From the wacky world of Steve Kostanski’s workshop, comes another character inspired by ‘80s rubber creatures, this time playing on the subgenre of mischievous little monsters running amok à la Gremlins, Ghoulies and The Garbage Pail Kids Movie. Following up on his fan-favourite feature PG: Psycho Goreman, Konstanski summons forth Frankie Freako, a fantasy laugh riot that takes what would otherwise be the premise for a kid’s movie, and pumps it up for a midnight audience.
Suburban yuppie Conor (Conor Sweeney, The Editor) is facing an existential crisis. His boss Mr. Buechler (Adam Brooks, PG: Psycho Goreman) is telling him his board presentation needs to be spiced up because it’s too “bland.” His bombshell wife Kristina (Kristy Wordsworth, The Spy Who Never Dies) says he can be a bit of a “square.” How can Conor convince them that he is capable of taking a walk on the wild side? His answer comes in the form of a late-night commercial featuring a little red goblin advertising a hotline for a freaky party. Left alone one weekend, Conor finally gives in and calls the hotline. A voice on the other end of the phone asks if he’s ready to party, to which Conor exasperatedly replies “YES!”
“…a fantasy laugh riot that takes what would otherwise be the premise for a kid’s movie, and pumps it up for a midnight audience.”
Conor wakes up the next day in his bed with no memory of the night before. He walks into the living room to see that his house has been completely trashed, with mild obscenities scribbled all over the walls, and the floor littered with soda cans. Waiting for him in his kitchen are three goblins: Frankie Freako (voiced by Matthew Kennedy, Manborg) the leader of the posse and self-proclaimed “Party King,” Dottie Dunko (Meredith Sweeney, Father’s Day), a sassy cowgirl, and Boink Bardo (Adam Brooks), a half cyborg who can only say “Shabadoo!”
These Freakos want to keep the party going, and they’ll be damned if anyone gets in their way. Can Conor get rid of his unwanted guests? Can he fix up the house before Kristina gets back from her business trip? Will he still be able to make it to the office to help Mr. Buechler shred incriminating documents? Or will he learn to finally let loose and have fun?
Kostanski and his crew brought the Freakos to life using a combination of puppetry, animatronics, and computer FX to edit out the arm rods. The puppets’ movements and facial expressions are very limited, but that just adds to the humor and charm, like the tiny steps of the marionettes in Team America: World Police.
For most of the time, the Freakos are either sitting or partially hidden behind furniture. Dottie‘s mouth is at all times covered by a bandana, which likely saved puppeteers time and energy from having to animate her speaking. The look of the puppets themselves are original and unique to Konstanski’s style. Overall, Kostanski designed close to a dozen puppets in roughly eight weeks, and made multiple versions of principle characters with different functions. Initial builds for Frankie that were later scrapped were re-used as other characters.
The dialogue is juvenile and crude, but it’s presented with the understanding that what we’re watching is a satirical ode to a subgenre that dominated three to four decades ago. Occasionally, gags cross over into the devilishly dark with bloody and gooey results! The kind of jokes that would traumatize a child but leave a grown adult in stitches.
“Watching this movie is the equivalent of pigging out on a greasy all-dressed pizza and guzzling can after can of sugary soft drinks”
Frankie Freako reunites the Winnipeg-based Astron-6 family, who are no strangers to creating entire galaxies on a shoestring budget. Conor Sweeney plays the straight man to the chaotic energy of Frankie and his friends, while still cartoonishly mugging his way through each scene. Adam Brooks’ performance as a boss isn’t very different from his role as a dad in PG: Psycho Goreman, but his laid-back attitude still delivers on laughs.
Konstaski also employed the help of the team behind the YouTube movie review channel RedLetterMedia, bringing back Rich Evans (who had a single line as Death Trapper in PG: Psycho Goreman), this time providing the voice of the Big Bad President Munch. And returning as composers are electronic trio Blitz//Berlin, who previously collaborated with Konstanski on PG and The Void, and gave Frankie Freako a rocking soundtrack with copyright safe party ballads.
“The type of ride where everyone can turn off their brains and just have fun.”
Frankie Freako is best enjoyed in the company of friends who are equally versed in the creature camp of yesteryear. Watching this movie is the equivalent to pigging out on a greasy all-dressed pizza and guzzling can after can of sugary soft drinks. No need for nutritional value or intellectual stimulation. It’s the type of ride where everyone can turn off their brains and just have fun. Once Raven Banner unleashes Frankie Freako to cinemas and home viewing, everyone will be running to their phones to join the party!
Steve Kostanski’s Frankie Freako had its World Premiere at the 2024 edition of the Fantasia Film Festival. Click HERE to follow our continued coverage of the fest and let us know what your favorite little monster movie is in the Nightmare on Film Street Discord!
