Freaked

Freaked is a 1993 American black comedy film directed by Tom Stern and Alex Winter, both of whom wrote the screenplay with Tim Burns. Winter also starred in the lead role. Both were involved in the short-lived MTV sketch comedy show The Idiot Box, and Freaked retains the same brand of surreal humour seen in the show. Freaked was Alex Winter's last feature film before he shifted to cameo and television films for many years until 2013's Grand Piano.

Originally conceived as a low-budget horror film featuring the band Butthole Surfers, Freaked went through a number of rewrites, eventually developing into a black comedy set within a sideshow, which was picked up by 20th Century Fox for a feature film. After several poor test screenings and a change in studio executives who then found the film too "weird," the film was pulled from a wide distribution (except for Australia and Japan) and only played on two screens in the United States.

Plot
In an interview with former child star Ricky Coogin, he recounts his bizarre journey that began with him accepting an endorsement contract from the questionable mega-corporation E.E.S. to promote the toxic fertilizer "Zygrot 24" in South America. Ricky, initially hesitant, was lured by a substantial sum of money from the CEO. Accompanied by his friend Ernie, they embarked on a fateful journey to the South American town of "Santa Flan."

During their flight, Ricky encountered a fan named Stuey Gluck, who pleaded with Ricky not to promote Zygrot 24, but tragically fell out of the plane by accident. Upon arriving in Santa Flan, Ricky and Ernie found themselves amidst a group of environmentalists protesting both Zygrot 24 and Ricky's involvement. Ricky was smitten by Julie, one of the environmentalists, and Ernie deceived her into believing they were environmentalists as well. Ricky posed as a severely injured accident victim, and Julie agreed to join them on a protest trip. However, their true identities were eventually revealed, and they became stuck together. On a detour to Freek Land, a local freak show, they encountered the demented proprietor and mad scientist Elijah C. Skuggs, who transformed Julie and Ernie into conjoined twins and Ricky into a hideous green mutation.

Ricky found himself among a group of fellow freaks, including Ortiz the Dog Boy, Worm, a giant arthropod, Cowboy, a literal anthropomorphic cow, the Bearded Lady, and Sockhead, who had a sock puppet for a head. Struggling to adapt to his new life, Ricky surprised the audience during his first performance with a Shakespearean monologue. When he spotted an E.E.S. agent in the crowd, he leaped off the stage in hopes of rescue but became enraged when the agent mocked him, leading to a gruesome act that sent the audience fleeing.

The next day, Ricky learned that Stuey was alive and trying to sell his story. However, Stuey was captured by businessmen working for E.E.S. Ricky's attempts to escape led to his capture by Skuggs's henchmen, the Rastafar-eyes. Skuggs revealed his plan to fully mutate Ricky and use him to eliminate the other freaks during the next show. However, Ricky's confrontation with Ortiz led to a surprising turn of events, making him the new leader of the freaks.

Ricky later discovered that E.E.S. was supplying Skuggs with Zygrot, which was intended to mutate the world's population into compliant E.E.S. workers and consumers. Stuey, exposed to Zygrot accidentally, transformed into a grotesque monster but prepared to rescue Ricky. In a dramatic showdown, Stuey's agility and the assistance of Julie and Ernie led to the demise of Skuggs's henchman Toad. Elijah injected Ricky with Zygrot, fully transforming him into a monstrous figure. Ricky and Stuey engaged in a battle on stage.

Meanwhile, Elijah's plan unraveled as E.E.S. executives betrayed him and attempted to steal his equipment with the help of their agents. Elijah used a Zygrot bazooka to stop them, turning them into primordial goop that transformed into a giant fleshy shoe. As Ricky was about to destroy Stuey, Cowboy reminded him of their soulmate connection, sparking a wave of compassion. Ricky spared Stuey and fought Elijah, breaking his spine. Elijah offered Ricky an antidote in the form of macaroons but was punched into a vat of Zygrot 24. An FBI task force arrived to save Ricky after learning of Stuey's article, and they gunned down Skuggs, who had taken on the appearance of Skye Daley.

Back at the interview, it was revealed that Ricky had returned to normal, along with most of the other freaks, except for Worm, who had developed a dislike for macaroons. Ortiz, who had been chasing a squirrel, finally caught it, and Stuey remained a giant super-freak. Ricky, Julie, Ernie, and others witnessed Skuggs's persistent attempts to rise up again.

The bizarre and surreal story culminated in a final confrontation, with Skuggs being gunned down by Julie and Ernie. Ricky and Julie shared a kiss, and as they bid farewell to the audience, the film ended with a frozen shot of Skuggs once again rising to attack.

Production
The film, under the working title of Hideous Mutant Freekz, was conceived around the time Winter and Stern had directed 1988's Bar-B-Que Movie, a short film starring and featuring the music of experimental rock band Butthole Surfers. Winter, Stern and Surfers frontman Gibby Haynes began work on the first draft of the script, envisioning it as an obscene, ultra-violent horror film once again featuring the Butthole Surfers, costing around $100,000. The idea was, as Alex Winter put it, "Beach Blanket Bingo meets The Evil Dead." The two fished the script around to various studios for years, but to no avail.

