Director – Steven Kostanski (Psycho Goreman, V/H/S/94)
Starring – Adam Brooks (The Editor, Dark Harvest), Matthew Kennedy (Manborg, Father’s Day), and Conor Sweeney (Divorced Dad, Another WolfCop)
Release Date – 2024
Rating – 3.5/5
I found myself obsessed with the film collective Astron-6 when I start my career here at Horror Society. When I was brought on I had just reviewed Father’s Day on my blog and moved the review over. It was then that I started looking more into them. Not long after this I was able to track down a copy of Manborg and their short collection solidifying my love for the group. Since then I’ve reviewed all their works aside from V/H/S/94 and that’s because I was unaware they contributed to that anthology until now.
A few weeks back I received a press release from my friends over at Shout Studios for Steven Kostanski’s Frankie Freako starring Adam Brooks, Matthew Kennedy, and Conor Sweeney. While I didn’t see the Astron-6 name used anywhere in the marketing for the film, I was still very familiar with those involved. I reached out to Shout and they were kind enough to send over a screener link for me to check out. I want to take a moment to thank Shout for allowing myself and Horror Society the opportunity to check it out!
**spoiler Alert** The film follows extreme square Conor (Sweeney) who finds himself home alone for the weekend while his beautiful (and sexually frustrated) wife is out of town. He catches a late night ad for a party service and calls it. He awakens the next morning to find his house trashed and three small creatures in his home. As panic sets in, he tries to remove them and clean his house up before his wife arrives. A prior job obligation derails this and once his gets his boss involved he finds himself fighting for his life as the three party animals refuse to leave. Conor then learns that they live in an alternate dimension and use the phone lines to travel to Earth to party because their home world is ruled by an evil man. Conor then vows to help them AND try to clean up the mess before his wife arrives back home. **Spoiler Alert**
Frankie Freako follows in the same line as Psycho Goreman where it may have some adult language but could easily be family friendly. The fact that they put out a film in the same vein as Munchie, Norm the Gnome, Ghoulies, and other straight to video little creature films from the late 80s and early 90s really blows my mind. Growing up I thought I was the only one renting these tapes from my local video store but I guess there was others out there like me. Frankie Freako does one hell of a job capturing that look and feel while giving us an original story.
The acting is exactly what you would expect from a film starring these three. While Matthew Kennedy is only here in voice only, you still get the fun performances from him along with Brooks and Sweeney. They deliver that campy performances they are known for while keeping the tone of the film intact. The supporting cast is solid as well but it’s these three that make these films so much fun.
The story for this one is simple, straight to the point, and could have easily been a direct to video 90s movie. A man calls one of those late night hotline ads that littered the commercial breaks of so many channels and finds his home overrun by little party animals with varying personalities that use the phone line to travel dimensions. This is some straight Terror Vision/ Andy Colby’s Incredibly Awesome Adventure type shit with puppets. It’s absolutely brilliant and a true love letter to the video store age. The pacing is great, the humor almost always finds it’s mark, and just when you think it’s over it hits you with the amazing last act that you don’t see coming.
Finally, the film is full of puppet mayhem. I loved the distinct look of each puppet and the massive monster at the end. My biggest complaint is the lack of gore in this one. We do get some blood, and as I stated before, we have amazing puppets, but some gore would have went a long way with this one. Overall, Frankie Freako is another fantastic release from Steven Kostanski. Like usual, it’s a throwback to a trend from our childhood and this trip is just as fun as the other. I highly recommend checking this one out when you have the chance.
