Frankie Freako, which just screened at Fantastic Fest and opens in theaters today is a film I’ve been following since its Canadian premiere at Fantasia. The latest by Astron-6 alum Steven Kostanski, who’s made a name for himself after the Canadian film collective called it quits, with the likes of PG: Psycho Goreman, The Void and Manborg to his credit, has the director once again crafting a cinematic love letter to another bygone sub-genre. Frankie Freako is a celebration of Tiny Monster films, specifically the knock offs of Gremlins, which really lends itself to the director’s handmade and sincere style. As a rabid fan of these films, I’ve been very excited to see what Kostanski’s take would be, and its part update and part homage, that feels like the kind of film you’d watch at a pizza party sleepover in the 90s.
The film follows Conor(Conor Sweeney) who is essentially told by everyone in his life he’s boring. While his wife is out of town for work and after being inundated for ads for Frankie’s Freako Phone line, Conor decides to take a walk on the wild side, and call the 900 number. He wakes up the next day to a trashed house and 3 tiny monsters called freakos now inhabiting his home. The film transposes the plot of a child stuck with a group of monsters wreaking havoc while his parents are away, to an adult man who’s wife is away – who’s equally helpless as he struggles to find his inner freak, to prove those folks who think he’s boring wrong. It’s an audacious journey of self discovery powered by Frankie Freako’s trademark Fart Cola.
The film very much tanspries in the rubber suited, stop motion universe Kostanski is known for, but this time around he’s taken the premise and he’s aged his protagonist up a few years. I think that’s important, because the lesson of being yourself and being happy with who you are is one that’s not just for kids in our current social media obsessed world. But it’s also how Connor Sweeney sort of interpolates his character with complete sincerity that hits this point home, he’s meant to be a normal guy who like most of us as he got older started to play it a little safer, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I think that’s what the film is trying to tackle thematically. It’s fine to be yourself even as an adult, even if your cutting loose is simply watching a movie or something more low key.
Frankie Freako is a lighthearted, wholesome and sometimes dark take that feels less like a cringey homage and more like a proper film in the canon. Steven shows a genuine love and familiarity with the tropes and hallmarks of these films, while not talking down or trying to come off as some kind of ironic, meta deconstruction. He’s just out to make the best damn tiny monster movie he can and it isn’t heavy handed with nostalgia, and instead feels confident enough to craft his own story. While it doesn’t overstay its welcome, Freako still checks all the boxes and leave the viewer with hope this isn’t the last time we’ll see the Freakos. As a fan I couldn’t have asked for anything more, and if you feel the same way you will most definitely enjoy this as well.
