Freaked

It's a very punk rock sort of film, not unlike something Alex Cox would cook up. This film is essentially an environmentally-themed comedy along the lines of THE APPLEGATES, only this movie is about toxic chemicals and not deforestation (and there is a nice bit about styrofoam). But watching this film made me a bit sad as well, because I realized that Hollywood isn't going to give people the carte blanche needed to realize unique projects like this again during this age of endless remakes and sequels to films nobody liked in the first place.

The digital effects, although over 11 years old as I write this, still look great, and the make-up, especially close to the end, is very inspired, and resembles a live-action Basil Wolverton cartoon. I am eagerly anticipating the DVD, as well as watching Alex Winter's follow-up film, FEVER.

I was part of a test audience for this movie. I thought that the version that they showed us was MUCH better than what was actually released. Unfortunately, they must've changed it based on the comments of the oh-so-intellectual psychology grad students sitting in front of us. I rolled my eyes as they talked about the immaturity of the film and sight gags. Hello? If the movie is titled "Freaked" (or at the time "Hideous Mutant Freaks"), it's not going to be a historical drama. Gimme a break, this movie was full of funky good/bad jokes which had me howling! It's really too bad that this movie wasn't released a few years later, given the success of Dumb & Dumber, et cetera. It is good for what it is, a movie for people with warped senses of humor.

Starring the other half of Bill & Ted Alex Winter alongside William Sadler, Brooke Shields, Randy Quaid, Bobcat Goldthwaite, Mr T & a cameo appearance by Morgan Fairchild this bizarre horror comedy is better than it should have been.

What I mean by that is it's stupid really really stupid.

It tells the story of an actor who sells out and becomes the spokesperson for an evil chemical company. Somewhere along the way he and his friends fall foul of a twisted freakshow owner who doesn't find his freaks, he makes them!

Full of slapstick humour this will appeal to people who like the old Airplane (1980) movies. If you don't like a joke then fear not because another will be along in a matter of seconds.

The humour is purile but it works very well as one of those take your brain out pieces of entertainment.

With "Freaks" like the dog boy, beast boy, the worm, the nose, sock man, and the crazy frogman (Which is a guy in a diving suit) *Badamstish* the creature effects are excellent and deserved the awards they won.

If you're seeking something harmless but stupid this right here is for you.

The Good:

Creature effects

Some jokes really hit the mark

The Bad:

Painfully dumb in places

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Being half cocked isn't what it's cracked up to be

I can't look at Randy Quaid anymore without seeing him humping his wife while she's wearing a Rupert Murdoch mask

Bobcat Goldthwaite makes everything better

"Freaked" is pretty abnormal slapstick; an exercise in bad taste and definitely not intended for all audiences to see. Only if you have high tolerance for vulgar pranks, over-the-top performances & effects and really dumb situations, you might end up liking…probably LOVING this junk. This type of "humor", as we'll refer to it, can't really be compared to anything – not even the "Bill & Ted" movies – as it's obscene, mad as hell and extremely offensive. And yet, this is only obvious on the surface, since the screenplay also contains much more effective jokes and occasionally terrific satire towards showbiz and typically American vanity. Alex Winter plays the overly pretentious and greedy movie star Ricky Coogan, who reluctantly accepts a job as spokesman for a giant industrial company. His first mission is to travel to South Africa and promote this dubious company's most recent product – a lethal chemical called Zyglot – but, instead, he and his friends are captured by a grotesque freak-show owner and get turned into circus attractions themselves. Ricky and his partners in misfortune attempt to escape the mutant farm, which leads to all kind of indescribably insane situations. It's downright hilarious to see how major Hollywood stars parody themselves, like Mr. T as the bearded lady or Brooke Shields as the dumb talk show hostess. Several other gags made me laugh so hard I nearly had tears in my eyes! At one point, the freaks try to escape by ALL dressing up like milkmen! Can you imagine what a giant worm or a life-sized sock-puppet look like in a milkman outfit? Some of the grotesque special effects are courtesy of Screaming Mad George, so you can be sure they're impressive. Apparently it was Keanu Reeves underneath the wolf man make-up, yet I only discovered that after looking up the film here on this site. So, YES, the make-up is great! Excellent stuff, but be careful to whom you recommend it!

A young entrepreneur and former child star (Alex Winter) travels to South America for his corporation and tries to get a nasty chemical sold there. Instead, he stumbles upon a freak show and ends up becoming one of them -- deformed due to exposure to (what else?) the very chemical he was trying to market.

This film has everything going for it. I thought this was going to get a nine out of ten, and the folks from Netflix thought it would be the best film I ever saw. Randy Quaid, Alex Winter, that guy from "Blossom", Keanu Reeves, Bobcat Goldthwait, Larry Bud Melman, Brooke Shields and William Sadler. What a cast!

And the jokes are pretty funny (the airplane joke is hilarious and the Ramada Inn joke was priceless). Even the company name EES (Everything Except Shoes) was amusing. What went wrong? Two things failed for me. First, the jokes from the first half didn't continue into the second half. Many of the more clever moments were used up right away. Actually, I can't recall a good joke from the second half to be honest. And second, the movie relied almost exclusively on the "freaks" to be the entertainment. I didn't find them very interesting. Sure, the makeup department did a fine job. But it's just overkill. They didn't even give Keanu Reeves credit for his role, which I think would have helped the marketing and reception a great deal (you know, it's like a "Bill and Ted 3" or something).

Luckily the film is really short (like 73 minutes) so by the time it goes downhill, the movie is nearly over. But the film cannot rely on Brooke Shields to carry it and some of the jokes are just obscure (I liked the racist Frogman joke, but my friend Jason didn't get it). Rent this if your curiosity gets the best of you, but otherwise don't. Ten years from now, this will be even more forgotten than it is right now (if that's possible).