Finally, one thing that really bugged me, was the imagery of the mental institution. Farley was in a bathrobe; which ruled out a home for the criminally insane, which generally use more suitable prison garb. But he was restrained with chain around both wrists; a practice which went out with the turn of the 19th century (more or less). There was also a shot of Farley in a cell with a barred front. Again, more appropriate for the criminally insane, and in which case he would have been handcuffed and probably shackled as well. If he was simply in a mental institution, he would have probably been restrained with leather straps instead. Both of these items are pretty easy to find, especially at sex shops (don't ask me how I know this); handcuffs of all sizes are cheap, and straps aren't terribly expensive, though they're usually black, so would have to be painted white. (Though, if all else fails, those can be made fairly easily.) If one is going for the criminally insane look, watch Gothika. For the more mental institution look - especially that of the 70s and 80s - watch Girl, Interrupted or Twelve Monkeys.
Freaky Farley was shot on Super 16mm film, in the style of 1970's and early 1980's horror films. While that's not my particular area of expertise, I'm not only impressed that film was used at all, but that it was done so successfully. There were very few lighting and hue balance problems - just one shot of a hobo that was far too dark compared with the reverse shot in the scene. (Of course, that's one of the advantages of film. It has far more usable latitude when it comes to exposure than digital does, which allows a lot of compensation to be done in post, although the cost of such compensation can easily go through the roof.) I think that the use of film with it's more dynamic color latitude also helped to take full advantage of the beautiful fall foliage.
In keep with themes of creepiness and voyeurism, there were a lot of subjective and surreptitious moving shots. Quite frequently one feels that the characters are being watched, even though no one ever shows up. It's a great way to add drama and suspense.
One thing I did notice, however, were a few shots that had some vignetting in the corners. I couldn't quite tell if it was done on purpose to be creepy, but as it seemed to appear in several non-creepy shots, my guess is that it was unintentional. Vignetting tends to happen when one zooms out too far and the camera catches the edges of the lens or lens shield (or, in more subtle cases, when there are are aberrations around the edge of the lens). It can be hard to catch, as one is usually more concerned with the items filling the frame as opposed to its edges, and in a creepier film it does seem to have been done on purpose. But it's always important to look out for this sort of thing, as it can become a noticeable mistake.
The special effects for the film were pretty good, particularly the costumes for the Trogs which, although one knows that they aren't real, did look pretty convincing. The killings, however, weren't quite as realistic. My guess is that this was done on purpose both to avoid higher special effects costs and to imitate the chosen style of 70s and 80s horror, though I've not seen near enough of said films (with the exception of Mystery Science Theater 3000, of course) to say for certain. If this was not the case, however, it might have been a good idea to employ some of those surreptitious shots, but closer in, and with very fast cuts. Sort of like the discovery of the Knights who say "Ni!" in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. (Yes, for readers of my past critiques, I'm slightly obsessed with the Pythons.)
As in every horror movie, music is critical. It has to set the tone and the creepy factor and, these days, is often used for false suspense just to keep the audience on their toes. The music in this film was great. It was creepy, but didn't get to be too much, and it didn't keep going and negate all the suspenseful moments either.
There were a few times where its volume overpowered the dialogue, but it seemed as though the level of dialogue was a bit too low in places, which was likely the problem. Remember to try to mix dialogue consistently to around -12dB. (Obviously, you can adjust the sound of it to make it fit into the visual space of the frame, but you want the actual dialogue to carry on at near that range.) Music is normally mixed to -18 dB as a bed.
