Frankie Freako review
The director of PG: Psycho Goreman is back with more otherworldly weirdness.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Frankie Freako
Directed by Steven Kostanski
Written by Steven Kostanski
Starring Conor Sweeney, Adam Brooks, Krity Wordsworth, Matthew Kennedy, Meredith Sweeney and Colin Cunningham
Frankie Freako Review
I can’t remember how exactly I came across writer/director Steven Kostanski’s PG: Psycho Goreman. Maybe a random message board post gave it a heart recommendation. Perhaps a genre review site provided it with a score that rendered it unmissable. Honestly, I might have just read the synopsis while looking through new VOD releases one day. However I found it…I was so glad that I did. That goes for everyone I recommended it too…and the people they, in turn, did the same for. There is a throwback quality to that movie that needs to be enjoyed. It does a better job of recapturing the feel of a specific kind of gateway horror movie from the 80s. A little edgier than a kid’s film…but packed with the same amount of wonder and excitement.
Frankie Freako is Kostanski’s latest picture. It isn’t the unmissable revelation that Psycho Goreman felt like…but it has some of those same unique qualities that most movies of its kind fail to capture. If Psycho Goreman is a love letter for early to mid-80s kids…Frankie Freako feels like it comes from a slightly later period. A bit of the late 80s mixed with the 90s. The Garbage Pail Kids Movie mixed with any number of Gremlins knock-offs. With a pinch of Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead or Adventures in Babysitting. That may seem like an odd mix…but Frankie Freako pulls it off.
Conor (Conor Sweeney) is a repressed man. A workaholic with no sense of fun or excitement. His wife Kristina (Kristy Wordsworth) wants him to unwind. His boss, Mr. Buechler (Adam Brooks), wants him to get caught on camera shredding incriminating documents. Conor doesn’t know what he wants. That is, until he sees a commercial for a party hotline with a freaky goblin creature named Frankie. Once the number is dialed…Conor’s life changes forever.
The Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead/Adventures in Babysitting aspect of Frankie Freako comes from the predicament the uptight Conor finds himself in. Three Freakos show up at his house while Kristina is on a work trip and destroy the place. They just want to party. And shoot things. And ruin Conor’s life. He needs to get control of the situation and fix things before Kristina returns.
The draw of Frankie Freako is the absurd, ridiculous comedic tone the movie takes. It’s funny in ways that movies rarely try to be. The chaos unleashed by the trio of Freakos is very reminiscent of Gremlins and its many knockoffs. Their design screams Garbage Pail Kids. Frankie Freako is the rad dude leader of the group. Dottie Dunko is a cowgirl who fires her pistols wherever she wants. Boink Bardo is more laid back…spouting his catchphrase “Shabadoo” or some variation in response to whatever is happening. They provide a madcap energy that perfectly juxtaposes Conor’s mundane existence.
There isn’t a lot more to Conor’s plot than this. There is, however, a surprising amount of attention given to the backstory of Frankie and his cohorts. We even take a trip to Freak World where President Munch is keen on eliminating the trio with his Freako Killer army and their laser blasting eyes. Did I mention that Frankie Freako is wild? It’s a movie that sees Conor’s boss step in a bear trap and end up glued to the basement floor for most of the story. Frankie Freako fires off one-liners. Dottie Dunko fires off bullets. Boink Bardo…Shabadoos.
Frankie Freako is a short, sweet, colorful, strange little movie. It’s made with the heart of a kid…or at least an adult whose heart was messed up by an era of kid’s movies that pushed things to the edge. There are zero slow moments. Little time committed to emotional growth. The story is slight…but the madness is contagious. No one is making movies quite like Steven Kostanski. They come from a place of love. Love for an incredibly specific feeling that movies haven’t provided in decades. If you find yourself a bit bored by the mundanity of genre films…think about giving 1-900-555-FREAKO a call. Just be prepared for the mess that follows. It’s all a part of the deal.
Scare Value
While not the borderline revelation that Psycho Goreman was, Frankie Freako is still a very fun watch. Part Garbage Pail Kids, part 80s little monster movie…part…Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead? All fun. Steven Kostanski makes movies with a little kid’s imagination. The results may not be as fleshed out as you want…but they are as weird as you could hope for.
3.5/5
Frankie Freako Links
Get on VOD from Fandango at Home and Amazon
Buy on Blu-Ray from Amazon
