Freaked
| Freaked | |
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The US VHS cover of Freaked
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| Directed by |
Alex Winter Tom Stern |
| Produced by | Stephen Chiodo Harry J. Ufland Mary Jane Ufland |
| Written by |
Tim Burns Tom Stern Alex Winter |
| Starring | |
| Music by |
Kevin Kiner Paul Leary/Butthole Surfers Blind Idiot God |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
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Release date
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Running time
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80 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $13 million |
| Box office | $29,296 |
Freaked is a 1993 American science fantasy black comedy film directed by Tom Stern and Alex Winter, and written by Stern, Winter and Tim Burns. All three were involved in the short-lived MTV sketch comedy show The Idiot Box, and Freaked retains the same brand of surrealistic and absurdist humor as seen in the show.
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 movie was pulled from a wide distribution (except for Australia and Japan) and only played on a handful of screens in the United States.
Skye (Brooke Shields) is interviewing beloved former child star Ricky Coogin (Alex Winter). Rather bluntly, Skye asks how Ricky so quickly went from one of America's sweethearts to a name that makes children scream in terror.
It all began when he accepted a job from the slimy mega-corporation E.E.S. to promote "Zygrot 24", a controversial and lethal toxic fertilizer, in South America. Although hesitant at first, the greedy, self-centered Coogin caves in after their sleazy chairman (William Sadler) offers him $5,000,000 and he hops on the first plane to South America with his buddy Ernie (Michael Stoyanov). During their flight, the duo have a run-in with Ricky's 12-year old number one fan Stuey Gluck (Alex Zuckerman).
Once Ricky and Ernie arrive in the country of Santa Flan, they cross paths with a group of protesters, specifically the hard-willed and attractive young environmentalist Julie (Megan Ward). The two con Julie into thinking they're also environmentalists and she agrees to join them on a trip to an anti-Zygrot 24 protest. However, she soon finds out their true identities and the three are stuck with each other for the rest of the drive. They decide to take a detour to see Freek Land, a freak show, and they wind up in the clutches of demented proprietor Elijah C. Skuggs (Randy Quaid) and his henchman, the long-tongued Toad (Jaime Cardriche). Skuggs introduces them to his "Tasty Freekz Machine", a contraption powered by Zygrot 24 that morphs regular people into "Hideous Mutant Freekz" to become part of his show. Julie and Ernie are merged into a pair of conjoined twins and Ricky is transformed into a hideous half-man, half-monster.
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