I went into Freaked completely blind and I had a pretty fun time with it. It reminded me a little of Peter Jackson's early horror/comedy stuff, but toned down a little and made a little more palatable. I think that was to its detriment to some extent, but it still gets pretty nasty and gross in places; probably enough to still make it too weird for general audiences in any event. I also feel like the sense of humor at times leans a little toward feeling ZAZ-inspired, with the same kind of rapid-fire wonderfully stupid jokes hitting here kind of like the comedy in Airplane and The Naked Gun.
Actually, I say that not knowing what the critical reception for this was. I just know it doesn't have the same reputation as Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, but I'm not sure to what extent it was critically judged as lesser. It's weird to know so little about something going in, but kind of refreshing. I'll be able to read about such things and probably find myself proven wrong.
Anyway, there are some good special effects on offer here, making this a good one to watch for anyone who really loves practical effects done in horror (even though I'd say Freaked is mostly a comedy). It's slight at only about 80 minutes, and runs out of steam a couple of times in the back half, but there was some really funny/stupid/kind of clever stuff in here, with some jokes making me laugh a lot more than I might like to admit. I know I shouldn't care too much about plot, but I think there was a missed opportunity to have the main character more vain early on, to make his transformation (the whole plot of the movie, really) have more of an impact, but if doing that would've slowed things down or been at the expense of some jokes, maybe it was best to cut down those early scenes as much as possible.
It's a weird cult kind of movie - again, maybe more popular than I'm giving it credit for, but it's been one of those blindspots for me that I never thought much about or watched before. At the end of it all, I'm glad I did, because Freaked was fun. I could see myself watching it again one day, too, even though I can't quite call it a new instant favorite or anything like that.
Actually, I say that not knowing what the critical reception for this was. I just know it doesn't have the same reputation as Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, but I'm not sure to what extent it was critically judged as lesser. It's weird to know so little about something going in, but kind of refreshing. I'll be able to read about such things and probably find myself proven wrong.
Anyway, there are some good special effects on offer here, making this a good one to watch for anyone who really loves practical effects done in horror (even though I'd say Freaked is mostly a comedy). It's slight at only about 80 minutes, and runs out of steam a couple of times in the back half, but there was some really funny/stupid/kind of clever stuff in here, with some jokes making me laugh a lot more than I might like to admit. I know I shouldn't care too much about plot, but I think there was a missed opportunity to have the main character more vain early on, to make his transformation (the whole plot of the movie, really) have more of an impact, but if doing that would've slowed things down or been at the expense of some jokes, maybe it was best to cut down those early scenes as much as possible.
It's a weird cult kind of movie - again, maybe more popular than I'm giving it credit for, but it's been one of those blindspots for me that I never thought much about or watched before. At the end of it all, I'm glad I did, because Freaked was fun. I could see myself watching it again one day, too, even though I can't quite call it a new instant favorite or anything like that.