Freak Out (2004)
Directed by Christian James
Written by Christian James
Starring James Heathcote, Dan Palmer
Release Date October 15th, 2004
Published April 11th, 2004
In the tradition of low budget horror trash from Troma films comes the British import Freak Out, a gory horror parody that spills as much blood as your average horror films with twice the laughs. Unlike most horror films, these laughs are intentional and delivered by a terrific cast of first time actors working on a budget that only Kevin Smith and the Blair Witch guys could appreciate.
The story, such as it is, is about Merv (James Heathcote), a bored Londoner with a passion for horror films. His bedroom is festooned with horror posters and he makes daily trips top the local video store to claim every new and old horror title he can get his hands on. Merv knows all of the old horror tropes and hopes to one day direct his own real horror film.
Fate smiles on him and Merv gets his chance when he captures a real life escaped mental patient hiding in his shower. With the help of his best friend Onkey (Dan Palmer), Merv trains the gentle mental patient, who only wishes to become a killer at Merv’s behest, to become a serial killer straight out of one of his favorite movies.
It’s slow going at first since the killer is a vegetarian who is terrified of the sight of blood. His idea of a scary killer outfit is a potato sack over his head, a tennis racket and a tutu. With the help of Merv and Onkey, the killer adopts the name ‘The Looney” because he escaped the looney bin and begins to take to killing Merv and Onkey’s friends and neighbors.
This movie is wildly all over the place with humor that flies between Scary Movie-esque quips and puns and Troma-style over the top gore. There is also scatology to spare, especially in a wacky subplot about the killer’s obsession with Dallas star Larry Hagman.
Writer-Director Christian James and his cast clearly enjoyed every minute of this low budget production and that joy flies off the screen in torrents of fake blood and over the top humor. James also shows a very professional flair considering the film’s low budget. Freak Out is surprisingly well shot and edited. Troma has been in this business for more than 20 years and their venerable director Lloyd Kaufman has yet to direct a film that looks as good as Freak Out.
It’s a tough film to find, independently produced out of Britain, but if you can get your hands on a copy, do it. Freak Out is the perfect “get your friends together, drink beer, and laugh your ass off movie.”
