Freaks of Nature

Director - Robbie Pickering (Natural Selection)
Starring - Nicholas Braun (Sky High), Mackenzie Davis (The Martian), and Josh Fadem (American Dad)
Release Date - 2015
Genre - Horror/Comedy/Sci-Fi
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Over the last few years the "Wal-Mart horror" or generic horror flicks that litter the shelves at Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and Target have went from straight forward horror to horror comedies.  Films like Wyrmwood, Dead and Breakfast, Cooties, and so on try to perfectly blend horror and comedy.  For the most part they do but they end up delivering an easily forgettable film.  I'm perfectly fine with these kind of films.  They offer an escape from the no budget nightmares that I often find myself watching.  Several months back I came across the press release for the horror comedy Freaks of Nature and fell in love with the trailer.  This was one of the films I had to see so I reached out and was lucky enough to get a review copy.  Thank god I did!

     The film takes place in the small town of Dillford.  The town is known for their riblets and for coexisting with vampires and zombies.  That is until one day aliens appear.  They start taking people which causes an uproar among the various groups.  They all think the other group of beings called the aliens to wipe them out which sparks a war between the humans, vampires, and zombies.  It's not until Dag (not the beaver from the Angry Beavers), Petra, and Ned, a human, vampire and zombie, get together and unravel why the aliens have arrived and they will need to work together in order to survive.

     I love slasher, zombie apocalyptic flicks, and campy comedies.  They are all simple stories that offer up entertainment in one aspect or another.  With that being said, sometimes we get a movie out of nowhere that has one hell of a story that you will not soon forget.  Freaks of Nature is that film and it will be one that will be hard to beat this year.  The acting in this one is great.  The film's three leads,  Braun, Davis, and Fadem, were great together.  Their chemistry really sold the film and made it fun.  The film also has an amazing supporting cast with Patton Oswalt, Joan Cusak, Bob Odenkirk, Denis Leary, Keegan-Michael Key, and Vanessa Hudgens.  They pulled their own weight and brought about some decent laughs.  This film was perfectly cast which is something unusual when it comes to bigger budget flicks.  The story for this one is all over the place and leaves no room for dull moments.  I loved how the story depicted humans, vampires, and zombies living among each other in peace until the arrival of aliens.  This brought about a tremendous cinematic universe where anything is possible.  This film could easily have another film or even a series of films.  Finally, the film has tons and tons of on screen kills that range from zombie and vampire bites to more creative kills.  These kills are bloody, slightly gory, and showcasing some great practical effects.  The film uses a great deal of visual effects but mostly uses practical when it comes to the kill scenes.  This was a great mixture of the two that did not make the film feel cheap.  Overall, Freaks of Nature is one horror comedy that I can not recommend enough.  The cast was brilliant together and the story was well written and full of potential.  If you have a chance to check this out then do so.