Sightlines · reception

How Freaky was received

2020 · Christopher Landon · Freaky on Sightlines

The arc

It came out in November 2020, when most cinemas were shut, and topped a nearly empty box office with small numbers. It found its audience later on home video and streaming, and is now seen as one of the better modern horror-comedies.

What’s debated

Is it a slasher with jokes or a comedy with gore? Fans mostly agree that Vince Vaughn playing a terrified teenage girl is the reason to watch.

Its footprint

The pitch, 'Freaky Friday meets Friday the 13th', sells itself. Vaughn as a teenage girl stuck in a serial killer's body became the clip and GIF everyone shared.

Where it stands

A favourite on Letterboxd horror-comedy and queer-horror lists, and usually paired with Landon's Happy Death Day as proof that he can make a hybrid-genre film work.

Did you know? Its working title was 'Freaky Friday the 13th', and Universal released it in the US on Friday, November 13, 2020.

Named by the director

• Freaky Friday (1976) — Landon built the film on the Freaky Friday body-swap idea; the working title borrowed the name outright.
• Friday the 13th (1980) — The other half of the mashup: Landon described the film as Freaky Friday crossed with a Friday the 13th–style masked-killer slasher.