead subverts the source material by turning it into a slasher. But you know, it ended up hitting me the right way and I was behind it pretty much all the way.
Directed by Christopher Beau Landon - yes, the son of Michael - who wrote Disturbia - that's not even a word - and several of the Paranormal Activity movies before directing the Happy Death Day films. If you liked those, well, this will definitely give you more of what those movies offered, this is set in the same universe - Landon said that, "They definitely share the same DNA and there's a good chance Millie and Tree will bump into each other someday" - and was originally titled Freaky Friday the 13th.
Millie Kessler (Kathryn Newton, Big Little Lies) is a teenager who has been tormented by bullies, both of the teenager and teacher* varieties. Meanwhile, the urban legend of the Blissfield Butcher continues, as he keeps killing her classmates. Now that he possesses a McGuffin called La Dola - an ancient Mayan sacrificial dagger - he looks to gain even more power. But when he runs into our heroine - her mother (Katie Finneran, who is great in this) has left her behind at a football game where all she gets to do is wear a beaver mascot costume - she battles the Butcher and when he stabs her, they end up switching bodies.
So yeah - this turns into a body swap comedy and you'd think, after the gory as hell open, this is where they lose you. But no - if anything, this gets way more fun.
Millie's friends make for some of the best scenes in the film. Nyla (Celeste O'Connor) and Josh (Misha Osherovich) have been with her through the worst parts of high school, so having their best friend in the body of a killing machine is just another trial to be endured.
Speaking of that killer, Vince Vaughn shines in this. There's plenty of silly physical comedy, but also some really nice scenes like when he admits to the love interest that she left the note he treasures (body swap pronouns are a little hard) or when he has a moment with her mother while hiding in a changing room.
Landon - who wrote the movie along with Michael Kennedy - said that the film was influenced by the Scream series, along with Cherry Falls, Fright Night, Jennifer's Body, The Blob and Urban Legend. There's also a fair bit of Halloween in here, particularly the opening series of murders, and references to Heathers, Child's Play, Creepshow, Galaxy Quest, Carrie, The Faculty, The Craft and Supernatural. There's also a bottle down the throat kill that came directly from the 2009 slasher remake Sorority Row.
I had fun with this. Here's hoping you do the same.
*The funny thing is that the teacher that is the worst to her is Alan Ruck, who knows a thing about bring bullied, what with playing Cameron in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
Directed by Christopher Beau Landon - yes, the son of Michael - who wrote Disturbia - that's not even a word - and several of the Paranormal Activity movies before directing the Happy Death Day films. If you liked those, well, this will definitely give you more of what those movies offered, this is set in the same universe - Landon said that, "They definitely share the same DNA and there's a good chance Millie and Tree will bump into each other someday" - and was originally titled Freaky Friday the 13th.
Millie Kessler (Kathryn Newton, Big Little Lies) is a teenager who has been tormented by bullies, both of the teenager and teacher* varieties. Meanwhile, the urban legend of the Blissfield Butcher continues, as he keeps killing her classmates. Now that he possesses a McGuffin called La Dola - an ancient Mayan sacrificial dagger - he looks to gain even more power. But when he runs into our heroine - her mother (Katie Finneran, who is great in this) has left her behind at a football game where all she gets to do is wear a beaver mascot costume - she battles the Butcher and when he stabs her, they end up switching bodies.
So yeah - this turns into a body swap comedy and you'd think, after the gory as hell open, this is where they lose you. But no - if anything, this gets way more fun.
Millie's friends make for some of the best scenes in the film. Nyla (Celeste O'Connor) and Josh (Misha Osherovich) have been with her through the worst parts of high school, so having their best friend in the body of a killing machine is just another trial to be endured.
Speaking of that killer, Vince Vaughn shines in this. There's plenty of silly physical comedy, but also some really nice scenes like when he admits to the love interest that she left the note he treasures (body swap pronouns are a little hard) or when he has a moment with her mother while hiding in a changing room.
Landon - who wrote the movie along with Michael Kennedy - said that the film was influenced by the Scream series, along with Cherry Falls, Fright Night, Jennifer's Body, The Blob and Urban Legend. There's also a fair bit of Halloween in here, particularly the opening series of murders, and references to Heathers, Child's Play, Creepshow, Galaxy Quest, Carrie, The Faculty, The Craft and Supernatural. There's also a bottle down the throat kill that came directly from the 2009 slasher remake Sorority Row.
I had fun with this. Here's hoping you do the same.
*The funny thing is that the teacher that is the worst to her is Alan Ruck, who knows a thing about bring bullied, what with playing Cameron in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.