From its pulpy title, to its retro-computerised intro with Giorgio Moroder-style synths, to its opening voiceover (“Oakland in ’87 was hella wild”), it’s clear within seconds that Freaky Tales aims for culty midnight-movie status. On that front it largely succeeds, boasting a scrappy energy, outsider outlook, and local focus that feels like a sharp pivot from the slick universe-expansion of writer-directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s previous film, MCU behemoth Captain Marvel. As an anthology of stories inflected with supernatural flourishes — and occasional bursts of ultra-violence — the film’s title proves apt: here lie four freaky tales, no more, no less.

As per most anthologies, some stories are better than others. The opening chapter — in which two loved-up punks lead a fightback against a local gang of Nazi skinheads — is a blast, with rebellious use of scrawly animation that invades the screen. The fourth and final tale — in...