This is an expanded rewrite of our original review published as part of our coverage of Fantasia 2024
A yuppie loser finds his home trashed by a trio of mischievous freaks in Frankie Freako. Conor (Conor Sweeney) is a yuppie office worker, whose boss Mr. Buechler (Adam Brooks) doesn’t believe his upcoming presentation is “spicy” enough and even Conor’s wife Kristina (Kristy Wordsworth) believes him to be a bit “square.” When Kristina leaves for a weekend business trip, Conor decides to add some excitement to his life and calls “Frankie Freako’s Funtime Phone.” Conor awakens the next morning to find his house trashed and invaded by Frankie Freako (Matthew Kennedy) and his fellow freaks Boink (Brooks) and Dottie (Meredith Sweeney).
Frankie Freako Synopsis
Frankie Freako is a horror-comedy written and directed by Steven Kostanski (Manborg, Psycho Goreman), inspired by the “little monsters” subgenre that includes films such as Ghoulies, Critters, and Puppet Master. The film stars Kostanski’s fellow Astron-6 alumni Conor Sweeney and Adam Brooks as the square yuppie Conor and his creepy ponytailed boss Mr. Buechler respectively. The film also features Matthew Kennedy (Manborg), Brooks, and Meredith Sweeney (Manborg, Father’s Day) as the voices of the puppet characters of Frankie Freako and his cohorts Boink and Dottie.
At first, the titular Frankie Freako and his friends are depicted as trouble-making antagonists to Conor, making a complete disaster out of his house. However, it is soon learned that these three outcasts from Freako World and the truly threat is President Munch. It isn’t long until President Munch tracks the Freakos down and drags poor Conor with them.
My Thoughts on Frankie Freako
While he has also tackled darker horror in films such as The Void, Steven Kostanski has become known for creating lighter genre fare. In some ways, Frankie Freako can be viewed as a spiritual sequel to 2011’s Manborg, particularly with the surprising places it goes in the second half, as the action moves to Freako World. It is also becoming a recurring gag for Stephen Kostanski to reference his cult favourite short film Bio-Cop, which turns out to be indeed the case with one of the supporting Freako characters that shows up on Freako World.
While Stephen Kostanski has always utilized practical effects in his films, Frankie Freako is notable for how the utilizes full-on puppetry. There is a certain charm about seeing characters with rubber faces come alive on screen. Even characters that do not talk, such as President Munch’s butler Crunch, end up leaving a lasting impression.
Since it’s missing most of the gore of Steven Kostanski’s earlier films, Frankie Freako can arguably be seen as a film that is fun for the whole family. While the film does have some violent mayhem, it isn’t worse than what would be seen in a film like Gremlins. Arguably, the worst the film gets is Frankie Freako’s penchant for becoming a flaming demon whenever he sees a cross. Altogether, Frankie Freako is a fun throwback to puppet-heavy adventures from the 1980s.
