![]() ![]() From start to finish, the audience is clearly in very capable hands from nearly every aspect of production - the acting, lighting, cinematography, music, and script are all well-executed. In fact, perhaps Freaky's greatest strength is its pitch-perfect timing for how it interchangeably swaps mood. While the body swap concept, where a serial killer trades places with a teenage girl, may seem a little outside of the box and too strange in combination with slasher sensibilities, Freaky hits comedy beats and shocking gore at the perfect moments. Though it seemingly juggles a lot of aspects from the familiar story, a classic slasher movie backbone, and heartwarming elements of a coming-of-age tale, Freaky manages to make audiences laugh, gasp, and maybe even cry a little. Boasting a standout cast that includes lead actors Vince Vaughn and Kathryn Newton as a serial killer and his teenage girl target, respectively, Freaky combined the "Freaky Friday" story with the Friday the 13th franchise and blends it with Landon's signature humor and a hefty dose of heart. Released in theaters in November 2020, Freaky is a joint effort from director Christopher Landon of the Happy Death Day franchise and Blumhouse Productions. ![]() Though not as gritty as a Grindhouse movie, nor tawdry enough to be an exploitation flick, VFW takes notes from both to create something unique and downright entertaining, offering a strange reprieve to the world's woes in a difficult time for many who needed the escape. Lang, in particular, is worth the price of admission, with his rough around the edges demeanor honed like a razor's edge. Reminiscent in some ways of Jeremy Saulnier's Green Room, the concept of a group of veterans taking on youngsters who are hopped up on the newest street drug may not sound horrific, but simplicity is key to VFW's success, and the underlying messages are what propels it past violence for the sake of it, though there's plenty of that to satisfy any gorehound. ![]() Starring Stephen Lang of Don't Breathefame, Lang shows the same intensity and ferocity in his VFW role, Fred Parras, the owner of a bar known to host a group of friends-all military veterans-as an outpost for their chapter of the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars). While 2020 has been rife with generational woes, VFW technically released in film festivals in 2019, and was originally meant to release in 2019 as well, but enjoyed a wide release in February 2020. Millennials, these grizzled veterans refuse to go down for a fight, and will do anything to stand their ground. If ever there was a horror movie for 2020, it would be Joe Begos' VFW. Strong performances by the two leads far overshadow the occasionally hilarious CGI, which is a weak spot, but the narrative delivers an emotional gut-punch that makes any small blemish easily overlooked. While the compounding lunacy of Day and Koi's unfortunate situation feels like things really couldn't get worse at times (and yet somehow does), the movie is a breathtaking thrill ride that shows aspects of Asian horror movies many American audiences aren't familiar with. The Pool brilliantly delivers strong messaging about the human will to survive against all odds. Day must then spring into action to protect himself, Koi, and their unborn child from the crocodile, who is guarding her own young. After that, a crocodile from a nearby farm just so happens to fall in, threatening his life and later the life of his girlfriend, Koi (Ratnamon Ratchiratham). After Day (Theeradej Wongpuapan) falls asleep on a pool raft without realizing that his co-workers-with whom he was working on an underwater photoshoot-were draining the water out, he becomes trapped. ![]() This movie adopts a rather simple-but utterly terrifying-premise where bad luck turns deadly. While director Ping Lumpraploeng's The Pooltechnically released in 2018 and had a run during select film festivals in late 2019, American audiences widely gained access to the Thai horror movie via Shudder's streaming platform for the first time in 2020. ![]()
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