Freaky Tales – Review

Just…… like…… every bit of this creation makes me wonder where it came from. Freaky Tales is indeed just as the title suggests: Four chapters and interconnected segments in a funky 1987 Oakland setting make up a film that is worthy of the Too $hort aphorism. Prepare for some wild vibes and good times.

The chapters are all creative and energetic, featuring artistic presentations with inventive visuals which allow for an over-the-top script to feel right at home. While the separate chapter stories are varied, they mix together with a similar zest, especially after the opening nuttiness sets the pace with a few blood splatters. The film covers a lot of ground with its approach and topical selections, and often brings along plenty of surprises.

The tales are all too crazy to even bring up story elements as it would almost ruin the experience with some odd expectation going in. The action is presented as if on steroids, the character behavior is both realistic and exaggerated, there is a slight edge of a fantasy vibe, and the comedy runs throughout. It’s a unique time because there are some real-life characters, events and elements, but it’s all so overly-amplified (including the reality of some of the plotlines) that it makes for a dreamlike experience.

As the stories start to come together a bit, our characters interactions with each other become even more meaningful. You can expect the unexpected, but this film proves it will still surprise you when it hits. In this film there is fun, tension, violence, music, vitality, grief, sports, revenge, racism, and some seemingly supernatural twists.

The movie is also intriguing because so many things make 1987 feel so far away, but then so many things make it feel exactly the same as today, somehow.