The Big Picture

Steven Kostanski is doing his sendup to puppeted
Ghoulies-
type creature features.
It’s very much a film you’re either in tune with from start to finish, or never on board.
A juvenile sense of humor and love for rubbery practical effects will best suit audiences.

No one makes movies like Astron-6 alumnus Steven Kostanski — that’s not hyperbole. The Canadian renegade behind bold low-budget oddities like Manborg and Psycho Goreman delivers do-it-yourself effects work ranging from gootastic gore to layers of alien makeup applications. The filmmaker’s canon hallmarks are cartoonish violence, absurdist humor, and after-midnight appeal, which makes Frankie Freako somewhat of a departure. It’s his Ghoulies or Prehysteria!, swapping hard-R slop-fests for family-friendly mischief as Cabbage Patch gone rotten puppets party their butts off in a very 80s sitcom fashion.

Frankie Freako (2024) In this dark comedy, a disillusioned rock star named Frankie Freako returns to his hometown to reignite his career. Along the way, he encounters old friends, rivals, and fans, leading to a series of hilarious and chaotic events that challenge his views on fame and success.Release Date July 24, 2024 Director Steven Kostanski Cast Conor Sweeney , Adam Brooks , Kristy Wordsworth Writers Steven Kostanski

What Is ‘Frankie Freako’ About?
Frequent collaborator Conor Sweeney stars as Conor, the everyman mayor of Squaresville. Conor’s boss, Mr. Buechler (Adam Brooks), thinks his boardroom presentations are boring, and his gun-loving wife Kristina (Kristy Wordsworth) wants more than sensual hand-holding in bed. Conor finds himself in an existential rut, frustrated by his vanilla personality, and that’s when a solution presents itself. A televised commercial for a 1-900 party hotline hosted by a lounging goblin-thing named Frankie Freako promises to turn dorks into Fonzie. With Kristina away for the weekend, Conor dials the number and summons Frankie Freako (Matthew Kennedy) — a decision he might regret.

Kostanski is indebted to pint-sized creature features like the Ghoulies III: Ghoulies Go to College, Critters, and Puppet Master as much as he is wacky comedies like Drop DeadFred or Revenge of the Nerds. There’s nothing scary about the devil-red, purple-punk-haired Frankie or his raging crew. Frankie Freako isn’t Child’s Play — more an after-school special produced by Troma. Sweeney’s performance would belong in an exaggerated satire like Dude Bro Party Massacre III, where characters are supposed to be self-aware(ish) mockeries of cinematic stereotypes. Whereas Kostanski’s beloved Psycho Goreman warps family values into a grotesque arrangement of intergalactic bloodshed, Frankie Freako is always served at face value. It’s immature, supremely cheesy, and you’re supposed to admire its no-budget charisma.

The “Freakos” themselves are a randomized trio of party animals: care-free Frankie, gunslinging cowgirl Dottie (Meredith Sweeney), and Boink (Adam Brooks), the gadget wizard with the catchphrase “Shabado!” They’re a ragtag collection of monsters like you pulled Garbage Pail Kids cards at random, with puppetry that reminds of Mandy’s Cheddar Goblin — hands move mouths, not animatronic rigs. The puppets always resemble puppets and that’s half the joke, as they inorganically hobble around or are tossed by off-camera crewmembers to mimic mobility. They’re little goofballs who set Home Alone traps (rigged to firearms) and chug “Fart” cola, constantly plucking the lowest-hanging fruit. Kostanski’s having a blast with his two-feet-tall Freakos, but audiences searching for something more than home demolition playtime with “freaky” dolls are rightfully going to be disappointed.

‘Frankie Freako’ Is Best When We Get More Puppets
Image via Fantasia

The first act is a hard sell, focused on Conor’s yuppie lifestyle of half cheese, half more cheese pizzas (he’s that dull). Sweeney’s performance is purposefully ham-fisted and unmistakably clichéd for emphasis, but Kostanski has trouble pulling off the film’s surreal PSA aesthetic without Frankie present. It’s overexerting off-the-wall hopes, even when Franki’s posse starts smashing drywall and spray painting barely dirty words. It’s not until Kostanski starts incorporating additional puppet models and the Freako’s homeworld that Frankie Freako unleashes its incredulous creativity. Until then, Kostanski’s script is built around one joke, and that joke threatens to run out of juice.

Thankfully, Kostanski’s no dummy. Conor is eventually kidnapped along with Frankie and his cohorts and transported to the Freakos’ planet. Putty faces get melted, we quickly understand why Frankie had to flee home when the tyrannical Munch became leader (Munchies callback?), and our soda-burpin’ heroes face a disgusting abomination of a final boss while Conor’s dressed in a less-revealing Zardoz-esque costume. Kostanski leans on all his trademarks, from meticulously sculpted miniatures to full-body costumes that outshine projects with ten times the budget, which lifts the inoffensively silly humor as it’s edging on expiration. There’s a “mileage may vary” quality about Fankie Freako, and plenty of viewers won’t be saved by the cosmic kidnapping. As a lifelong fan of Kostanski’s innovative practical effects artistry, it’s the swerve I needed — but that’s with the context of adoring Psycho Goreman, The Void, and Manborg.

Frankie Freako is understatedly ghoulish and is no master of puppets, but flies its freak flag just enough to make for a winning low-lift horror comedy. Kostanski stretches his budget to deliver fun-filled practical effects like always like a bastard Jim Henson project aimed for House Party meets Gremlins 2 or Small Soldiers. It’ll hardly be for everyone and will play best for those with soft spots for 80s so-bad-they’re-good romps. Even then, you’ll know if you’re on Frankie’s wavelength within the first few minutes. For better or worse, Kostanski’s throwback creature feature wants older horror fans to feel like their childish selves again — as long as their childhoods were filled with Charles Band and Pee-Wee Herman.

REVIEW Frankie Freako (2024) Frankie Freako is an odd duck in the same vein as Ghoulies and Drop Dead Fred that once again showcases Steven Kostanski’s mastery of budget-friendly practical effects, but can feel one-note as a satirical comedy.ProsThe Freakos are a fun bunch to party with.Conor Sweeney has some excellent line deliveries as a doofy ?square.?There’s something comforting about the film’s lighthearted stakes. ConsIt’s a slow build to full momentum.Can feel a bit one-note.You’re in trouble if you don’t find the first few minutes funny.

Frankie Freako had its World Premiere at the 2024 Fantasia International Film Festival.