As a movie enthusiast, I’ve always been captivated by anthology films, a storytelling style with roots tracing back decades to classics like Amicus/Hammer horror anthologies and The Twilight Zone. Quentin Tarantino even dipped his toes into this genre with the overlooked ‘Four Rooms,’ but he truly shone in his masterpiece ‘Pulp Fiction.’ In that film, he ingeniously connected three distinct stories, a format that was subsequently imitated numerous times, some successfully and others… less so. Thankfully, the trend seems to have faded away, but Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck’s ‘Freaky Tales‘ brings us back to this tradition with their unique four-tale narrative.
1987, Oakland serves as the backdrop for this film, which evokes the ’80s atmosphere through vintage cinematic styles and a location marked by an otherworldly green glow that subtly weaves through the scenes, connecting four distinct narratives. The first tale revolves around a far-right gang causing chaos in a music venue, prompting the audience to retaliate. The second story follows a pair of female rappers engaged in a rap battle. A debt collector takes on his superior in the third narrative, while the fourth story focuses on a basketball star battling against local thugs. Except for the debt collector’s tale, these stories are relatively insignificant and lack unique elements, with the last one being an extreme gorefest that bears resemblance to both Cronenberg and Tarantino’s ‘Kill Bill’, a work itself inspired by Shaw brothers movies.
The tale about debt collectors spotlights Pedro Pascal undergoing a change of heart and confronting Ben Mendelsohn, two exceptional performers who truly shine in the entire series. As characters from different stories intermingle, it creates an element of self-reference, while Quentin Tarantino’s tribute remains evident with a video store employee humorously discussing top cinematic picks, a role played by a well-known A-list star making a guest appearance.
In a more conversational tone, it can be said: Boden & Flack enjoyed significant triumph directing the hit movie “Captain Marvel,” worth a billion dollars. It seems their reward was an opportunity to create a film tailored to their preferences with “Freaky Tales.” However, despite visually appealing elements such as on-screen animation, gruesome deaths, and questionable 80’s fashion, the plots are disappointingly thin without any intriguing twists like those crafted by Tarantino in his masterful blend of genre and story structure. Sadly, “Freaky Tales” lacks that same level of creativity.
Here’s the Freaky Tales trailer…….
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2025-04-17 02:23