Pros: idea with an ironic approach to the slasher; horror moments Cons: horrible lines; stereotypical characters; Vince Vaughn, who does not fit into the role of “Chimera” / Freaky
Genre horror, comedy
Directed by Christopher Landon
Cast: Vince Vaughn (serial killer), Katherine Newton (Millie Kessler), Katie Finneran (Paula Kessler), Celeste O’Connor (Neil), Alan Ruck (Fletcher), Misha Osherovich (Josh), Uriah Shelton (Booker) and others .
Blumhouse Productions, Divide/Conquer Studios
Release year 2020
IMDb website
Millie (Kathryn Newton) is a high school student who stays quiet for the sake of her overprotective mother. At school, Millie feels supported by her two best friends, but other than that, things aren’t going well. The heroine suffers bullying from popular students, and an arrogant teacher publicly ridicules her. In addition, a serial killer (Vince Vaughn) appeared in the city, who was dubbed a butcher, and the girl would least like to catch his eye. However, for the maniac, Millie is the ideal victim, whom he tracked down one late evening. It would seem that after being stabbed, Millie’s life should be interrupted, but after the injury, something completely different happens – the teenager and the killer change bodies.
The production of Chimeras (the original name Freaky suits the film better) was handled by Blumhouse Productions, a film studio known for releasing a variety of horror films. Director Christopher Landon has already filmed two parts of the horror comedy Happy Death Day for the studio. After that, Landon decided to write and direct another similar film, this time with an R rating that opened the way for gore and swearing.
As planned by the creators, the film was released with reference to Friday the 13th, in fact, it is on this day that the main events of the comedy horror take place. This is a direct reference to the Friday the 13th film series, from which the writers copied a couple of elements. For example, in the first scene, secluded teenagers are murdered, and the killer appears before the victims in a mask that hides his face. The film also became a new version of Disney’s “Freaky Friday” (Freaky Friday), in which mother and daughter switched bodies.
In short, “Chimera” was supposed to be an ironic parody of slashers, where a petite schoolgirl with the soul of a psychopath gets rid of a crowd of teenagers with intoxicated rigidity. Well, the impressive thug shyly moves around the city, imposing himself as a friend to the frightened students, who do not immediately recognize their girlfriend in him. Such an uncomplicated and mocking horror with silly jokes that are not ashamed to laugh at in the darkness of the cinema hall.
But something went wrong, and the film turned from light entertainment into a set of terrible lines from the waist down, completely devoid of humor. After viewing, the impression was that Christopher Landon wrote the script, focusing on the stereotype of the dim-witted, giggling schoolboy. And then the director added a few social trends and graffiti on the walls of the school toilet (literally) to the material. The director filled the remaining space with American characters of the same type, who, in their free time from football, engage in their usual bullying.
Of course, the main focus of the film was on how Vince Vaughn portrays a shy girl and flees, clumsily kicking her legs. Although Vaughn starred earlier in the comedy genre, his latest work was much more serious (take at least the second season of True Detective and the crime drama Brawl in Cell Block 99). Therefore, it is not entirely clear why he took up the film, where he has to move through the school corridors in a mannered way. In addition, Vaughn does it without much charisma, adding to the character an affectation that the heroine Kathryn Newton did not originally have.
What’s not so bad about Chimeras is a series of scenes that turn into real horror. These are waiting moments when the killer is about to attack the victim, who has a small chance to escape. In a word, classic tricks with a tense atmosphere that do not last long here. Alas, a full-fledged horror movie from this film also does not work.
The fact that Chimeras has a good rating on aggregator sites can only be explained by the absence of other premieres that would force this film out of discussion. It’s hardly worth wasting time on it, this is a rather unsuccessful comedy horror about a body swap, which is crammed with jokes below the belt.
Conclusion:
an unsuccessful attempt to mix the films “Friday the 13th” and “Freaky Friday”.
