A few weeks ago I tried to review Bad Biology, but instead ended up digging out my copy of Basket Case and reviewing that instead. My copy of Basket Case is part of an awesome four disc set from Something Weird called The Freak Box - and let me tell you, all four movies are pretty damn freaky.
Tonight's selection is a beloved favorite of mine - even if it is a remake of a much better film. Still, it rocks, and it's all kinds of bad in the best possible ways. It's a David Friedman film, who worked with Herschell Gordon Lewis and produced many of his films. It kind of even feels like an HGL film, except that it lacks, well,
dialogue.
She Freak is the grindhouse version of Tod Browning's Freaks, but with go-go dancers.
Jiggling and gold digging ensue. Freaks is a classic film that you definitely need to check out if you haven't. As much as I love She Freak, it's a movie that benefits from liberal use of the FF button, as I'll soon demonstrate.
Unless you really, REALLY like shots like this one:
Then by all means, watch all 83 minutes.
We start out at a freak show that features, among other things, snakes and the women who love them:
And something so hideous, so awful, that women scream and men look all confused when they see it:
Then, through the miracle of modern film making, we're taken back in time to a small town with a diner and a waitress and a shortage of hats that fit correctly, apparently:
The waitress is named Jade and apparently all the fellas in town like to ask her out, but Jade isn't having it. Which makes her boss all kinds of happy, because his wife is out of town, and he'd like to spend some quality time with her.
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| TEMPTING. |
Jade is just biding her time looking for a way out, and she thinks she has a shot if she joins the carnival that's coming to town.
This is another opportunity to hit up the FF button, unless you're dying to know how carnival tents were put together in the 60's. Or, how women who love snakes give them baths:
Jade hits up the business office and asks about a job:
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Or maybe she's threatening to come back later and drink his blood if he doesn't hire her. |
I'm guessing because David Friedman didn't see fit to film any actual dialogue for this scene, deciding instead to let the funky 60's jazz lite soundtrack speak for itself.
Apparently either Jade's spunky personality or her deadly fangs do the trick, because Jade immediately finds employment...........
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| Yep. Movin' on up! |
Oh, btw, we're a HALF HOUR into this movie. I told you that FF button would come in handy!
Jade makes friends with the lead stripper, Moon, who asks her to split the cost of a hotel room.
Then Jade takes a tour of the carnival, accompanied by zero dialogue and tons of jazz lite:
Jade is beside herself with the excitement of joining a carnival set up in a dusty field in the middle of nowhere:
Then Jade decides to visit the freak tent, whose inhabitants include:
The sword swallower:
And women who love to love snakes and crochet their shirts:
Well, swords, snakes, and crocheted clothing all prove to be too much for Jade, who runs away to tell Moon (who tells Jade that the freaks are in the best place for them) that she can't understand why the freaks are allowed to be anywhere, EVER!
Well, this riveting discussion will have to wait for now......because it's time for a..
GO GO BREAK!
Later, Jade tells Moon how excited she is to stay in her first motel, room, EVER.
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| Color this woman easily impressed. |
Jade also asks Moon to list the most eligible bachelors in the carnival (!) and comes up with a grand total of one: a Mr. Steve St John , or He Who Just Happens to Own the Freak Show. Jade sets her sights on the dude, and eventually he asks her out- which amounts to a lovely tour of, yes, you guessed it.....the carnival!
Accompanied by the ever present jazz lite, of course:
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| Only the best establishments. |
And, there's this dude: His name is Blackie and he's a carny, so he must be bad news.
And, of course, Jade continues to date Steve St John, carnival style.
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| Don't worry, there's still PLENTY of jazz lite to go around. |
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And oh yeah, in case you missed it, there's lots and LOTS of footage of the carnival being put up and taken down in between the romance.
Eventually they marry, but Jade still wants to walk on the wild side:
And oh yeah, she still can't stand the freaks:
Eventually, Jade's two lives cross, with disastrous results for Steve:
And Jade is all kinds of crushed when her husband dies before her eyes:
She goes on to rule the freak show with an iron fist, counting her money, and telling her best friend Moon to take a hike when she questions Jade's business style.
You can only treat a midget bad for so long before they break out the switchblades:
And the other freaks get in on the action:
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| Where were these people for the first 81 minutes of the movie? |
Now we understand why women were screaming, because this is the result of retaliation:
and guess who came to the show:
Ta-da:
