We're living in what feels like a golden age of film restoration: from classic Hollywood to obscure Eastern European animation to hidden African gems to old cult films, it's getting easier to find, restore, and create collector's editions of movies we thought would be lost forever.
One such gem is Freaked, the frenetic horror comedy. Co-written and directed by Alex Winter (Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure) and Tom Stern (Butthole Surfers), the film did not do well on its original release in 1993, hence perhaps why it's been hard to find all these decades. But it's a film that comes up often in conversation among cult film fans, and at last, for those who never got the chance to see it, a 4K UHD restoration from Drafthouse Films is coming our way.
In this 4K-restored cult comedy, Alex Winter stars as Ricky Coogan, a self-absorbed former child star roped into promoting a toxic chemical. Along with his best friend (Michael Stoyanov) and a radical activist (Megan Ward), he’s ensnared by an eccentric weirdo scientist (Randy Quaid) at a mutant freak farm, where they’re horrifically transformed and added to a sideshow of grotesque misfits. Featuring a notable supporting cast, including William Sadler, John Hawkes, Mr. T, Brooke Shields, Bobcat Goldthwait, Morgan Fairchild, and Keanu Reeves.
Filled with zany practical effects and shot with a colorful, wild aesthetic, Freaked filled with gross out humor and impeccable production design from the now-famous filmmaker Catherine Hardwicke (Thirteen, Twilight), pleasing audiences of cinephiles and 13-year-old boys alike. To date, Freaked has been largely unavailable on home video, with just a low-res version available to stream on YouTube. Film prints were even thought to have been lost until a little more than a decade ago, with the last surviving one miraculously turning up in the Midwest.
Freaked is directed by Winter and Stern, who wrote the screenplay along with Tom Burns – the three had previously collaborated on the MTV sketch show The Idiot Box. The film boasts an eclectic, ‘90s-emblematic soundtrack featuring the likes of Henry Rollins, George Clinton, and The Butthole Surfers, who had previously worked with the filmmakers and also appear in the movie.
The restoration will be available to watch on digital beginning October 7th, and the Collector's Edition, released in partnership with Umbrella, will release on November 5th. Check the preorder link and the trailer below.