FREAKED is Freakin' Awesome! Yo!

FREAKED, the movie from 1993, starring Alex Winter, who also co-directed it with Tom Stern was the Saturday Midnight Movie at the New Beverly. I found this movie on TV back in the day, I was immediattely taken by it thanks to Alex Winter. It was weird, gross, and funny, very funny to me. I remember watching it and thinking what's going on but laughing at the most random and silly things again and again. So I found it again on cable watched it all the way through and it was good. It was one of those that I never expected to see on the big screen, but that was then and this is now!

How can you not dig a movie that has the Tag lines:

"A thinking man's stupid comedy."

"Butt Ugly, But Funny!"

At the show on Saturday Co-Directors Alex Winter and Tom Stern showed up for some Q&A time before the movie. It was INDEED one of the best midnight Q&A's at the New Beverly! (Actress Megan Ward was also in attendance but too shy to come down up front!)




Neither of them had seen FREAKED on the big screen since a preview screening that didn't go so well. The audience (mostly 12 year-old kids) was brought in on the premise of "Think that Bill and Ted guy is in it," and there was a 90% walk out. Stern mentioned that a cholo stood up and shouted "SHUT UP BITCH" when he saw Brooke Shields. They shared stories on Mr. T who's the bearded woman in FREAKED. The short version was he was very interested in being in the movie, liked the script, but was drunk every day and one day just disappeared. When they found him in Chicago he claimed he was "just one of the freaks and was suffering from emotional abuse." He didn't come back.

The original story of the movie was to be a vehicle for the Butthole Surfers on a budget of $250,000 and Sam Raimi was helping them get it around town. When they found producer Joe Roth he made an offer, if they made it PG-13 he could give them $11million.

Right now Alex Winter is working on THE GATE 3D movie and he says he's going to hurl shit at the audience cause that's what 3D is for. Also he would like to get Stephen Dorff in the film for the role of the father.

So, FREAKED: Ricky Coogan (Alex Winter) is an actor who's become a spokesperson for the EES (everything except shoes) corporation, and along with this best friend and new activist gal pal (Megan Ward) they get stuck on a FREEK farm run by Elijah C. Skuggs (Randy Quaid). It's packed with jokes and one liners that zip by at a whiplash pace as they all just try and deal with their new Freakshow lifestyle. It's quite a ride! Yup! And it makes for a great MIDNIGHT movie! Yup!