Freaked

One good way to judge a film is considering if they had enough ideas to fill up a feature length film. Alex Winters's Freaked goes above and beyond that measuring system- every scene, every FRAME of this film has something clever or laugh out loud funny in it. To name a few of this film's throw-away gags- Mr. T in a dress, sideshow freaks playing Hollywood Squares (with the skeleton of Paul Lynde in center square), air stewardesses helping terrorists, a two headed chicken, a farting clown (classier than it sounds), Keanu Reeves as a Dogboy, and Calvert DeForest! And that's just the THROW-AWAY gags! The main jokes and characters are even funnier! Even a simple "I Like Ike" sign is used cleverly. The directors (who also created the best Mtv show ever, Idiot Box) are a wealth of idea, and it's a shame this didn't get a major theatrical release. The bad taste humor is actually kept to a minimum (at least by my standards) and I'd recommend this to comedy lovers and special effects make-up lovers everywhere.

I feel priveleged to have this obscure gem in my collection. A scant cruise through my grocery store video rental some six years ago had me rent two films (both with the Melissa Joan Hart-like Megan Ward, oddly enough): "PCU" and "Freaked". I enjoyed PCU, but was taken aback by the colorful crudeness of Freaked. From the opening ClayMation/Henry Rollins fusion to the numerous B cameos (find me another film with all of Brooke Shields, Morgan Fairchild *AND* Mr. T and I'll find you a kidney transplant), to the laugh-out-loud sight gags, this film is up there with the very best of 'em.

Freaked is without a drop of pretense. It offers no metaphorical politics, it doesn't use heavy music to influence your heartbeat, and unlike the ZAZ and Mel Brooks films, this one doesn't mug for the punchline. Pre-dating Trey Parker and Matt Stone, its knockdown-dragout consistency of it's joke takes you to a very satisfying end. Proud to know it'll never end up on a snobbish "Greatest Films Of All Time" list, I strongly suggest you experience this American Classic for yourself, regardless the toll it might take.

Zygrot Forever!

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.

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 can't give this movie a high enough rating! I was a fan of Alex and Tom when they did the show "The Idiot Box" on MTV (one of the few who saw this), and this movie was just a natural extension of that show. If you have never seen this and have a twisted sense of humor like I do, you will love this movie. I won't rehash the plot, but I think that for me, every joke works and this is one of my all-time favorite cult movies. Randy Quaid is brilliant as Elijah C. Skuggs, the redneck proprietor of Freekland. And Alex Winter turns in a great performance in his last starring role. Thankfully "Freaked" is going to be released on DVD on July 12th. Thank you Anchor Bay! So, if you haven't been able to find this movie or catch it on cable, you will have your chance soon enough and I highly recommend it.

Oh yeah, how many feminists does it take to screw in a light bulb? TWO: One to screw it in and one to ride my RODNEY!