Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.0

Freaked Blu-ray Movie Review

Get your freak on. Or not.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman August 25, 2013

Catching up on the production background behind Freaked is sort of like riding a roller coaster of Hollywood's own making combined with a tragedy of shattered dreams and failed promises. The picture struggled to find financing until a 20th Century Fox executive fell in love with the project and awarded the filmmakers a hefty sum of money to complete it. So confident was the studio in its pending success that marketing was ramped up even as the production rolled on. Then, a snag. A big snag. The Fox executive was replaced with another who didn't see the film's potential. Marketing dollars dried up, the picture's budget was slashed, and the end product limped into a couple of theaters, earned a pittance, and flopped onto video soon thereafter. It was a perfect storm of production woes, doubt, limited finances, and, frankly, an idea just too strange to really work outside of a niche market (think TerrorVision as a film of similar visuals but not made in the big studio system). Freaked just doesn't work, and no matter the cause, or causes, of its demise, it's just too odd, scattered, and at times even revolting, certainly not a mass audience film but probably something more welcome in those niche circles where low-budget "creature features" so often find a home.

Hideous.

Ricky Coogin (Alex Winter) is a washed-up, has-been actor who should still be in the prime of his career. Unfortunately, he's been severely disfigured and has agreed to appear on a television talk show to recount his story, which begins with his employment at "EES," or "Everything Except Shoes." He's paid handsomely to travel to the nation of Santa Flan (land of the sacred creamy deserts) to pitch a product called "Zygrot 24," a dangerous fertilizer that has been banned in the United States and Europe. Upon arriving, he and his friend Ernie (Michael Stoyanov) are welcomed with heavy protests against their product. Ricky disguises himself as an injured protester and finds favor with Julie (Megan Ward), the most beautiful activist at the protest. They travel by car to what Julie believes will be another protest, but they're sidetracked when Ricky's identity is revealed and they stumble upon a freak show. Inside, they discover a mad scientist sort named Elijah Skuggs (Randy Quaid) who sees fit to take the trio captive and alter them into hideous freaks for his show.

Freaked will work for a very limited audience. It's certainly not mainstream material fit for the multiplex, nor is it art house fare. It aims to be a zany, crazy, over-the-top sort with very little in the way dramatic interest and, really, not much of a plot. Imagine something along the lines of Freaks meets the aforementioned TerrorVision meets House of 1000 Corpses meets Airplane!. Yes, it's really that scattered, throwing everything it can into the proverbial blender -- Horror, Comedy, and a whole lot of oddity, ooze, and outrageousness -- and yielding a concoction quite unlike anything else out there. Add in the classic "mad scientist," "evil corporation," and "unlikely hero" angles and it's easy to see that Freaked is no garden variety picture but instead one of the most novel yet underwhelming and, frankly, vapid pictures in cinema history.

The film does feature a quality cast, though the recognizable faces are often lost under heavy prosthetics and the performances find little nuance because there's little nuance in the script. The movie is all about its outward appearance and the overt humor that drops in, and usually with a thud at that. Freaked makes use of the tried-but-not-so-true method of random popular culture references to up the humor quotient, and usually to little success. Whether an appearance by "Bob Vila" or a game of "Hollywood Squares," the effort at finding funny in pop culture never really works, either because they're flat, don't make much contextual sense, or because the humor gets lost under all the visual excesses. The best part of the movie comes at the end when everyone has fallen asleep; if the movie knows it's dull by showing the "live studio audience" collectively passed out, just go ahead and follow suit and snooze away the movie's worst parts, which is pretty much all of it.

Freaked Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Freaked's 1080p transfer delivers a fair high definition transfer that's better than many of the Anchor Bay/Fox catalogue collaborations. It offers a fine basic presentation, revealing suitably crisp definition and detail with little in the way of softness. Light grain remains, helping preserve a naturally sharp texture. Image clarity is quite good, and the 1080p resolution helps reveal the gory, yucky prosthetics in their glory. Viewers will also clearly see wires holding objects, whether intentional (the board meeting at the beginning) or seemingly not (a butterfly that floats by when the group first arrives at the freak show or those carrying the "ghost troll"). Colors aren't blindingly vibrant, nor are they dull. There's a rather happy medium to the palette, particularly as it reveals all of the reds and greens that make up many of the monster effects. Blacks are decent, though a bit noisy and pale in spots. Light print wear is evident from time to time. It's hardly a remarkable effort, but fans should be pleased with what is a clear step up from the standard definition presentation from a few years ago.

Freaked Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Freaked features a modest, but generally effective, Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack. There's precious little life or vigor to the opening music, failing to find heft, volume, or balance, setting a rather poor precedent for the rest of the track. Fortunately things do pick up a bit, though not considerably, as the film moves along. Later musical elements don't sound so one-sided, the surround element feels more natural, and basic clarity and energy enjoy a modest uptick. Still, it's hardly a showstopper. The track additionally finds some fair, albeit minor, surround ambience from time to time. Dialogue pays clearly and smoothly from the center. Unlike some of the previous Anchor Bay/Fox catalogue releases, no subtitle options are included.

Freaked Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Freaked contains no extras, and no menu is included. The film begins playback immediately after disc insertion.

Freaked Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Freaked never quite works. It's far too over the top with precious little payoff in the way of legitimate humor, dramatic value, or artistic style. It's a hodgepodge that never comes cohesively together, and it's never clear what the point of it all may be, aside from making a really, really odd movie. Anchor Bay's Blu-ray ditches the special features of the previous DVD release. Video quality is fine but the audio could use some work. Skip it.