Freaks of Nature

Mixing zombies, vampires, and aliens sounded cool enough. With Patton Oswalt, Bob Odenkirk, Denis Leary, Keegan-Michael Key, and Werner Herzog, one would think this could be a really funny movie. Instead, those really funny people all play relatively small roles and we are mostly left with a trio of unfunny heroes plodding around the film.

The town has zombies and vampires mixing in society, mostly at a high school, and none of that ever gets a back story. Attempts at wild comedy don't need to explain too much, especially if it would interfere with the jokes. But this wild comedy never gets wild enough, and it is nowhere near as clever as it portrays itself. Is it really all that funny to kill people around you and then act like it was NBD?

There are funny moments, but not enough LOLz. There also seems to be some attempt at a morality play about classism or racism, as we see humans vs. zombies vs. vampires. Vampire-on-zombie crime is most assuredly despicable, and we should all get along.

This vague social commentary gets mixed with the eternal story font: High School is Tough For Everyone, Even the Popular People. If you don't want to feel, you don't have to: just go be a zombie. If you want to be cool, be a vampire. Whatever you do, just make sure everyone sees, so you can make the scene.

It's a bad sign when Ed Westwick has the best performance in a movie. Nicholaus Braun rattles off his lines like he can't wait to get to the bar. Mackenzie Davis, however, puts in a sincere performance and is a star-to-be.

Freaks of Nature is neither clever enough, funny enough, gross enough, nor serious enough to be much of anything in particular. Even the smooth and dulcet tones of Werner Herzog's voice do little to step up the scene. This is no Cabin in the Woods.

This really is a freak show with it's flows. I mean, sometimes it's funny especially with the zombies. Just look at the conversation at the end between Ned and his father. There are parts sadly that are a bit boring with long conversations that doesn't really add a thing and aren't funny. On the other hand we do have gory parts when the vamps do come in.

Was it a funny movie? For me not really, it do has funny moments as I said but again, the gore adds toward the fun, just look how a tough guy is been eaten by zombies. And look how vamps explode in full bloom when spiked.

This flick do deliver on the part of the effects. The zombies all look stunning and the aliens do look great as do their mother ship. A big hooray for the effects. It sure is above mediocre over all and it's the acting of the zombie Ned by Josh Fadem that makes it worth seeing.

Like the story is full of freaks and good and bad parts I'm stuck with mixed emotions, still I will recommend it because it do has things for everyone out their, if you're a horror buff of course.

Gore 1,5/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 3/5 Story 2,5/5 Comedy 2/5

And here we just have ourselves a possible cult classic. Going in blind without having seen any trailer or really any advertisement around at all, this movie turns out to be ridiculously fun! Freaks of Nature blends in horror/comedy/romance/drama with zombie/alien/vampire/human smashed-up and it works really well thanks to the strong performance and likable cast. The movie has insanely GORY and bloody action sequences and really interesting premise which continues to deliver that to the end despite some nonsense moments along the way. It also has great dramatic moments, crazy twists, and is a really funny and pure entertainment film with a heart. The make-up effects for both zombie and vampire here look really deliciously freaky and bring out some SCARES as well. Overall, Freaks of Nature bites the right note in horror/comedy genre with its gleefully smashed-up theme, strong cast, freaky humors, ridiculously fun plot, and a heart, proving it to be more than just a brainless teenage flick.

>>B+<<

Freaks of Nature is really a curiosity; a town inhabited by zombies, human and vampires, living peacefully until an alien invasion creates havoc and a huge civil war. It has some really comic moments (aided by the presence of comedians like Patton Oswald, Joan Cusack, Keegan-Michael Key, Denis Leary, Bob Odenkirk among others; and a voice cameo from Werner Herzog that is really worth watching).

Sadly many times, the movie slow down too much to enter into the clichéd territory of school / teenagers stories, with the romance, the good girl and the slut one, the nerd and the former nerd trying to be cool. If the movie did not sink is because the acting of the three main characters is really good and some secondary characters / situations are hilarious.

With all its mistakes; however the movie has a deeper subtext that rise the movie above the classic teenager fare to become a satire on thin equilibrium of a society that looks peaceful but is a time bomb about to explode, the USA concept of family, food and culture; and the rejection of the smarter being just because it is smarter.

In brief; if you can digest some gory situations and zombie makeup, the movie is worth to dedicate some time.

Good Horror/Comedies are hard to come by, so many of them just tend to be super cheesy low budget movies with no real laughs or originality. "Freaks Of Nature" isn't groundbreaking or some kind of cult masterpiece, but it is a lot of fun and full of monster action & Blood.

The film has sort of a teen flick atmosphere but it isn't too heavy and it isn't as corny as most flick's with that atmosphere tend to be. Any cheese here is completely intentional and the whole "Being a teen is super hard" thing isn't really played up too much. All three main characters are likable enough and are fun to root for. The film is riddled with some really fun cameos that help to speed things up a bit when things start to slow down a bit (which doesn't happen very often).

I had a good time watching this film, it was fast pace, funny, gory, and original enough to make it not seem like just another horror/comedy. From the trailer you should know what to expect, and as long as you know what to expect you should enjoy this film.

7/10