I love how many movies there have been set in and around Oakland, California over the past few years. Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck have chosen to cash in their "Captain Marvel" blank check to make an anthology film of strange, freaky little urban legends set in Oakland, in 1987. Though it takes some influences from movies like "Creepshow," "Heavy Metal," and "Scanners," "Freaky Tales: isn't properly a horror or science-fiction movie. Instead, it takes place in a very hyperstylized comic-book universe, where reality can get warped. Characters keep spotting a mysterious green light that appears when something is about to get wild - from a wronged man using psychic powers to punish some scumbag murderers, to a pair of newbie female rappers about to throw down against a pro.
Each story is from a different genre and spotlights different subcultures, but all four take place adjacent to each other, roughly at the same time. In the first, a group of punks defend the Gilman, a beloved East Bay music club, against attacks by neo-Nazis. The leads are youngsters Travis (Angus Cloud), and Tina (Ji-Young Yoo), whose romance blossoms as the hostilities heat up. Next, comes the showdown between the rap duo Danger Zone, featuring best friends Barbie (Dominique Thorne) and Entice (Normani), and West Coast hip-hip legend Too $hort (DeMario Symba Driver). Third is the tale of a debt collector named Clint (Pedro Pascal), who intends to quit the sordid business until his wife Grace (Natalia Dominguez) becomes a victim of a revenge plot gone wrong. Finally, beloved Golden State Warriors basketball player Sleepy Floyd (Jay Ellis) is obliged to take matters into his own hands when he's targeted in a robbery orchestrated by a crooked cop (Ben Mendelsohn). This involves an extended action sequence with a katana and throwing stars.
I love how "Freaky Tales" looks, with its comics-inspired framing devices, stylized characters and some old fashioned special effects. Even the titles have been tweaked to add VHS artefacts. The basketball game in the last story is done with traditional animation clips and the action showdowns are wildly over-the-top, Grindhouse-style clashes that are a whole lot of fun to watch. It's a little surprising to spot actors like Pedro Pascal and Ben Mendelsohn in this movie - not to mention the old guy playing the sage video store clerk - but they're all clearly enjoying themselves. Mendelsohn is so good at playing a real mustache-twirling villain who we all know is going to get it in the end. And that end is suitably epic in a very '80s way. Jay Ellis as Sleepy Floyd, however, is the one most likely to show up on T-shirts in the future. In short, for a fan of 80s B-movies, there are a lot of nostalgic joys to be had. I don't know what a mainstream audience is going to think, but this movie has all the earmarks of a future cult favorite.
"Freaky Tales" was shot on location in the East Bay for the most part, and uses real people and events for additional authenticity. The real Sleepy Floyd and Too $hort make cameo appearances, along with several Bay Area landmarks. At the same time, there are some touches that highlight that this is an idealized fantasy of the past, a vision of the way things might have been if attitudes had been a little different. The four segments are of varying quality, and there are some significant ups and downs and rough spots with the plotting. The debt collector story in particular feels fragmentary and not thought through enough. Still, the spirit of the enterprise won me over, and there are so many little moments that made me downright gleeful. This is so clearly a love letter to this place and time and community - and no surprise that Oakland is Ryan Fleck's hometown.
This is an 80s throwback, but at the same time "Freaky Tales" feels like an original - or at least the kind of film that doesn't come around too often anymore.
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