FilmRoar

It’s kind of like Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989) meets Gremlins (1984)… no wait, better make that Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991) meets Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990). In this Alex Winter / Tim Burns (An American Werewolf in Paris (1997)) / Tom Stern creation, Ricky (Winters) is coerced to promote an evil corporation’s plans to use a toxic chemical in South America. While en route our hero and his best friend runs into an environmentalist protestor and winds up prisoner of a mad scientist/freak show baker (played with no reservations by Randy Quaid) and is turned into a side-show freak. Weirded out yet? Wait, it gets better! Rounding our the cast are Brooke Shields, Mr. T, Bob Goldthwait, Joe Baker and (in an uncredited role Keanu Reeves. Now there is a gold-mine for playing Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.

With the new 2-disc DVD release, Freaked (1993) is hoping to become a cult favorite, and it is quirky and imaginative enough that it just might make it. The discs are well crafted and rich with extras, some of which (like hours of rehersal footage) are more filler than content. I did greatly enjoy though an early Tom Stern / Alex Winter short ‘Squeal of Death’ shot in a Tex Avery over the top style.

I doubt the movie will ever realize any wide appeal, simply because there are only so many people out there who go for leading men that keep squirting puss out of facial eruptions and a string of sight gags and puns. The reason it might hit big on a small audience though is that the squirting puss and other costumes are all terribly well crafted and the sight puns and gags are, for the most part, quite funny in an early ’80s Bob Goldthwait movie kind of way. I personally enjoyed parts of the movie, mostly marveling at the rich sets and design on what was obviously a small budget but honestly I think you have to do a lot more drugs to really get Freaked.