Freaked (1993)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Directors:

Tom Stern
Alex Winter

Writers (WGA):

Tim Burns (written by) &
Tom Stern (written by) ...

Release Date:

29 September 1995 (Spain)

Genre:

Comedy | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

A thinking man's stupid comedy.

Plot:

A vain actor, his best friend, and an activist end up at a mutant freak farm run by a weirdo scientist.

Plot Keywords:

Freak | Mutant | South America | Stop Motion | Redneck

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Brooke Shields	...	Skye Daley
William Sadler	...	Dick Brian
Eduardo Ricard	...	George Ramirez #1
Henry Carbo	...	George Ramirez #2
Deep Roy	...	George Ramirez #3
Mihaly 'Michu' Meszaros	...	George Ramirez #3
Brian Brophy	...	Kevin
Michael Stoyanov	...	Ernie
Morgan Fairchild	...	Stewardess
Alex Zuckerman	...	Stuey Gluck
Megan Ward	...	Julie
Randy Quaid	...	Elijah C. Skuggs
Jaime Cardriche	...	Toad
Nicholas Cohn	...	Bob Vila Look-A-Like
Derek McGrath	...	Worm

Also Known As:

Freak Show (USA) (TV title)
Hideous Mutant Freekz

Runtime:

86 min | USA:80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Germany:12 | South Korea:All | Spain:13 | UK:15 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Tommy

Trivia:

Keanu Reeves's salary for the film was a million dollars to play Ortiz. It was mostly an uncredited cameo and he did the film as a favor to his friend Alex Winter whom he had worked with on the Bill and Ted movies. The producers of the film thought that Winter was crazy in giving Reeves that amount of money for such as small part.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Ricky leaves Skuggs' den with the very important clue, he is walking on the dolly track, which can be seen toward the end of the shot.

Quotes:

Elijah C. Skuggs: Styrofoam cup!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "South Park: Freak Strike (#6.3)" (2002)

Soundtrack:

Pick-A-Freek

Best, most original comedy I've seen in ages

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.