Frankie Freako

Ever since Steven Kostanski released The Void, which I absolutely adored, he has definitely been on my radar. Since then, I have watched other movies of his like Manborg, Leprechaun: Returns, and Psycho Goreman, all of which were unique and great in their own way. It's no different with Frankie Freako. It's absurd, funny, and totally bonkers. The movie tells the story of Conor, a workaholic who finds himself alone at home when his wife is away for the weekend. He stumbles upon an ad for a party hotline hosted by a strange dancing goblin named Frankie Freako, and soon after, the carnage begins.

The movie is strange, and it honestly took me a while to get into the right mindset to understand its humor and general premise. I wasn't fully convinced at first, but as the movie progresses, it becomes more absurd and fun. Once you settle into the story and its crazy characters, the movie becomes quite entertaining and enjoyable to watch. Similar to movies like Manborg or Psycho Goreman, the comedy doesn't always hit the mark. It's obviously absurd and childish, with some smart jokes mixed in, but I understand it's not for everyone, and at times, it didn't quite connect with me either. However, I still prefer these absurd and fun movies over another stereotypical haunted house movie from Blumhouse. Also, the practical effects in this movie were once again awesome, but I didn't expect anything less from Kostanski and his team. Especially the third act has a nice surprise that could come straight out of an 80s creature feature. If you've enjoyed Kostanski's previous work, you'll likely have a great time with Frankie Freako and his buddies, but I can understand that the absurd humor and narrative might turn some people off. [5.7/10]

Listen I get that it is supposed to be shlocky fun but ugh it really never lets up reminding you of the "so bad it's good!," angle. It sort of felt like a movie made to test the limits of what masochist fans of purposefully obtuse alternative comedy would be willing to accept. Like if Tim and Eric wrote and directed Chucky. Frankie Freako is just as annoying or awesome as you would imagine that would be depending on your taste. Fans of pure brainrot schlock humor might get a kick out of "shabadoo," spamming but if you still have a pulse you might want to avoid seeing this thing as it will undoubtedly provide you with a long and uncomfortably painful watch experience. If it was a short or part of anthology I probably could have got behind it more but whew it makes for a hard feature length watch imo.

Summary: the Savage Steve Holland-style joke illustrations that accompany the end credits are the best thing about this heavily templated '80s homage. They're a lot of fun. The rest doesn't really get there. It's like a Canva version of Ghoulies Go To College.

I love this creative team's previous work. The Void, Chowboys, Psycho Gorman, yes yes yes. I enjoy the films they're homaging here, from Gremlins to Child's Play to Puppet Master to the barrel-bottom-scraping likes of Hobgoblins and Garbage Pail Kids. I love trash movies in general. I genuinely loved Thankskilling 3. I only sort of regret sitting through Ouija Shark.

So I see the vision here, but it doesn't work. To pull off a pastiche of '80s puppet comedy-horror in 2024, Frankie Freako needs to surprise and build on itself at every turn like Psycho Goreman. But it lacks both the strong central gag of PG (that the little girl was more of a psycho than the title character) and the out-of-nowhere absurdity that popped up in PG's every scene.

This sticks to the '80s kid-friendly lite-horror template so slavishly that there's no room for surprises. Will the uptight yuppie learn to loosen up after a relentless assault of puppet violence and grossouts? I wonder! Will it be zany fun? Not really. The best comic creation here is Conor's incredibly awkward and shady boss, and the film makes the mistake of sidelining him so the other characters can briefly visit another, even cheaper-looking set. Not a good trade-off.

I honestly feel that Thankskilling 3 succeeded much more at doing what this flick tried to do, and believe me, that's not a sentence I ever thought I'd say. If you do watch Frankie Freako, stick around for the comic illustrations that run alongside the end credits. Those were fun and surprising. Wish I'd gotten that from the rest of the movie.

*Gremlins* meets *Evil Dead* meets *Chucky*-but none of it works. It's hard to take this movie seriously, and I'm not talking about the overall tone, as it's clear the aim was to embrace absurdity. However, the execution fails miserably, and as a whole, it doesn't serve its purpose as a movie. Every scene feels more like a sketch designed for children than a cohesive narrative. There are a few chuckles here and there, but nothing genuinely funny. The overwhelming sense of cheapness pervades the entire film, making it hard to view this as a legitimate cinematic effort. I'll give it 2 stars for the nostalgic nod to similar flicks from the '80s, but that's about it.

People throw around the expressive praise "the most fun you'll have at the movies this year" quite a lot and it can be hyperbolic screaming off the front of movie advertisements but in the case of Steven Kostanski's Frankie Freako it just might be true. This is a Midnite Movie blast of endearing satirical schlock, a genuinely sweet creature feature in the tradition of stuff like Gremlins and Critters and while it's specific brand of oddball deadpan humour won't be for everyone, I was utterly transported. A relatively buttoned down family man/office worker (Conor Sweeney) has a tame, safe existence to the point that his own wife (Kristy Wordsworth) calls him a 'square.' One day a troupe of howlin' mad little creatures from a maniacal TV ad invade the sanctity of his conservative 1980's yuppie domain and throw an extended, very chaotic house party that more than threatens his benign daily routine. What's a guy to do? Get swept up in an adventure that plays like Troma meets Amblin and surrender to the good times, that's what. Filmmaker Kostanski also previously helmed The Void (2016) and Psycho Goreman (2020) which are already in my personal all time favourite collection. He pulls off a hat trick here with a film so raucously charming and mischievously effervescent it could wipe anyone's bad mood slate clean. Frankie and his adorable band of tiny little goons are all brought to life using lovingly kitschy practical puppet effects that are assured enough to be believable and deliberately creaky enough to pay homage to the films that clearly inspired them. Kostanski has a deep love for everything 80's horror from Lovecraftian cosmic angst to madcap creature feature irreverence and tips his hat while finding his own distinct groove in the genre. Quite literally the most fun you may have at the movies this year.