After a foray into the mega-budget mainstream with comic book movie Captain Marvel in 2019, writer and director duo Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck have made a welcomed return to their indie roots for their latest piece Freaky Tales, an action-horror comedy anthology set in late ‘80s Oakland, California. As the paths of hitman Clint (Pedro Pascal), corrupt cop (Ben Mendelsohn), and basketball star Sleepy Floyd (Jay Ellis) cross with punks, skinheads, and underground rappers, their interconnected stories are tied together by strange supernatural happenings and blood-soaked vengeance.
Shot with a neon-tinged, textured aesthetic, the film has a grungy B-movie sensibility that really leans into the period detail. You would be forgiven for thinking it was actually made almost forty years ago, with a synthesised score, bold costuming and neatly observed production design going a long way to achieving the desired effect. The narrative is divided into four chapters, some more memorably ‘freaky’ than others but all thematically linked; the least violent but perhaps most enjoyable short is the second, titled ‘Don’t Fight the Feeling’. This sees two aspiring hip-hop artists let rip on the mics in a wildly entertaining freestyle battle, hitting back against the discrimination and adversity faced not only on the stage but in their day-to-day lives.
An eclectic ensemble of talent make up the cast with man-of-the-moment Pedro Pascal having arguably the meatiest role of the lot. Suffering immense tragedy in his plot of a criminal with nothing left to lose, he brings a small dose of nuance to the otherwise broader proceedings. Other strong performances of note come from Ji-young Yoo as love-struck punk rocker Tina and singer-turned-actor Normani in a very impressive screen debut. Boden and Fleck’s regular collaborator Ben Mendelsohn paints a ghastly caricature that brings sleaze and terror to three out of the four tales, and Tom Hanks pops up with a surprising but amusing cameo as the owner of a video store.
Over-the-top but oozing with scuzzy DIY style, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s popcorn flick Freaky Tales would and should fit right in at those red bull-fuelled midnight marathons you would see programmed at your coolest local independent picture house. 1980s nostalgia has become excessive in recent years, but this genre-fusing effort pulls it off better than most.
Freaky Tales is on digital platforms from 28 April
Cinema Perspective 