Cloves and Fedoras: Go Watch the Funny, and Dark, Movie "Freaks of Nature"

The other day I was flipping through the movie channels at home and I came across something that peaked my interest on one of the Showtime channels. I missed the name of the movie at first, but I saw the opening credits, and it was the cast that pulled me in. I saw names like Pat Healy, Patton Oswalt, Dennis Leary, Joan Cusack, Sam Westwick, Bob Odenkirk, Mae Whitman, Vanessa Hudgens and Josh Fadem. I like all of these people. Most are comedians that are actors that I have loved from hearing their stand up. Others are just born and bred actors that, for the most part, I enjoy. I also recognized the face of the male and female leads, Nicholas Braun, from "Sky High" and Mackenzie Davis, from "The Martian". I watched the movie for a bit and enjoyed it, but it is a bit too blue for my young kids, so I searched the name and recorded it to watch later. The movie is called "Freaks of Nature". By no means is this some epic, awesome movie like "Logan" or "Mad Max: Fury Road". But, "Freaks of Nature" filled that broad, absurd comedy/horror movie I tend to like.

"Freaks of Nature" takes place in a fictional town called Dillford where humans, vampires and zombies live among each other. The zombies have dog collar like things on their necks so they don't eat people's brains while everyone is out and about. The vampires only come out at night, unless they are in school, then they are put into dark classrooms. I like this type of stuff. It wasn't a zombie and vampire movie that was an end of the world type thing, they were just characters in a comedy.

When the movie started, there was a very big scene where both Braun and Hudgens were running from a mob filled with zombies, humans and vampires. A big fight had started over all the townspeople treating each other wrong. We then get a flashback to the previous day to see why this all started. There were some very funny scenes in the first part of this movie. Braun and his buddy complain about a girl that he likes. Fadem is a very smart kid that has his dreams crushed by a vampire teacher, excellently played by Keegan Michael Key. His first scene, in the teachers lounge, was laugh out loud funny. When he is constantly berating his fellow teachers, I was howling. Keegan Michael Key is a very, very funny and good actor.

Josh Fadem was also equally good in this movie. I like Josh Fadem a lot. He is odd, his comedy is weird, but put him in the right situation and he can thrive. He is great on "Better Caul Saul", and he was excellent as one of the leads in "Freaks of Nature". He has a crummy home life because his parents only care about their baseball star son, so he decides one day that he wants to be a zombie, and he lets Mae Whitman, who is already a zombie, bite him. His turn from smart student to zombie is very funny.

We also have Mackenzie Davis, who was also very decent in the movie. She is dating Westwick, who is a vampire, and she goes to a party with him one night, expecting to lose her virginity. But, he bites her instead, and she becomes a vampire herself. Watching her transformation is sad at first, but then becomes funny and ends pretty kick ass.

All this stuff happens prior to the very first scene, and then we have an alien invasion. All the fighting between the townspeople stops and they try to figure out how to stop these aliens. Fadem, Davis and Braun are some of the lone survivors from the big fight, then the invasion, so it is up to them to stop the aliens. they ban together, a human, vampire and zombie, and try to figure out how to get rid of this big threat. I loved all the stuff between the three of them. There was a great scene with Patton Oswalt, who is in a bunker, letting them in, saying some crazy stuff and then eventually getting eaten by Fadem while his mom gets eaten by Davis. I know it sounds gross and dour, but believe me, it was actually very funny.

I don't want to spoil too much for people because I think you should really search this movie out. I have given love to everyone in the movie, and Braun is the last. He was really good in this movie. I loved his role in "Sky High", so I was already a fan. But, to see him in an R rated movie was very cool. He is older, so he should try stuff like this, and I thought he did a very good job. He was funny. His interactions with his parents, wonderfully played by Cusack and Odenkirk was great. His crush on Hudgens, who was clearly not interested in him, was relatable. and his scenes opposite Davis were great.

Look, this movie will not be remembered as some great, classic genre bending movie. But, it was funny, I enjoyed watching it, and the cast, as far as comedy wise, was second to none. I was very happy to see Fadem in a starring role. He deserves more stuff like this. Davis was great. Braun was awesome. The rest of the cast, especially Key, was tremendous. I highly recommend people checking out "Freaks of Nature". Like I said, I found it on Showtime, so they will re air it a bunch for a couple months. If you don't have premium cable, I bet it is on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, whatever you may have. Check this movie out. It is funny and absurd, in all the right ways.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He one time was channel surfing and saw a show called "The Red Shoe Diaries" on Showtime. That was an adaptation of an old Tom Hanks comedy, right?

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.