Freaked

Butt ugly But funny
a review
by Ryan & Nicolette

"Freaked" has become the epitome of the modern cult movie. "Cult-comedy" might be the best term to describe it. It is hilarious, revolting, bizarre, full of famous actors in cameos and rarely seen by anyone outside the filmmakers' immediate family. When "Freaked" was released in 1994, the trailer proudly announced "Freaked: Coming soon to... a theatre". This may have been a bit premature as "Freaked" was barely even given a proper video release.That may be why you have never heard of this little comedic gem. Luckily, and thankfully, Anchor Bay Entertainment has rescued this film, like many others, from obscurity and is giving the Freaked DVD release deluxe treatment as well.

"Freaked", formerly "Freekz", fomerly "Hideous Mutant Freekz", formerly "Very Special People", etc. is the brainchild of filmmakers Alex Winter (of "Bill and Ted" fame) and Tom J. Stern (of TBS "Monkey-ed Movies" fame). Together with co-writer Tim Burns, they crafted this beautiful ode to those shunned by society, those looked down upon by "normal" people, those forced to eek out their livings by being publicly humiliated as sideshow oddities: I am referring to, of course, former child actors. "Freaked" was originally going to be a low budget indie cult film centering around the band, the Butthole Surfers. However, 20th Century FOX became involved and decided to give Alex and Tom $10+ Million provided they do a rewrite. Thus, the Buttholes were out (mostly) and "Freaked" was born in its present incarnation.

"Freaked" is the story of former child actor Ricky Coogin (played by Alex) who is hired by the Everything Except Shoes Corporation (EES) to pitch a new brand of fertilizer, "Zygrot 24" in the country Santa Flan (named for the patron saint of creamy desserts). Coogan along with his friend Ernie (played by Michael Stoyanov, of "Blossom" fame) and naïve environmentalist/ potential girlfriend Julie (played by Megan Ward) decide to take a detour to visit "Freekland", a sideshow run by the demented redneck Elijah C. Skuggs (played brilliantly! by Randy Quaid). Little do they know they are destined to become his latest attractions. To give some idea as to the extent of Skuggs madness, he reveals that he can "look at a guy like Kevin Costner and see a giant peach grub who can fart the Blue Danube". Skuggs proceeds to transform the three "friends" into the things they hate the most. This is where the film really kicks in full force. Coogin and the others meet up with the other freaks who are imprisoned at "Freekland". These include Rosie the Pinhead, Cowboy (Cow-boy, get it?), Sockhead (voiced by comedian Bobcat Goldthwait), The Hideous Frogman, The Worm, The Bearded Lady (ever wonder what Mr. T looks like in drag? Here's your chance!), the Eternal Flame and Ortiz the Dog-Boy (played by Keanu Reeves in an uncredited - and unforgettable - cameo as the leader of the freaks). The make up effects by Screaming Mad George are truly amazing,and the film just continues to become darker and more bizarre. First Ricky and his friends try to make their escape as milkmen (12 milkmen on the same route is possible, 13 is just silly) but are then captured by two rastafarian eyeballs with machine guns. On the evening Ricky Coogin gets turned into an evil superfreak they defeat Elijah C. Skuggs once and for all.

If you like your entertainment a little "left of center" and your music loud then this is the film for you. The over-the-top visuals are accompanied by songs by Blind Idiot God, Henry Rollins, the Butthole Surfers and even features a Parliament/Funkadelic reunion over the end credits.

Here follows a review of the extras on the discs:

Disc 1:

Audio commentary with Alex & Tom
Here they discuss how the film evolved from a low budget video for the Butthole Surfers into a feature film with a 12 million dollar budget utlizing their own amusing way of storytelling with humorous insights, embarrased laughter over the worst jokes in the film, and a good supply of funny anecdotes. They’re both very talkative and it’s very entertaining to hear how they look back upon the making of the film.

Hijinx in Freekland
Behind the scenes footage on the set of Freaked which features various cast and crew members having fun on the set. Mr T is a hoot to see in a dress, the girl in the Sockhead costume does some cool Thriller-dance and we see Tom and Alex goofing around with all kinds of stage properties including ehhh...... a stuffed six legged goat.

A conversation with Tim Burns
The quiet, or as he puts it “less interesting” 3rd writer of the movie. Tim tells how the idea for the film got started and the how the script was written. He had already worked together with Alex and Tom on The Idiot Box for MTV and later did the movie “An American Werewolf in Paris” with Tom. Tim came up with his character The Hideous Frogman for Freaked and he remembered how damn hot it was in that costume during the making of the film. He also explains how “The Wheel of Fortune” scene and Rick’s “Tearful Farewell Scene” didn’t make it into the American cut of the film. “Some Europeans may have seen those” he says, and yes, I guess I’m one of those Europeans.

Deleted scenes

Freaked Art Gallery
A selection of concept drawings, sketches, ad images, posters and storyboards. I personally really liked the early sketches and the concept drawings. They’re beautifully drawn and give you a pretty good idea of the initial intentions of the filmmakers.

Theatrical Trailer

Screenplay
at the end of disc 1 you find a DVD-ROM version of the screenplay.

Disc 2:

Freaked: The Reehersel Version
A full length rehearsal of the film by most of the actors (including Keanu Reeves sans Dog-Boy make up) on videotape, featuring scenes and dialogue that never made it into the final film. The actors are acting out the film with a script in their hand and it seems that everybody is just having fun getting into character.

There Are No Weirdos Here!
Five minute rehearsal of a few of the film’s scenes on videotape, including Gibby Haynes (Butthole Surfers lead singer) without his Cow Boy costume and Derek McGrath practising his role as The Human Worm.

It’s The Troll !
Terrifying footage of young Alex Zuckerman developing the character of Stuey “the troll” Gluck. Cute kid with an enormous lung capacity, wow he sure can scream !

Under construkshen
Home video providing you with a brief look behind the scenes at the building of Freekland.

Behold... The Beast Boy!
This feature gives you a look at the make-up process undergone by Alex to transform into The Beast Boy. Impressive paintwork by Bill Corso but I bet it must have been a grueling experience to undergo at times.

Squeal of Death and NYU Sight and Sound Project
Two NYU short films. The first one (Squeal of Death) took Tom and Alex 3 years to finish. Alex dubbed the whole movie in his hotel room at Universal when he was shooting Lost Boys, and he wasn’t even in filmschool anymore when they finished it. This was the film that caught the attention from people at Columbia and made Tom and Alex move out west and do more movies. The second one is one of Tom’s Sight and Sound projects at NYU. For a summary of these two shorts go here.

The initial concept & design	The make-up procedure, which had a average daily start time of 3 a.m.

The appliance of the lips and teeth, and the painting procedure	The final product.

For more pics of the cast and the making of the special effects go here:

FREAKY PICS

Alex and his co-stars get ready for the Milkman scene