Around May 10, 1987, in Oakland, California, or The Bay, a green glow and lightning add fuel to the fire of resistance brewing among a plethora of underdogs fighting against forces of evil. “Freaky Tales” (2024) interweaves four stories to illustrate the uprising against Nazis, corruption, misogyny, wonton covetousness and killjoys. It is also a love letter to “the Town”: its music, sports, sites (Giant Burger, MacArthur Boulevard) and movie palace (Grand Lake Theatre). While it is uneven and messy, this film could be the next beloved cult film classic and ultimately ties all the loose threads in one bright green bow.
The first tale is about a group of punks tired of skinheads brutalizing them, so they decide to sacrifice their principles and kick Nazi ass. The lead punks are Lucid (Jack Champion) and Tina (Ji-young Yoo), who seem to be falling for each other. Overall, the group would be a Benetton ad in the mirror universe with tons of piercings, leather and loud music. It is little more than a hype sequence of battle preparations, camaraderie and good times. The fight scene gets quite graphic without being gruesome. It almost rises to Biblically epic proportions when one punk sports a slingshot, and the lead skinhead, Troy (Dan Marotte), makes it clear that he is indeed anti-Semitic—a contemporary David versus Goliath. The clash will be cathartic for those moviegoers tired of Nazis being back.
The second tale involves Danger Zone, two Black young women rappers, Barbie (Dominique Thorne, best known for playing Ironheart in the MCU) and Entice (Normani in her feature film debut), who maintain their composure in the face of relentless misogynoir, which includes the same skinheads; thus continuing the message, “There is nothing cool about being a Nazi,” which should not be germane and applicable in the twenty-first century, but it is. They get invited to a rap battle, which is really a gauntlet of humiliation, with Too $hort (DeMario Symba Driver) at Sweet Jimmie’s, but they leverage it into opportunity. Even though overall the story is understated and physical conflict free, it features the strongest characters and relationships. Thorne and Normani seem as if they have been friends forever and hold their own while sharing a scene with great Ozzie actor Ben Mendelsohn, who plays The Guy, the man who is gradually revealed to be behind all the good guys’ woes. Too $hort is a fictionalized version of a real-life rapper who makes a cameo in this sequence, which proves that he does not mind them ripping the fictional version to shreds. There are a couple more cameos, including a blink and miss it cameo from Marshawn Lynch and punk rock singer Tim Armstrong.
The third tale is the one that everyone will be waiting for because it stars universal fave Pedro Pascal as Clint, the local debt collector, who is doing one last job when something unexpected ruins his plans for retirement. This section explains to a possibly puzzled audience the overall point of the story, which is normally a heavy-handed device, but works here in case people are in danger of checking out. The story has the most conventional narrative packed with tropes, and the most famous cameo of them all. Hint: he is a highly favored, high-profile actor. It is also the first time that the green light is used against a person whom the audience is supposed to relate to, which subverts expectations of which characters are good or bad. It is also at this point in the overall story where the pieces start to form a whole. The momentum jumps into high gear and does not stop until the credits roll.
The last tale involves an alternate history, fictionalized version of the events surrounding the NBA Western Conference Semifinals Game 4 between the Golden State Warriors versus Los Angeles Lakers. What can beat Magic (Johnson)? The green cosmic life force. Warrior player Sleepy Floyd (Jay Ellis), All Star point guard from North Carolina, harnesses his inner Jedi meets The Bride from “Kill Bill Vol. 1” (2003) to fight the Nazis on the same night that he did the impossible on the court. The story puts its thumb on the scale by having one Nazi kill a dog (off-screen), which officially falls in Stephen King evil canon territory. In addition to being racist, sexist, dog killers, they are also thieves, murderers and coke fiends, i.e. acceptable on-screen cannon fodder. This section features the best fighting sequence in “Freaky Tales” and continues the proud tradition of Black people appreciating martial arts culture going back until at least the seventies. For “Euphoria” fans, it also includes the last available on-screen performance from Angus Cloud as the intel, strategy guy. The cool factor, complete with Sleepy’s fighting wardrobe, is sky high—Wesley Snipes as Blade levels.
“Freaky Tales” is the kind of movie that people will watch repeatedly to catch all the connections between the stories. Eagle-eyed viewers will spot when the green glow emits from people or objects. The effect is often more understated than expected until the end, which is a bonkers finale. The bookend opening and closing includes a commercial for Sleepy’s Mind Awake Seminar at the Psytopics Learning Center, and it may be the first time that an allusion to MK Ultra is optimistic rather than ominous. It felt as if it shared a mythology with the CW’s “Black Lightning.” The second time around, the commercial feels less commercial and more like a reminder of how all the segments related to each other. The story leaned too hard on fridging love interests. There is a fortuitous reference to the dwarves in “Snow White,” the fairy tale, not the movie.
Filmmaking couple, Anna Boden, Newton born, and Ryan Fleck, Berkeley born, infuse “Freaky Tales” with a heavy dose of eighties nostalgia from video rental shops, VHS tapes and tube televisions. Their visual style borrows elements from comic books so think Adam West’s “Batman” with lots of visible pencil scratches punctuating the action and the occasional word amplifying the sound. It makes the film seem more underground than a polished Hollywood product. Some of the fight sequences may remind some of the “Sin City” aesthetic with blood pouring out bright red, especially in one black and white flashback sequence. Instead of paying for archival game footage, they use animation to illustrate the game and obscure with the actual footage with blood.
Their filmography makes Boden and Fleck hard to pin down. “Half Nelson” (2006) is their critically acclaimed hit with Fleck in the director’s chair and Boden as the editor. Their last two films, “Mississippi Grind” (2015), which feels like a remake of “California Split” (1974), and “Captain Marvel” (2019), their most financially successful film, would make it impossible to guess that “Freaky Tales” would be their next venture. It is a risky experiment that is not for most people considering the profanity, violence and narrative structure. While the number of references point to homage, fair criticism could frame it as derivative without a firm enough grasp on creating characters that could exist outside of the sensational storylines.
“Freaky Tales” is a more sedate Grindhouse film with a seventies and eighties optimism of taking back the world from the worst elements as if the arc of the universe really does bend towards justice. It belongs in the same category as films like “Green Room” (2015), “Bushwick” (2017) and the “Purge” franchise. It provides catharsis that is unacceptable in the real world but will leave audiences energized and ready to tackle the challenges of another day in dystopia.
