Frankie Freako

Just got back from the toronto screening of frankie freako. Steve Konstanski, and fellow Astron 6 members Connor Sweeney, Mathew Kennedy (FF), and Adam Brooks are a canadian gem. This movie was a blast. Despite its low budget, You can tell this (pretty much all Kostanski projects) have a key ingriedient to it's fun madness. And that my good friend is heart. This film just like PsychoGoreman, Manborg, the editor, fathers day all have heart. Story is very simple, acting is very good from Connor showing his versatility despite only working with puppets throughout the movie. The SFX/VFX blended so well together creating a world thats beyond what you expect from watching the trailer. This deseves all the praise it gets. I would love to see more movies from this type of universe. If you get a chance, please go and see this movie.

You need to go into this movie appreciating puppet horror. Defiantly a niche type of horror sub-genre, but it does have its audience. For myself, growing up on Chucky, Slappy, Puppet Master, Ghoulies, and Garbage Pail Kids: The Movie. "Frankie Freako" was a pleasant surprise. There is defiantly segments that would have scared me in my youth. Especially Munch's awesome design. I was actually reminiscing of the times I first watched puppet horror while enjoying "Frankie Freako". I got that love letter to this niche from my viewing. The second viewing will be making someone else watch it without the "itch" for the "niche". See what they have to say about the film. "The Void" Is the perfect film and what got me (personally) into H. P. Lovecraft (thank you). I think this film would be better appreciated if you are ALSO a fan of the work Steven, Adam, Conor, and Matthew. A lot of people I am probably not thinking of, but that crew. Everything they create is unique, tongue in cheek, and well, gory-grotesque-lovely-madness. Thank you. I look forward to everything you guys create. 8/10. The ending of "Frankie Freako" is "wonderful". Heckin' the best. SKIP THE TRAILER. Go into this one just like a low budget haunted house with all the thrills and cheeze.

I was at least 30 minutes into Frankie Freako before I realized I was watching a new film by the writer and director of both Psycho Goreman AND Heart of Karl. I don't know how I could be so irresponsible--I should have had the release date on my calendar months ago!

So this story didn't quite grab me the way some of his past work did. There wasn't really a character that kept me cracking up all the way through on the level of a Mimi, or a PG. My favorite moments were probably with the supervisor played by Adam Brooks--he always seems to find a way to inject wacky, unexpected humor into his scenes. There were plenty of all-star cameos, but I didn't pick up on them until looking over the credits. I was also kind of surprised that the title character didn't really end up doing too many wild, outrageous things. But my sense is that fans of Kostanski's unique world-building will have fun with this one.

Steven Kostanski is one of the biggest horror prodigies of the 21st Century thus far. All the films he directed, either solo or together with his Astron-6 pals, are greatly entertaining. The list is already quite impressive. "Father's Day", "Manborg", and "The Void" are my absolute favorites, but also "The Editor", "Psycho Goreman", and his belated sequel "Leprechaun Returns" are very adequate and ingenious horror flicks.

Because of all these aforementioned titles, I went blindly into "Frankie Freako" and fully trusted it was going to be another dementedly fun and gooey trash/horror comedy. What a massive disappointment! It is demented and trashy, alright, but sadly in the most infantile and unfunny way imaginable. The film is a sort of crossbreed between "Critters" and the "Puppet Master" series, but with the dumb humor of failed monster-comedies of that same era; - like "Munchies" and "Hobgoblins". I can't imagine there's any target audience for a dud like this. The story revolves around Conor who's the most boring and predictably structured guy in the world. To prove to himself and to his wife that he can be wild as well, he calls a party-hotline and end up with a trio of psychotic goblins in his apartment. I don't even want to bother summarizing the rest of the nonsense. If you're a fan of the previous work of Kostanski and his pals, skip it. If you're a fan of campy B-horror and 80s homages, skip it. In fact, just skip it altogether.

*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.