When Conor’s wife gets dolled up in lingerie for date night, she tells him she was thinking that maybe they could do a little more than hold hands for a change. “What more is there?” Conor asks incredulously. There are many movies (most of them) in which I simply wouldn’t accept a joke as lame as that, but it’s less about the joke and more about the way it’s told. In his previous film, Psycho Goreman, director Steven Kostanski included a scene that had me laugh uncontrollably for several minutes straight; it involved a telepathic connection taking place, without warning, in a bathroom.
In an even earlier picture of his, Manborg, Kostanski crafted an entire feature held together by a few hundred bucks, duct tape, and a load of guerrilla creativity. That movie relied heavily (and charmingly) on the kind of CGI that wouldn’t convince a toddler, but boy was it fun. The bigger his budgets get, the less he relies on CGI and the more he employs the kind of practical effects that tickle me to pieces. In Frankie Freako, I’m thrilled to report the creature effects are obvious puppets.
Conor, frustrated by the fact that even his boss thinks he’s a hopeless square, decides to call a party hotline as advertised on TV. Perhaps it’s more of a Canadian thing, but I ate, slept, and breathed late night television in the states and I absolutely do not remember any such advertisements for party lines that didn’t promise scantily clad women would call you, but I digress. Upon waking up the following morning, Conor discovers he blacked out while partying hard the night before. His trashed home is now inhabited by three prankster creatures of the Ghoulies variety who refuse to leave until Conor learns to lighten up permanently.
It’s not long before the evil corporation that subjugated Frankie Freako’s entire planet catches wind of the creatures’ whereabouts and kidnaps them along with Conor. The bad guys are voiced by the Red Letter Media regulars, which was particularly surprising as I clocked Rich Evans’ voice in Psycho Goreman immediately, but in this one, I had no idea he had such a large role (the main villain, in fact) until the credits rolled. At any rate, Conor must let his freak(o) flag fly in order to get back to earth and rekindle his relationship with his wife. All the while, Kostanski has fun with the kind of absurd plot conventions that were only routine in the coked-up 80s.
As of this writing, the movie is available on Shudder.
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