I don’t know what it is about me and freaked out, cult films. As a rule I tend to love them, if for no other reason than they go against the Hollywood grain and cause the average movie going audience to scratch their collective heads. Oddly enough, one such movie is called, “Freaked”, which was co-written and co-directed back in by Alex Winter. If, by the way you’re asking yourself, “Who the heck is Alex Winter?”, just think back and try to remember a little film called “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure.” While the first name that comes to you mind might be Keanu Reeves (whoooooaa), Winter was along for the ride as Bill S. Preston, Esq. You might also remember him from Joel Schumacher’s “The Lost Boys.” “Freaked” is a hard film to describe, but I’ll give it a try. It seems there is a chemical plant somewhere in some third world country that is owned by the ultra-mega-corporate conglomerate E.E.S. (Everything Except Shoes).

The main product is a toxic biochemical fertilizer, and the ‘company’ wants to find the perfect spokesperson to sell the product. Enter former child star Ricky Coogin (Winter) and his best pal Julie (Megan Ward), who are sent down to the plant to check out the fertilizer. The pair end up getting sidetracked by a bizarre freak show, where the owner Elijah C. Skruggs (Randy Quaid) not only displays the freaks… he creates them. As if the proceedings aren’t weird enough up to that point, they just get weirder from there.

The humor in a film like “Freaked” comes from a variety of places, most notably the way that the corporate conglomerates are presented. As far-fetched as they may seem, just remember that it was the corporate world that produced people like George W. Bush. Beyond that, it is the sheer ridiculous nature of the plot, along with the fun that the cast and crew seemed to be having with the production that makes it a fun watch. A good portion of the jokes could be easily considered ‘in-jokes’ and might not be caught by everyone, but there is enough going on in the story to entertain just about everyone. That said, “Freaked” does fall back on a lot of cheap gross-out humor (which fits the film to a tea) that might not appeal to those who tend to be squeamish about such things.

As for the freaks themselves, they are the real stars of the show. If you can imagine Mr. T as a bearded lady or Bobcat Goldthwait as a (literal) Sockhead, that’s just a drop in the bucket of the weird and imaginative creatures to be found in “Freaked.” Oh, and you remember when I mentioned Keanu Reeves? Well, he also makes an uncredited appearance as Orin, The Dog Boy.

Anchor Bay is releasing an all-new 2-disc DVD version of the film, and as is the case with any release from this studio, it is full of some of the best extra features you’ll find anywhere. The first disc includes a very funny commentary from Winter and Stern, as well as an interview with additional co-writer Tim Burns. There are also some great deleted scenes, some of which shouldn’t have been deleted, an art gallery and a DVD-Rom version of the script. I was also surprised to find a 12 minute ‘behind the scenes’ reel that showed some of the fun the cast and crew had with the shoot.

The second disc is a “Freaked” fan’s dream. First off, there’s a full-length videotaped rehearsal read-through of the script by the cast, which includes a lot of the scenes that were eventually cut. That’s right, the whole movie in rehearsal mode. This is followed by a few more early readings of some selected scenes, and a few by the ultimate horror that is Stuey Gluck! (You’ll understand if you’ve seen the movie…) You’ll also find some footage of the Freak Show set construction, and a good portion of the makeup job done on Winter to turn him into Freak Boy. Finally, there are two short films by Winter and Stern shot back in their college days. Admittedly, the majority of these extra features are really only going to appeal to the hardcore fans of “Freaked”, but there are a lot of them to be sure.

While I certainly don’t consider “Freaked” to be the ‘greatest story ever told’, it is a highly imaginative and somewhat schizophrenic movie. I highly recommend it to fans of cult classics with the necessary intelligence to enjoy films made outside of the Hollywood mainstream.

Directed by: Tom Stern & Alex Winter
Starring: Alex Winter, Randy Quaid, William Sadler, Megan Ward, Michael Stoyanov, Bobcat Goldthwait, Mr. T, Brooke Shields
Extras: Audio Commentary with Writers/Directors Alex Winter and Tom Stern, A Conversation with Writer Tim Burns, Deleted Scenes, Art Gallery, Screenplay (DVD-Rom), “Freaked: The Reehersel Version”, “There Are No Weirdos Here”, “It’s The Troll”, “Under Construkshen”, “Behold… The Beast Boy”, “Squeal of Death” and “NYU Sight and Sound Project.”
Specifications: Widescreen (1.85:1) Enhanced for 16x9 Televisions Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, Dolby Digital 2.0
Studio: Anchor Bay
Release Date: 7/12/2005
Region 1
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Website

We'll give Freaked an A.