by Anthony O'Connor
Worth: Discs: 3, The Film: 3.5/5, The Extras: 5/5, Overall: 8.5/10
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Alex Winter, Michael Stoyanov, Megan Ward, William Sandler, Randy Quaid, Morgan Fairchild, Keanu Reeves, Mr T, Brooke Shields, John Hawkes
Intro:
… if you love practical special effects, absurdist comedy and films that weren’t given their due at time of release …
The Film:
There are films that, when you see them, feel as if they were custom designed for you specifically. Cinema that causes you to murmur to yourself “these guys get it.” Freaked was such a film for your humble word janitor at a formative age; a fast-paced, surreal, visually inventive comedy that is gleefully bizarre and cheerfully indifferent if you’re keeping up with it or nah. That said, it is an acquired taste, to put it mildly. Friends of your loyal scribe declared it “shithouse” and a “try hard movie”, and the wider audience response in general was often confusion, hostility and gassiness (that last one possibly coincidental). It seemed that, despite its staggering array of talent both in front of and behind the camera, Freaked would be lost in relative obscurity, remembered only by sweaty weirdos, twitchy loners and grinning stoners. That is, until the good people at Umbrella got involved and hand-crafted a boxset that will thrill those happy few who have loved this goofy, surreal jaunt of a flick.
Freaked is the story of obnoxious former child star Ricky Coogin (Alex Winter), who accepts a commercial endorsement gig from the sinister Everything Except Shoes corporation. Said gig is promoting a fertilizer known as Zygrot 24, but any concern about the various side effects vanishes when Ricky is offered a big pile of dosh. Teaming up with his best mate, Ernie (Michael Stoyanov), Ricky lobs over to the South American town of Santa Flan where he meets hot environmentalist, Julie (Megan Ward), who despises everything about him. Things take a turn for the bizarre when Ricky, Ernie and Julie are all kidnapped by the moustache twirling nutbag, Elijah C. Skuggs who turns our heroes into hideous mutant freaks – Ernie and Julie meld to become a single two-headed person and Ricky becomes a butt ugly, pus-squirting creature of nightmare. Can our heroes escape with the help of a veritable army of fellow freaks or will they be stuck in Santa Flan, exploited by Skuggs and mocked by normies?
One of the most interesting revelations about Freaked is that it began life as a low budget, edgy production designed to showcase the music and mayhem of the alt rock band, The Butthole Surfers. Through various machinations too long to go into here (but fascinatingly detailed in the numerous extras), this thing ended up with a serious budget for the time (around $18.2 million AUD). This meant that the film’s many special make-up effects were done by absolute masters of the craft like Tony Gardner (Army of Darkness, Child’s Play), Steve Johnson (Ghostbusters, Species), and Screaming Mad George (Society, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master). The result is a film whose script and direction (from Alex Winter and Tom Stern) brims with punk rock attitude but with production values that rivalled much of mainstream cinema at the time. It’s a weird experience watching it all these years later, with the fast-paced Zucker Brothers style gag delivery combined with a counterculture nihilism and snark that in many ways feels like a precursor to animated comedies like Family Guy and Rick and Morty.
It doesn’t always work. Some of the gags feel a little played out now and Ricky himself is such an insufferable prick for most of the film, he’s a hard character to root for. Still, in terms of sheer creative chutzpah, Freaked is an absolute embarrassment of riches. The inventiveness of the freaks, the surreal visual comedy (gigantic machine-gun toting, weed smoking, rasta-spouting eyeballs, anyone?), the stunt casting of people like Keanu Reeves, Mr T (as the Bearded Lady, no less) and Brooke Shields (who is unexpectedly hilarious) all works really well. Plus there’s a genuine fascination in watching a piece of art that in no way fits in the corporate mould into which it was thrust.
Put it this way, would you want every film to be like Freaked? Hell, no. You’d lose your mind. But are we glad that a film like Freaked exists? Abso-blutty-lutely.
Extras:
There are an absurd amount of extras here. ABSURD. There’s an audio commentary with co-writers/co-directors Tom Stern and Alex Winter. There are three cuts of the film in all – the theatrical version, the Workprint Alternate Cut and The Rehearsal Version Alternate Cut.
There are interviews with both directors (The Night’s Special Guest with Alex Winter is particularly charming), deep dives into the writing, the cinematography and special make-up effects designer, Tony Gardner. There’s a chat from Paul Leary of The Butthole Surfers and even a short film from Winter and Stern. Plus, there are featurettes on the second life of media in physical form from Jake Boston, make-up tests and deleted scenes.
As if that wasn’t already enough (and it is!), there are HOURS of uncut behind-the-scenes footage that even the biggest Freaked obsessives in the world might balk at trawling through. Plus, the fancy pants Collector’s Edition comes with a 100+ page book, the script, an original comic book, custom art stickers (!), SO YOU’RE A HIDEOUS MUTANT FREAK, NOW WHAT? pamphlet (like the one from the movie), a custom rigid case with art from Thomas Nicolette and a bloody canvas poster!
Honestly, this may be one of the most feature-complete 4K releases in recent memory, perhaps of all time, and if you’re deeply in love with this movie you’re going to be eating well with this release.
Verdict:
Like a lot of cultural artifacts from the early ‘90s, Freaked brims with snarky attitude and creative verve. While the former can get a little tiring at times, the latter makes for a highly engaging, at times very funny viewing experience that will have you murmuring, “how did this ever get made?”
Combine that with what is surely the most absurdly overstuffed collection of extras we’ve seen in yonks and you’ve got a heaving mutant sack of goodies here. This absolutely won’t be a worthwhile investment for everyone, but if you love practical special effects, absurdist comedy and films that weren’t given their due at time of release – then Freaked may well (human sized) worm its way into your weird, little black heart.
