Perfect cast and a good story

hyped garbage

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

She Freak (1967) 1/2 (out of 4) Exploitation master David F. Friedman was a big fan of Tod Browning's FREAKS and decided to remake it but the end results are quite horrid for several reasons. As in the original film, we're warned about a "freak" who was once normal but before seeing her we get the backstory. Claire Brennen plays a small town waitress who gets a job in a traveling sideshow where she decides to go after the big boss man, which eventually costs him his life. The carnival sideshow freaks decide to take revenge. This is a very painful 85-minute movie to sit through because it moves extremely slow and after a while you can't help but want to turn the thing off. There are a few good moments but there's no denying that the greatest thing about this movie is the fact that it makes FREAKS look even better than it already is. It's funny that FREAKS was hidden from the public for decades because of its controversial nature and it's even funnier to think that this film here is a lot tamer than that 1932 film. The only "freaks" on display here is a sword swallower as well as a woman who puts a snake in her mouth. The rest don't show up to the final scene. The entire film centers on Brennen as she never gets what she wants. It's just too boring. We get countless scenes of the circus being put together, which is fun for a minute but this film just drags the scenes out. What does work is Brennen who is fairly good for this type of film and of course that ending when we see what's happened to her. The make up job was quite good and makes for a smile. Character actor Bill McKinney made his debut here.

All right, bring on the pain. Now let's start right off the bat with no nudity. I happen to know that those side show strip shows showed skin, if not they wouldn't be popular. I mean it was 1967, Ed Wood even had nudity in his films by now. Now let's look over the action in this movie, there isn't any. Most of the movie is just Jade with long speeches about how bad her life was and long speeches about how she's going to change that rotten luck and long speeches about how much she hates the freak show. My God, we get it. You're a gold digging skank and you want money in order to make your life better. Another thing, they act like the owner was rich, if he was rich he wouldn't be living in a big house not acting like a bloody nomad wracking in the little money from rubs like real carnies do. Ownership of a Carnival or Fun Fair isn't worth killing over, which she does near the end and the freaks get together for revenge. They turn her into a freak. None of the "freaks" has supernatural powers, so how the hell could humans to that to a person. It's impossible, as a TALES FROM THE CRYPT episode, it might have worked. 30 minutes and that includes a speech about her crappy past and how she's going to do better. Plus, they might have explained how she was turned into a freak. Long story short, bad characters, bad ending that makes no sense equals a really bad movie. THE RASBERRY.

Outstanding exploitation flick with a palpable sense of sleaziness...Feels like an old E.C. comic book story, one that would have been drawn by Graham Ingals...who cares if it's a "Freaks" rip-off: it has its own unique charm, with loads of authentic carney atmosphere (producer/writer David Friedman was a carny himself up until a couple years ago) and great performances from a cast of nobodies. Shorty is incredible, as is the fat, sweaty hash joint owner at the beginning. And David Friedman as a freak show barker is not to be missed. The genuinely unsettling make-up for the She-Freak is by Ed Wood's make-up man. Good stuff.

The fact that this movie is a rip-off of Tod Browning's "Freaks" should not be construed as a reason to see it. The photography and acting are bottom drawer, the direction is listless and unimaginative, and writing is rarely sly (or at least it's hard to get any good dialogue out of these actors' mouths). There isn't even all that much exploitation footage here.What is kind of interesting is the picture of carnival life in the 60s (a period of decline for that art form) it provides. Roustabouts, geeks, carneys, all are presented with some sort of versimilitude. With a stronger lead actress and a more competent cast/director, this film could at least have been a memorable shock-fest. Instead, it's ultimately forgettable.