Alright, we're about to get weird now. The next choice on my list is one of the most interesting and odd films of the last century. From the minds of Alex Winter, Tom Stern and Tim Burns, in 1993, we were graced with "Freaked".
The film tells the story of former child star Ricky Coogin explaining to a worldwide television audience the horrible details of how he first agreed to be the poster boy for the slimy mega-corporation Everything Except Shoes, or E.E.S. for short, and his deal to help them promote their controversial toxic fertilizer Zygrot 24. Coogin, along with his buddy Ernie and environmentalist Julie, who they had conned into thinking that they themselves were fellow tree huggers, ventures to South America and takes a stop at a roadside freak show.
The film tells the story of former child star Ricky Coogin explaining to a worldwide television audience the horrible details of how he first agreed to be the poster boy for the slimy mega-corporation Everything Except Shoes, or E.E.S. for short, and his deal to help them promote their controversial toxic fertilizer Zygrot 24. Coogin, along with his buddy Ernie and environmentalist Julie, who they had conned into thinking that they themselves were fellow tree huggers, ventures to South America and takes a stop at a roadside freak show.
Of course, the threesome soon find themselves kidnapped by the owner of the freak show, the evil Elijah C. Skuggs, who proceeds to utilize a chemical to turn them into freaks. Ernie and Julie now share one body with two heads, while Ricky has been transformed into a grotesque half-goblin half-human hybrid. They are forced to become part of the show, which also features a dog boy, a giant worm, a talking cow in cowboy clothes, a sock puppet with a body, and Mr. T in a dress, among others. Soon it's discovered that Skuggs used Zygrot 24 to transform them, and that E.E.S. was in on the whole operation. Hijinx ensue, and the day is saved by a kid who considers himself to be Coogin's absolute biggest fan, no matter how much Ricky begs him not to be. The kid accidently turns himself into a freak just to save his idol, who had been completely transformed into a full-on hideous goblin monster. Of course, the transformations were able to be reversed by macaroon cookies. Yup.
I went into this movie as a big fan of Alex Winter. I had seen him in "The Lost Boys" as one of the teen vampire's, and I loved "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" and its sequel "Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey". Of course, those films could not initially prepare me for what I witnessed here. Maybe I should have watched Winter's MTV show "The Idiot Box" first, since it's what he was doing before this, and served as the template for what was to come. Now I'm not saying I hated what I saw. Quite the opposite. I found the film to be like nothing I had ever seen before, and have ever seen since. They pulled no punches and stood tall while doing so.
The casting was pretty spot-on. Winter took up the role of Ricky Coogin, and did a great job at being a complete douchebag in the beginning. And the choice of Randy Quaid as the villainous Elijah C. Skuggs was a stroke of genius. Rounding out the cast with Mr. T, Megan Ward, William Sadler, Brooke Shields, Bobcat Goldthwait, and an appearance by Morgan Fairchild was nice as well.
The casting was pretty spot-on. Winter took up the role of Ricky Coogin, and did a great job at being a complete douchebag in the beginning. And the choice of Randy Quaid as the villainous Elijah C. Skuggs was a stroke of genius. Rounding out the cast with Mr. T, Megan Ward, William Sadler, Brooke Shields, Bobcat Goldthwait, and an appearance by Morgan Fairchild was nice as well.
Of course, one of the things this film is best known for is the roles in the film which went uncredited. Two crooked cops were played by future Hollywood heavyweights Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert. And for the role of Ortiz the Dog Boy, Winter went to one of his close, personal friends: Keanu Reeves, who co-starred with him in the "Bill & Ted" films. And honestly, to me, the only way to tell it was Reeves was by hearing the voice.
Audiences didn't know what to think when they first saw this film. Poor initial reviews caused the studio to pull the nationwide release for the movie, and it sadly only opened on two screens, before quietly fading out of theaters and into obscurity. The same can't be said for home video release, however. People quickly discovered the film at first on VHS then years later on DVD, and it has quickly become a cult classic.
I can't say for sure if I would recommend this film to everyone. It's definitely an acquired taste. However I do say that if you would like to have a viewing, go into it with an open mind. Don't expect to see the greatest thing ever. Don't expect to see acting ability that would rival Citizen Kane. But just relax and come to your own decisions.
I can't say for sure if I would recommend this film to everyone. It's definitely an acquired taste. However I do say that if you would like to have a viewing, go into it with an open mind. Don't expect to see the greatest thing ever. Don't expect to see acting ability that would rival Citizen Kane. But just relax and come to your own decisions.