Freak

FREAK is a low-low-budget horror film about two sisters on a trip / move to Virginia from Indiana. Along the way, the two bond while enjoying the scenery.

Meanwhile, a murderous maniac escapes his transport van and heads out on a killing spree. Fate and destiny intervene, bringing the sisters and this madman together for the creepy climax.

This is a throwback / homage film that does a pretty good job of mimicking the feel of the early 1970's.

While simple and fairly non-gory (except for the horrific prologue), FREAK manages to sustain an atmosphere of dread throughout its running time. So, if you love the horror movies of the 70's, then this should fill you with nostalgia...

The title, although singular, will undoubtedly remind real horror fans of Tod Browning's immortal classic about a troop of circus freaks and how they were misunderstood by the outside world. I can assure you, however, that this "thing" has absolutely nothing to do with "Freaks" or even with the art of professional film-making in general. This movie was recommended to me, supposedly because it's raw, disturbing and thought provoking despite the low budget production values. Yeah right… The person who recommended it to me may now consider himself to be my personal foe! The low budget factor is correct, but that about sums it up. "Freak" is dreadfully slow, poorly made and every character that gets introduced is downright insufferable…and that includes the freak too. Two siblings on their way to a new life encounter a deformed mental patient who escaped from the transport truck to another hospital and heads back to the house where he killed his mother at age 9. This could have been an interesting slasher with good isolated filming locations but, instead, Tyler Sharpe decided to make it boring and pointless family drama. The lead actress' attempts to look emotionally devastated are pretty laughable and the total lack of suspense and action can hardly be blamed to the limited budget. Total failure!

In telling the story of a masked psychopath (institutionalized since childhood for the murder of his abusive mother) pursuing his blood sister, director Tyler Tharpe (who plays the adult "Keller boy") borrows more from John Carpenter's HALLOWEEN and its first sequel than he is able to adequately repay. His closing shots even ape the dénouement of John Carpenter's landmark killer-on-the-loose film - and it's this derivative approach that ultimately does FREAK in; still, Tharpe manages some effective moments, particularly his upsetting opening. Tharpe gets good use out of his stark Midwestern settings, but in styling FREAK so heavily after HALLOWEEN, Tharpe ultimately cheats his story of depth. For those looking for cheap and bloody thrills, FREAK doesn't offer those either - which makes one wonder who Tharpe made this film for after all.

Solid, tidy little thriller with a "Halloween"-type vibe has masked killer escaping from inattentive hospital attendant and going on a modest killing spree through a bleak midwestern landscape. Nice cinematography, good use of sound, and solid performances (especially from the two leads, one being a kid) make it a good rental.

Yawn, that is my reaction to this film. I was really hoping this would have been a good modern day slasher but it doesn't even fall into the category of slashers. Instead, it tries to be something it isn't, which is a psychological thriller, and it fails so miserably at this. Even the title "Freak" suggests that this might be interesting. Match this with the cover art on the DVD and you think "OK, maybe I will give this one a try". Not worth the time.

The story actually starts up a bit interesting with a poor deformed child with bandages wrapped around his head being chained up by his fat Mother. She yells at him and probably beats him since in one scene we see her actually slap him for no reason. After all this, he decides he has had enough and smashes her face in with (I believe) a rock. Present day, he is now in insane asylum and is being transfered. On his way he breaks out of the van he is in and escapes. Introduce also the 2 leads characters, a little girl and her older sister. They are moving and hit the road. So most of the movie is them riding around in the car talking amongst themselves. But, the bandaged "Freak" is now on the loose and is about go on a rampage of grueling murder! (This is me being totally sarcastic)

I can't believe how boring this movie turned out to be. The budget was on the smallest ever with absolutely no special effects and the dialog I could just care less about. This is one of those movie where the packaging is better then the flick itself. And to compare this to Halloween?! Rubbish! I am not even a fan of the the Halloween series (except the 3rd one) but Halloween is far superior than this. At least with Halloween we have a great score and some genuinely creepy moments. With this, there is virtually no music except some piano here and there and there is nothing creepy about this movie. Maybe this movie would have fared better if it had a solid score because even the worst of movies are tolerable if the music is good.

Well, that is just my opinion on the movie. I thought it was just a complete waist of time and money. But, since the movie has over a 4/10 rating on IMDb, there must be people that like this movie. I am not one of those people. 2/10