Flesh Freaks

A couple of anthropologists talk endlessly about whether one saw a zombie or a terrorist while the most fake 'zombie" ever kills people in mundane ways. LOW budget home-made zombie film that doesn't do anything right, the acting's atrocious. The plot horrid. The camera work terrible. and no suspense. All this adds up to one of the worst ways you can spend an hour and a half. I feel dumber just having watched this moronic trash. Only serious maschocists need apply. Don't say I haven't warned you.

My Grade: F

DVD Extras: Director's commentary; Outtakes; 2 short films (Flicker and Satan's Psycho Ghoul); Preview Trailer; and Trailer for "Kill them and eat them"

This is the most amateurish and boring (so-called) "horror" movie I've ever had the misfortune of seeing. I watched the first 30 minutes and could hardly stay awake (at 5 PM), then I couldn't stand any more. This is a movie that manages to make archeology in Central America look even more boring than it actually is. The (non-existent) "plot" concerns a group of archeologists in the Belize rainforest, supposedly excavating artifacts from an ancient Mayan temple. They're attacked by a "zombie" who looks like a young Canadian filmmaker with black paint on his face. That's probably because it is in fact a young Canadian filmmaker with black paint on his face... The movie is shot with horrible sound and shaky hand-held video, in a documentary style with realistic (i.e. very boring) dialogue. Most of the movie is an annoying, monotonous, droning voice-over by the one guy who managed to survive the murderous "zombie". The script is truly awful, with lines like "There was also an ancient well, its purpose long since forgotten". OK, excuse me, but isn't the purpose of a well usually the storage of water? I mean, did anyone actually think about reading this script through once it was written? It seems as if someone wrote the whole movie one night, probably after drinking several beers, and then decided with his friend to go to the travel agency the next day and buy two tickets to Belize, because he had a friend there who was an archeology student and would let them stay there for a couple of weeks.

I've honestly never seen a worse movie than this. Its only value is to show you what not to do if you're a young independent filmmaker. It was apparently made in Canada. It makes a Canadian university and the jungles of Belize look like the two most boring places on earth. All of the characters speak in monotonous droning voices and it's clear they're all consciously trying to remember their lines as they deliver them. They blew the entire budget for shooting the movie on the plane tickets which took them to the Central American jungle. (I don't know if it's Belize or not.) The most interesting shots in the movie are of an ant carrying a leaf and some birds, lizards and monkeys in the forest. There are absolutely no special effects at all, the gore is extremely fake and only seen for a few seconds in the entire movie, the constantly shaking camera is really hard on the eyes, and the makeup and costumes are non-existent. The "zombie" is a guy wearing ordinary clothes (jeans and a shirt, not even ragged!) with some black grease smeared on his face. It's quite obvious that he is a healthy young guy. Don't waste your time with this embarrassingly awful Canadian student movie. Some film students are definitely majoring in the wrong subject...

One of those low-budget cheapies that seem to be so popular in the States and the kind of title that you may just pass by now matter how grisly the sleeve is. However, Flesh Freaks is not an average clinker and is an entertaining exercise in well-executed splatter. For blood-hounds we have skull impalements , scalpel slashings, ripped out organs, scissor stabbings, crowbars, machetes, eyes pushed out, etc., a hefty mix I'm sure you will agree. The zombies themselves are a mixture of make-up and rather cool puppetry which is quite effectively blended but a little too hidden for my eyes by overly dark videography. However, there is a cracking shot of zombies staggering down a corridor that is very reminiscent of Fulci's The Beyond and gives new meaning to the term "lights out"! I was also impressed by the closing shots of parasites bursting from zombiefied heads which was very atmospheric. Conall Pendergast not only directs but is also credited as the writer, editor, co-spfx artist and co-producer - a definite talent to watch as they say.

Of course I had never heard about this 2000 horror movie titled "Flesh Freaks" prior to stumbling upon it by random chance here in 2025. And given my love of all things horror, of course I opted to sit down and watch the movie.

I have to admit, though, that I wasn't exactly harboring the biggest of expectations to the movie as I sat down to watch it.

From the very first scene, it was rather obvious that this was a low budget production. But I still carried on with the movie, as a low budget movie doesn't necessarily equal a bad movie.

The narrative in the movie was not particularly compelling, interesting or entertaining, which meant that sitting through 79 minutes of this was quite an ordeal.

Needless to say that I was not familiar with a single actor or actress on the cast list. And I can't claim that I was particularly impressed with the performances on the screen, not that they were bad or anything, but they were just bland and forgettable.

"Flesh Freaks" wasn't exactly a movie with great special effects to lift up the otherwise bland narrative.

If you enjoy horror movies, like I do, then don't waste 79 minutes on this movie. Some of us suffered through this ordeal, so you don't have to; you're quite welcome.

My rating of "Flesh Freaks" lands on a generous two out of ten stars.

Flesh Freaks, a no-budget Canadian zombie romp, manages to twist genre expectations while ladling on the requisite blood-soaked body count. While this basic concept has been done before, notably in Fred Dekker's retro shocker NIGHT OF THE CREEPS (1986), talented director Conall Pendergast and his pals provide their take with just enough zip to make for some refreshing, old-school schlock. Clever use of existing locations, including actual footage from Belize, gives the film a bit more scope than most shot-on-video outings. Moreover, the ever-moving camera-work by G. Gillard Golen, combined with an editing scheme heavy on dramatic digital zooms and Steve Kado's creepy, minimalist score, add immensely to the film's sense of dread. Minor faults do become apparent, such as inconsistent acting and stilted dialog, while an abundance of travelogue scenery conveniently pads the running time. As for the freaks themselves … well, realism apparently didn't figure into the make-up design by Pendergast and Alex Perkins! I'm guessing, however, that the inspiration for their crumbly zombies comes not from the watershed effects of DAWN OF THE DEAD (1979), but the comically stylized pull-over masks used in Mexican monster potboilers like THE BRAINIAC (1961), briefly glimpsed here in a theater scene. They're still fun creations, to be sure, and so is FLESH FREAKS, an amusing exercise in gusto and grue. Not to Mr. Kado – love the groovy theme music