The Freak Show Box Set (Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks / She Freak / Blood Freak / Basket Case)
by Beverly Bonner

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DVD Reviews of The Freak Show Box Set (Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks / She Freak / Blood Freak / Basket Case)

DVD Review: It's Something Weird...what could you expect??
Summary: 4 Stars

DVD Review: Four very different movies, with great extras
Summary: 4 Stars

The best known and, in my opinion, best movie in the set is Basket Case, written and directed by Frank Henenlotter. It's about Siamese twins who are separated shortly after birth: as an adult, the normal-looking Duane carries around his hideously deformed evil twin Belial in a large, padlocked basket. Equally gruesome and funny, this cult film truly deserves its reputation. Fans will oooh and aaah at the generous extras included, especially the outtakes, behind-the-scenes footage, and the video short "In Search of the Hotel Broslin," in which Henenlotter re-visits the Times Square locations where he originally shot Basket Case. Hilariously, the people who run the hotel now refuse to let the video crew into the lobby to film! Just goes to show ya, outside of the horror conventions a low-budget filmmaker gets no respect.

Next, we have the Italian release Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks. I would recommend a six-pack of your favorite cold beverage to accompany the viewing of this one, mainly due to the large amount of unintentional laughs. Picture the usual Frankenstein antics with a couple cavemen thrown in, and you've got the general idea. Don't expect lots of blood and gore, but you do get some good nude scenes, one a memorable mud-bath where the girls are spied upon by a voyeuristic dwarf. Something Weird continues along these lines with the inclusion of the short subjects "The Monster and the Maiden" and "Frankenstein and the Naughty Nurse," both of which feature a Frankenstein monster and a stripper.

Step right up, ladies and gentlemen, for writer/producer David F. Friedman's She Freak! This 1967 film made the most of its carnival/sideshow location shooting, or as the poster said, "filmed on actual locations where it COULD have happened!" Storywise it's a semi-remake of Tod Browning's classic movie Freaks, but not nearly as creepy. The main character is the hateful Jade Cochran, a small-town waitress who decides to join the carny lifestyle and claw her way up the ladder. There's lots of outrageous trashy dialogue, and as a fan of old-school carnival/sideshow stuff I enjoyed the colorful setting. The main complaint I have with this movie, or rather the packaging: the DVD cover and the main DVD menu both give away the big "shocker" shot which is the climax of the film. The original trailer, included here, gave it away too, though, so I guess it's that old exploitation way of bringing in the paying customer by whatever means necessary. It's still a fun movie, and there's great old newsreel footage included of sideshow attractions like Siamese twins and a pinhead!

Finally, we come to (shudder) Blood Freak. Do you pride yourself on being a huge fan of such low-budget campfests as Plan 9 from Outer Space and Blood Feast? Me too, but that doesn't mean you are adequately prepared for 1972's Blood Freak, "the world's only turkey-monster-anti-drug-pro-Jesus gore film!" Plot: guy gets hooked on marijuana, eats some turkey meat laced with an experimental drug, and becomes a monster with a giant turkey head that drinks the blood of drug addicts. Ah yes, it's as bad as it sounds. Bizarre, funny at times, includes a couple (inept) gore scenes, but painful....oh so painful. Fortunately, there's a cornucopia of special features, lots of trailers, a gallery of old comic cover art (very cool), and five, count em, five short films! These include "Beggar at the Gates," which is a bizarre Mondo-type overview of American religious sects of the 60's, the anti-drug classic "Narcotics, Pit of Despair," and the self-explanatory "Brad Grinter, Nudist." By far the weirdest of the short films is the soft-core porn "The Walls Have Eyes," starring Steve Hawkes, star/co-writer/co-producer/co-director of Blood Freak. This sleazy little film features a girl shooting up and voyeurism, and definitely gives you a taste of what was playing on 42nd Street in 1969. These copious DVD extras help to compensate for the agony of the featured film itself.

Low-budget film "freaks" unite!

Description of The Freak Show Box Set (Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks / She Freak / Blood Freak / Basket Case)

General DVDs

• Genres > Horror
• Science Fiction & Fantasy > General
• Horror
• Sci-Fi & Fantasy