Dag (Nicholas Braun) is your average, awkward, high school boy who has a crush on the girl next door, Lorelei (Vanessa Hudgens, High School Musical). Too bad she seems to be interested in everyone but him. One of those boys, Milan (Ed Westwick), just happens to be someone that Petra (Mackenzie Davis, The Martian) is interested in. Meanwhile, the nerdiest kid in school, Ned (Josh Fadem), who just happens to be the brother of the biggest jock in the school, is having a really hard time dealing with his family after his older brother ends up injured and his future as an athlete is in jeopardy.
All this sounds like normal high school drama, right? Well, when you throw in the fact that Petra's crush is a vampire that turns her and Ned's time away from his family leads him to purposefully getting bit by a zombie because they just don't care, then you start to get the idea of what high school is like with humans and the undead intermingling. While that itself could be a fun premise for a movie, Freaks of Nature takes the story up a notch by adding an alien invasion into the mix.
When the city is thrown into chaos and all three factions are at each other's throats, or brains, Dag finds himself teaming up with newly turned Petra and Ned, looking for some way to survive and stop the aliens before their entire town is abducted. What follows is comedy, high school drama and even a tad bit of classic movie monster mayhem.
While Braun, Davis and Fadem do a fantastic job as the movie's leads, Freaks of Nature wouldn't be the treat it is without the supporting cast. Everyone from Dag's parents, Bob Odenkirk and Joan Cusack, to the school's vampire teacher played by Keegan-Michael Key and Ned's family (Chris Zylka, Ian Roberts and Rachael Harris) all add to the overall feel of this film. Rounding out the supporting cast are Denis Leary, Ed Westwick (Gossip Girl), and Patton Oswalt and they all do great in their various roles.
Freaks of Nature doesn't have a lot in the way of special features, but what it has is amusing. The Alternate Opening gives a bit more insight into the town and why everyone is fine co-habitating with vampires and zombies, while the Deleted Scenes are a nice addition, but weren't really necessary for the overall story. The Gag Reel is fun, as these things tend to be, but a good number of the outtakes were already in the movie's closing credits, and having started the Gag Reel right after ending the movie, the duplication of footage was very apparent. Regardless, these extras add a nice bit of added content to an already good package.
Freaks of Nature is a fun, campy movie with an amusing premise. While I can't say it is for the whole family because of the strong sexual content and ridiculous amounts of blood (especially when vampires are killed), it isn't so far into the horror genre that those who are squeamish will want to avoid the film.
