Frankie Freako

*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.

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.

I honestly wasn't expecting much, but this movie reminds me of some of the crazy little monster movies thar I watched back in the 80's as a kid. It's a relatively clean movie too, so I think it would be fun for the whole family. Yeah, the humor is pure cheese and it's got puppets, but that's what makes it kinda cool. Instead of relying completely on CGI like most new movies, they use a lot of practical effects. And the music is spot-on, helping with the party vibe. I loved some of the marketing that they did for this movie with the number you could call or text and get a message from Frankie himself. I hope to see more movies like this from writer-director Steven Kostanski. Awesome job, dude! Makes me want to party and get my freak on!

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.

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]