Took a chance on a blind rental on iTunes called Freaks. This is not a remake of the classic horror film… and shame on them for using the same name for what is ultimately a horror film of sorts (but also a sci-fi psychological thriller superhero-adjacent film? I guess?)
So Freaks is about a little girl and her father living in a house that’s locked down from the outside world. He tells her she’s too sick to go outside and the bad guys will get her if she does… and he only goes outside on rare occasions to get supplies. Yet when she looks out the window, everything looks fine… though sometimes birds have the habit of starting and stopping int he sky. And there’s a mysterious ice cream truck out there and a friendly little girl who sometimes randomly appears in her room. Oh, and there’s ghosts in her closet sometimes.
The film is interesting in that we learn about this world only from the girl’s point of view for the first half. Things are very confusing and nothing is explained because the girl doesn’t seem to realize how weird everything is (because she’s young enough and has never left the house). And I respect that but it goes on a little too long to keep my interest (if the movie was simply better, that wouldn’t be a problem).
But at one point, the girl leaves the house and meets the ice cream truck mean (played by Bruce Dern!) and things start to get explained. I won’t spoil what’s actually going on but it does share DNA with elements of certain superhero stories. And some of that DNA is really interesting and well done… I’m not saying this IS a superhero flick, but it does dabble in that genre in particularly interesting ways.
But it’s not a great movie… it’s watchable and passable if you like cryptic, mysterious movies that dabble in multiple film genres. Some of it is definitely horror, some is mystery, some is sci-fi. That’s pretty interesting for a blind rental… just wish it was an overall better film.
Score: 72