# Freaked (1993)

### reviewed by
Shane Burridge

    Freaked (1993) 86m.

Alex Winter, best known as Bill S. Preston in the ‘Bill and Ted' films he made with Keanu Reeves, co-wrote, co-produced and co-directed this goofy schlock comedy. It's almost a fanboy project dedicated to makeup FX films – the kind of thing you wish would feature cameo appearances by Rick Baker, Dick Smith, Tom Savini and Rob Bottin. Story starts with former child actor Ricky (Winter, who looks like a throwback to a 50s juvie feature) hiring himself out as a spokesperson for a big corporation with concerns in South America. It's the last place in the world you'd expect to find a Freak Show, but that's what Winter and his friends run into, and then become a part of. Usually this would signal trouble ahead for those in the audience who are less than impressed with the ‘ick' factor that is the standard of most makeup FX sequences, but there's nothing to worry about in this story: the off-the-wall ‘freak' makeup – and there is plenty of it – is in the service of comedy, not gross-out horror.

There's plenty of amusing material to choose from in the lineup of freaks that become Winters' allies, but my personal favorite would have to be Bob Goldthwaite's ‘Sockhead' (that face! that voice! a perfect combination!), who I find hysterically funny. Randy Quaid, one of the few cast members not smothered in makeup, gives a jolly, cackling performance as the freakshow proprietor. I'm impressed that Winter got the likes of Brooke Shields and Mr T to send themselves up so outrageously while also being game enough himself to be disfigured for most of the film's running time in laborious makeup (his buddy Reeves contributes an uncredited performance and is even more unrecognizable as ‘Dawg Boy'). The humor of FREAKED is scattershot and falls flat a few times, but there's still a lot of gags to make it worth viewing. And if you're tired of computer-generated visuals then you'll appreciate the domestic feel of the film's effects – there's a whole pile of latex on show and even some claymation (which includes a glimpse of the Cyclops from THE SEVENTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD). It's an energetic, crafty piece which wears two faces: an independent feature that has overcome the limitations of a modest budget, and/or a slick studio effort that is low-tech by design. Whatever the case, it still comes across as a personal project, as if Winter had always wanted to make a home movie with lots of cool monster makeup and saw his chance when he got into Hollywood. It's clear that FREAKED is pitching for the youth market straight from its opening titles, which could easily stand alone as a video clip if you were to remove the credits. Readers of ‘Fangoria' will probably love it.

sburridge@hotmail.com

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