Have you ever watched a movie and wondered who this one got made? Freaky Tales is the latest Lionsgate release and since it’s four chapters, you’ll be asking yourself that over and over again if you can make it to the end of this mess of a movie.
Set in Oakland, California in 1987, a time and place that no doubt had its own vibe and moment in history, the movie brings to the screen four barely tangentially connected stories of people living there at the time. The omnipresent narrator talks about a green glow in the sky that is causing the issues in the stories and the area, but what that ends up being is badly done graphics and a very loose thread to try to bring together disjointed and messy stories that are going to have a hard time keeping your attention.
While they try to use the time, the moment and characters showing up in the back ground of each story to connect each chapter. It seems like a failed and messy attempt. And the larger names on the cast, completely go under served in their roles that they must have been cast as a punishment for a failed bet or something.
Freaky Tales seems like an excuse to use a time in the past to throw racism on the screen again, over and over in different directions. How many times do we need to see race baiting, cruelty and violence used as a story device and the only story arch in a movie? Do we need to see, and encourage these actions in this time of history? Sure, you could argue fighting back against the neo-Nazi’s attacking the punk bar could be seen as a resistance, but that’s only true if the story was actually developed. Instead, we have a messy fight scene with some of the worst graphics (possibly trying to emulate those of the 80’s) put on the screen in years.
Freaky Tales is currently in theaters nationwide. But the question is still there – how did this get the screen time when so many other more worthy movies go direct to streaming or never get made? This would definitely be a movie to skip, even when you see it on streaming. If anything, it feels more like a waste of your time than it’d be worth to watch it.
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About Freaky Tales
Set in 1987 Oakland, Freaky Tales is a multi-track mixtape of colorful characters — an NBA star, a corrupt cop, a female rap duo, teen punks, neo-Nazis, and a debt collector — on a collision course in a fever dream of showdowns and battles. Executive produced by hip-hop pioneer Too $hort, and featuring an all-star ensemble including Pedro Pascal, Ben Mendelsohn, Jay Ellis, Normani, Dominique Thorne, Jack Champion, Ji-young Yoo, Angus Cloud, and Tom Hanks, this pulpy blend of explosive action, edgy humor, gory kills, and sly twists and turns makes for one wild ride.