Following the end of production on Stern and Winter's MTV sketch comedy show The Idiot Box, co-writer Tim Burns was recruited to join the two in a number of rewrites. The film was completely revisioned, dropping the aspect of the Butthole Surfers entirely and turning it into a full comedy in the vein of the Monty Python and MAD Magazine-inspired humour that was present in The Idiot Box.

Winter and Stern pitched the idea to 20th Century Fox. Joe Roth, the head of the studio at that time, loved the idea and offered the two a twelve million dollar deal to direct it, despite the fact that neither of them had any experience directing a major Hollywood film and had never even shot on 35mm film before. The only condition was that the film had to be rewritten and toned down to fit a PG-13 rating, therefore, most of the profanity was written out of the final draft to fit MPAA standards. Within a month of being picked up, the film began production.

The makeup effects requirements for the film were so substantial, and the lead time before filming was so short, the makeup effects characters for the film were designed and created by three different companies: Tony Gardner's company Alterian, Inc., Steve Johnson's XFX, Inc., and Screaming Mad George's Studio.

20th Century Fox had such high expectations for the film that they released a number of products based on it, including a line of action figures, a novelization and, most notably, a comic book released by Hamilton Comics (however, since the comic was drawn before most of the casting was completed, none of its characters look anything like their real-life counterparts). Four resin figures were sold at Spencer Gifts and Suncoast Motion Picture Company.

Complications
During filming, Joe Roth was fired as studio head by Rupert Murdoch and replaced with Peter Chernin, who didn't like the film nor the fact that twelve million dollars was being invested in it. Chernin cut the film's post-production budget, thus forcing a lot of the soundtrack (including a demo song that Iggy Pop had recorded for the closing credits) and special effects to be greatly cut down or eliminated altogether. The film's title was changed, as well, from the poorly received "Hideous Mutant Freekz" to the supposedly more accessible "Freaked," a title neither Winter nor Stern much cared for.

After several poor test screenings, Fox chose to pull the film from a nationwide release and cut its advertising budget, leaving no money for commercials or newspaper ads. Freaked had its official premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 1993. Despite initial positive critical response, the film opened October 3, 1993 in the United States on only two screens, making a mere $6,957 in its first weekend. It grossed less than $30,000 during its theater run and was released on VHS on April 20, 1994.

Reception
Freaked received a mixed response from critics. Entertainment Weekly described the film as "having more laughs than a month of Saturday Night Live," The New York Times hailed it as one of the top comedies of the nineties, and John Kricfalusi, the creator of The Ren & Stimpy Show, called it "the funniest movie in years." Alternatively, Variety criticized the film, claiming "the filmmakers simply try too hard to displease," while Time Out New York stated "the sum is worse than it's [sic] (very ugly) parts." The movie currently holds a 50% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 18 reviews.

Freaked eventually went on to win two awards: the Grand Prize at the 1995 Gérardmer Film Festival and Best Actor (for "The Creatures of the Film") at the 1994 Fantafestival. The film was also nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Make-up.

Freaked has garnered a minor cult following that has grown in the late 2010s and early 2020s with internet content creators such as Cinemassacre, Red Letter Media, Nostalgia Critic, and Michael Swaim making retrospectives about the film.

Home media
On July 12, 2005, Anchor Bay Entertainment and 20th Century Fox released a special-edition two-disc DVD, featuring extra material, including deleted scenes, audio commentary, behind-the-scenes footage and two short films from Alex Winter and Tom Stern, the 15-minute film noir parody Squeal Of Death and a black-and-white skit titled NYU Sight & Sound Project.

On August 6, 2013, Anchor Bay and Starz Inc. released the movie on Blu-ray. The Blu-ray does not include any of the bonus features from the DVD release. Both the Blu-ray and DVD are out print and considered to be collectors items. The film is also currently unavailable on digital streaming.

Soundtrack
A soundtrack release for Freaked was planned, but following the loss of their post-production budget, the idea never came to fruition. The score was composed by Kevin Kiner, with additional music by Paul Leary and Butthole Surfers, and Blind Idiot God. In 2020, Death Waltz Recording Co. released the soundtrack and score as a physical LP. The songs featured in the film were as follows:


 * "Freaked" - Henry Rollins and Blind Idiot God
 * "Gumby Jack Flash" - Paul Leary
 * "Rip/Stop" - Blind Idiot God
 * "Butter Queen" - Butthole Surfers
 * "Hideous Mutant Freekz" - Parliament Funkadelic and Bill Laswell
 * "Sweat Loaf" - Butthole Surfers
 * "Freekz! (That's What They Call Us!)" - Mark Evans, Mark Free, and Greg Welchel
 * "Midget Man Skank" - Blind Idiot God
 * "Cha Bump" - Bald Bill Hagan and His Trocaderons
 * "Gluehead Stomp" - Blind Idiot God
 * "'The Murder" (from Psycho) - Bernard Herrmann