Goofy & Spooky

Lili’s Pick: Bit

Lanie’s Pick: Freaks of Nature

As much as we adore traditionally terrifying horror films, my sister and I are partial to many a goofy and spooky film. I would even venture to say that the confluence of horror and comedy is my favorite combination—if it’s done right. I would say that one of these films was successful in its spooky buffoonery, while the other only scratched the surface. The 2015 film Freaks of Nature fell tragically under the radar, leaving it to rot in the $1.99 section of Amazon Prime. How this film escaped my awareness is beyond me, for it showcases just about everything that I love: vampires, aliens, and Nicholas Braun. The light-hearted but still crass humor paired nicely with the ridiculous “scary” elements, doing well to both satirize the horror genre and pay homage to it. From the moment this movie opened to the second it closed, I was cracking up, and this is thanks to the film’s excellent ensemble of a cast and their farcical acuity. Plus, I think this film introduced me to my new favorite fictional parents, the title previously held by Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci of Easy A, now belongs to Joan Cusack and Bob Odenkirk—who play the stoner mother and father to the always charming Nicholas Braun. It seems like one of those movies that could so easily be cast aside due to its obvious ridiculousness, but any self-respecting horror/comedy lover would be remiss to ignore it. Bit, on the other hand, felt so close to being excellent, and it makes one wonder how much more brilliant it could’ve been with a bigger budget and a tighter script. Many of the jokes fell flat and an uncomfortable amount of the dialogue was borderline cringey, but the story here is worth telling, and certainly worth watching. It follows a trans girl who, upon visiting her brother in Los Angeles, falls into a group of feminist female vampires. And while this premise alone was enough to hook me in, I’m not sure if it accomplished everything that it set out to do. Apart from a montage involving a centuries-old villainous vampire king set to “Rasputin”, there’s not a bevy of memorable moments. But that scene alone, along with the heart and magnetism of its characters, make this an easy and fun watch.