‘Freaks Of Nature’ Red Band Trailer Hits, And It’s Somewhere Between ‘Zombieland’ And ‘Scary Movie’ [Video]
The official Freaks of Nature red band trailer is here, and reactions are mixed across the internet. Some are really looking forward to the October 30 release date, while others are predicting it’s just going to be another horrible parody destined for the bargain bin.
This isn’t the only “zombie movie” having been announced recently, as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies also saw its first trailer. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, it features Cinderella taking on the undead with a set of blades.
Freaks of Nature appears to be taking advantage of recent blockbuster horror and science fiction films. In the early 2000s, vampires were the big favorite, possibly kickstarted with Blade and then perpetuated into the female audience’s guilty pleasure known as the Twilight series. While Stephanie Meyer’s take on vampires was taking over theaters, we were also treated to a return of the zombie movie genre. Zombieland was the big hit which brought it back in 2009, and The Walking Dead has helped keep it going to this day.
According to the Freaks of Nature red band trailer, directed by Robbie Pickering and written by Oren Uziel, the film combines these popular horror characters with an alien invasion. Set in the not-so-quiet town of Dillford, Ohio, where the undead are about a quarter of the population, aliens begin causing a ruckus and bring a post-apocalyptic free-for-all.
Director Robbie Pickering is a relative newcomer, having only Natural Selection and the short film Prom Night to his credit. Writer Oren Uziel is another potential talent whose one movie credit is the Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum comedy 22 Jump Street. He is also responsible for what could be a reboot to Mortal Kombat and the sequel Men in Black 4. The Freaks of Nature red band trailer could be the beginning of a film between them which could make or break them both.
Possibly the most promising aspect is the Freaks of Nature cast, which includes a few notable and successful comedians. Keegan Michael Key (Key and Peele), Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul), Denis Leary (Demolition Man), and Patton Oswalt (Ratatouille) are among the top billed cast.
Bob Odenkirk played opposite Jonathan Banks in Vince Gilligan’s tale about a man making himself into a drug kingpin, but he was a comedian before he was Breaking Bad‘s criminal lawyer Saul Goodman.
Denis Leary, who plays beer chugging, shotgun wielding Rick Wilson in the Freaks of Nature red band trailer, made a few cameos in Sylvester Stallone’s action hit Demolition Man as almost a continuation of his character in the music video for “A**hole.” He’s been in quite a few other films such as The Thomas Crown Affair and The Amazing Spider-Man, showing that he does have acting range.
Keegan Michael Key is another amazing comedic actor, having played opposite Jordan Peele in the Comedy Central sketch series Key and Peele, which took black comedy into 2015.
Who’s spending Halloween weekend watching @VanessaHudgens in ‘Freaks Of Nature?’ ?? pic.twitter.com/x7J9zSWecm
— Team Hudgens NYC (@TeamHudgensNYC) October 17, 2015
Patton Oswalt also barely needs introduction, having had several highly successful stand-up comedy specials. He’s also done films such as Blade: Trinity and 22 Jump Street, and starred opposite “Weird” Al Yankovic in the “Foil” music video. Hopefully he has more than the cameo seen in the Freaks of Nature red band trailer.
Some moviegoers are calling the upcoming horror comedy stupid and worth skipping, while others say it’s funny enough to get away with being stupid. The line between the two has been straddled for most of the Scary Movie franchise, which ranged from watchably funny to just painful.
What do you think of the Freaks of Nature red band trailer? Does it make you want to see the horror comedy on October 30, or will you be skipping it in favor of an actually scary movie?
[Feature image via Sony / YouTube]
