Frankie Freako [Blu-Ray]

Director: Steven Kostanski

Cast: Conor Sweeney, Adam Brooks, Kristy Wordsworth

Release Date: November 5, 2024

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 7/10
Disc Rating: 7.5/10

Synopsis:

Workaholic yuppie Conor has a dilemma: no one in his life respects him! Not his boss, not his coworkers, not even his wife Kristina, who thinks he’s an uptight “square”! Conor sees no way out of this existential rut until one night while channel-surfing, he catches a bizarre ad for a party hotline hosted by a strange dancing goblin: Frankie Freako. Conor is entranced by Frankie’s promises of wild and freaky adventures, just a phone call away – could this be just the recipe to spice up his flavorless life?

‘Frankie Freako’ follows a yuppie, workaholic named Conor who is somewhat square, happy to exist in his unexciting life regardless of how his co-workers or even his wife might feel. After realizing that he could use something to spice up his world Conor comes across a television advertisement for a little red goblin named Frankie Freako who promises to bring a party for the ages. Unable to resist and hesitantly calling the number, Conor’s home is invaded by Frankie and his fellow Freako buddies who promptly trash the place as they party hard. But the one thing Conor didn’t count on was becoming fond of the creatures and he soon finds himself joining them on a quest for freedom.

Written and directed by Steven Kostanski (Psycho Goreman, Leprechaun Returns) who does a great job at the helm of ‘Frankie Freako’ guiding along the lovable, darkly humorous and endearingly crafted tale with a splendid ‘80s vibe that alone should put a smile on your face. The film’s cast includes Conor Sweeney (Father’s Day), Adam Brooks (Dark Harvest), Kristy Wordsworth (The Spy Who Never Dies) and more who each offer decent or at least mostly fitting performances in their respective roles.

‘Frankie Freako’ is a fun, goofy and at times even somewhat violent ride that’s a delightful throwback to many 1980’s cult classics thanks to the style, offbeat humor and the utilization of practical effects and creatures that all help to bring it to glorious life. It takes a minute to pull you in, but soon thereafter delivers a surprisingly endearing and often kindhearted story of one man trying to find himself and a group of lovable trouble makers that can’t help but remind us a little bit of such memorable creatures from ‘80s classics such as Gremlins, Critters, Ghoulies and the like, yet with their own unique appearance, attitude and personalities.

It’s a rarity these days to see a film like ‘Frankie Freako’, not to mention one that also bothers to use every practical means possible to bring it all to life and even with certain moments appearing mildly cheesy or silly I couldn’t help but appreciate the care and old school approach that was so lovingly put into every element of ‘Frankie Freako’.

Filmmaker Steven Kostanski follows up his cult favorite ‘80s throwback ‘Psycho Goreman’ here with ‘Frankie Freako’ and while every element within doesn’t necessarily work as flawlessly as it did with his previous outing, the tone is equally friendly, outgoing and memorable with him cementing his place as one of the more unique filmmakers out there and one who is clearly intent to make the films that he wants to see brought to life. I for one will certainly continue to keep my eyes on him as he continues to show growth and a talent for gems that in many ways very much resemble the type of film that I personally grew up loving. If you’re a fan of his work or enjoyed ‘Psycho Goreman’ or any of his prior offerings, then I would strongly recommend giving ‘Frankie Freako’ a chance whenever possible. It’s a fun, funny and lovingly crafted film with a brisk 85 minute runtime that may not be perfect but is tremendously enjoyable, especially if you can just relax and go along for the ride.

VIDEO:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Frankie Freako’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation with the film’s original 1.90:1 Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks very nice altogether and provides a clean, sharply detailed presentation from start to finish that never suffers from any unexpected troubles or issues to be found along the way. Detail is solid throughout with everything from the people and creatures to the interior of the house, the intricately detailed world of the Freakos and more looking clean and solid, while coloring is nice and black levels are fittingly deep and clean. Overall, this is a fully capable high definition presentation that shouldn’t have any trouble leaving fans and first time viewers satisfied.

AUDIO:

The Blu-ray release features a 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. This multichannel soundtrack makes a nice complement to the onscreen fun and offers a clean, sharp and at times fairly immersive audio presentation throughout. It takes advantage of all five available channels in order to send music, world travelling, party and action effects, plus more zipping throughout the various speakers whenever appropriate, while never causing any dialogue or other simultaneously occurring audio elements to become problematic or negatively affected along the way. Overall, this is a solid 5.1 DTS-HD MA soundtrack that delivers in every way required of it and shouldn’t disappoint.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Frankie Freako’ offers a collection of amusing extras including an ‘Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Steven Kostanski, Actor Conor Sweeney and Cinematographer Pierce Derks’, in addition to some Featurettes, Interviews and other fun videos including ‘Fasten Your Freakbelts: Behind the Scenes of Frankie Freako’ (running approximately 10 minutes in length), ‘Conor and Frankie: A Conversation Between Actors’ (running approximately 9 minutes), along with ‘Frankie Freako’s Funtime Phone Commercial’ (approximately 1 minute), ‘Antique Connoisseurs Segments’ (2 minutes) and the film’s ‘Trailer’ (2 minutes).

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They will additionally suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

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Film Rating: 7/10
Disc Rating: 7.5/10

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‘Frankie Freako’ is Now Available on Blu-ray & Digital from Shout! Studios & Scream Factory

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You can purchase ‘Frankie Freako’ on Blu-ray at Amazon HERE! You can also purchase Directly from Shout HERE!

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