New on DVD: 'Freaky' makes Friday the 13th magic

A body-swap horror movie that equally frights and delights tops the new DVD releases for the week of Feb. 9. "Freaky": It's homecoming week, which, in the town of Blissfield, is also The Blissfield Butcher's (Vince Vaughn) hunting season. This means trouble for high-schooler Millie (Kathryn Newton), who waits and waits on a bench outside her school for her mom (Katie Finneran) just one night after The Butcher has struck their community. Grief-stricken after Millie's dad's death, her mom has passed out drinking on the couch again, leaving Millie to fend for herself when The Butcher finds her. After a brief chase, it's mayhem on the football field, as The Butcher has Millie in his clutches, raising a cursed knife stolen from a rich collector and plunging it into Millie's shoulder as the full moon fills the sky. Only, as Millie's cop sister (Dana Drori) interrupts, the stab wound makes The Butcher bleed, too. The next morning, the unthinkable has happened (or, if you've seen any iteration of "Freaky Friday," it's pretty thinkable): Millie and The Butcher have swapped bodies, leaving the serial killer free to roam the high school and trapping Millie in a brutish man's body ("I'm a giant," she laments, trying and failing to keep a low profile). From there, chaos and deaths abound, and creative ones at that. But what the film accomplishes is much bigger in its playful but sharp gender identity analysis, not to mention revenge against the patriarchy and privilege, in the script by Michael Kennedy and writer-director Christopher Landon. And it's downright fun. Best friends Nyla (Celeste O'Connor) and Josh (Misha Osherovich) help establish the charming, bonkers vibe ("It's a slaughterhouse!" Josh announces, almost cheerily, after four of their classmates are brutally murdered). But at the forefront, Vaughn's performance as Millie-as-The Butcher is an absolute delight. It would be an easy role to mine for cheap laughs, but he manages to both keep it grounded in truth, as Millie fights to get her body (and agency) back, and wildly funny. And Newton holds her own as The Butcher-as-Hot Millie, trapping predatory high school boys with newfound sexuality and deftly weaponizing white woman tears. The ending is a bit much in a way that feels like a drastic tonal shift, but the rest of the film is such a boisterous romp that it's easy to forgive, a giant, fresh storytelling success. ALSO NEW ON DVD TUESDAY "Elizabethtown": 2005 drama explores suicidal man's (Orlando Bloom) reawakening by an optimistic flight attendant (Kirsten Dunst). Remastered/out on Blu-ray for the first time. "Greenland": A man (Gerard Butler) struggles to bring his family to safety amid an extinction-level threat from a comet. "Jiang Ziya": A commander (Zheng Xi) faces a heart-wrenching decision when he discovers the fate of humanity is attached the soul of an innocent girl. In Mandarin. "Love Story": 1970 romantic drama following young couple's (Ryan O'Neal and Ali MacGraw) grappling with terminal illness has been restored in a limited edition Blu-ray. "Monster Zone": Animated film follows teenage boy at boarding school who stumbles upon another dimension, inadvertently summoning monsters. Features voice talents of Jamie Bell, Jayssolitt and Ruby Rose. "The Little Prince": 2015 animated film available on DVD and Blu-ray for the first time follows girl who hears the soul-affirming story of the young royal on Asteroid B-612. Features vocal talents of Mackenzie Foy, Jeff Bridges, Rachel McAdams, Paul Rudd, Marion Cotillard, Benicio del Toro, Albert Brooks and more. "The Right One": A writer (Cleopatra Coleman) falls for a constantly changing, eccentric man (Nick Thune) who inspires her as a muse. "Sputnik": A young doctor (Oksana Akinshina) must check out an astronaut (Pyotr Fyodorov) who returned to Earth with a mysterious parasite. In Russian. "Wander Darkly": Couple (Sienna Miller and Diego Luna) experience a horrible accident that forces them into a shared traumatic reality. OUT ON DIGITAL HD TUESDAY "Happy Times": What starts as an innocent Shabbat dinner transforms into a deadly night at a Hollywood estate. Stars Stéfi Celma, Michael Aloni and Shani Atias. In Hebrew and English. "The Reunited States": Documentary follows people dedicated to bridging political divide. "Tazmanian Devil": A Nigerian immigrant college student (Abraham Attah) is torn between his evangelist estranged father and a local frat. OUT ON DIGITAL HD FRIDAY "Cowboys": Father (Steve Zahn) escapes to the Montana wilderness with his trans son (Sasha Knight) after his ex-wife (Jillian Bell) refuses to support her son's gender identity. ©2021 Tribune Content Agency, LLC