From late 1991 to August, 1992 Keanu took a hiatus from films, except for eight days in the spring to appear, uncredited, in a film by his friend, Alex Winter. Keanu's career at this time was in low gear, with his disappointment in the Bill and Ted sequel and the Dracula reviews, as well as with recent career decisions: he turned down the movie "White Men Can't Jump" and accepted "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues." Perhaps he felt this was a good time to let off some steam about his disdain, which Winter shared, for the Bill and Ted merchandising juggernault which both experienced with frustration. Perhaps he felt this was a good time...to have a good time with friends.
Alex showed Keanu a script which he and his former classmate from NYU and now business partner, Tom Stern, had written. Winter and Stern had previously paired to write and direct two well-received film shorts called "Aisles of Doom" and "Squeal of Death." Don't ask. They had recently finished working for MTV, collaborating on a comedy series called "The Idiot Box." Keanu was aware of their work, which he described in Movieline Magazine as comedy which was "physical, dark, usually [with] social commentary...[the] base of it is bitterness at original sin, at the spit and shit of man." Don't you just love this man? Perhaps he could've added, bitterness over Bill and Ted cereal boxes.
Alex's screenplay seemed to compare Hollywood blockbuster machinations with the 19th century circus freak sideshows. In this analogy, the Hollywood superstar (Ricky Coogin) was the ultimate freak.
Twentieth Century Fox studio gave Winter and Stern $11 million budget for their first (and only) feature film. Alex agreed to write, direct, and star as a Hollywood superstar who sells out to a corrupt supercorporation (think Enron scandal, but this one was called "Everything Except Shoes, and its CEO was William Sadler, who played Death in the Bill and Ted sequel.) Coogin sells out for $5 million to become the company spokesperson for a toxic chemical called "Zygrot 24," and flies to ficticious Santa Flan, a South American country. The viewer knows from the beginning that something goes terribly wrong, because the movie is told in flashbacks, as Ricky's anguish is entertainment fodder for a talk-show audience, hosted by...Brooke Shields. Coogin arrives at the airport with his friend Ernie (played by Michael Stroyanov of "Blossom" fame) and is joined by an environmental activist (played by Megan Ward of "Dark Skies" fame.) The three take a detour to "FreekLand," a roadside attraction run by Elijah C. Skuggs (Randy Quaid in a similar role to the one he played in Independence Day), who uses Zygrot 24 to mutate unsuspecting tourists into his exhibits. Think: Vincent Price's horror classic, "Wax Museum,"but with live displays. And what a host of characters exhibited! Ernie and Julie become Siamese twins, attached throughout the movie. Mr. T is the Bearded Lady, and became so stressed out, that he walked off the set three days before filming concluded, and had to be replaced in one shot by a stand-in. I pity the fool who can't spot the substitution! Bob Goldthwaith is"Sockhead" and the other freaks included Cowboy, Giant Nose, The Worm, and their leader, Ortiz, the Dawg Boy.
When asked by an interviewer how he prepared for his role, Keanu responded that he saw Ortiz as part "Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, and Tom Jones." Alex saw Ortiz as "rabid, libidinous type who's all male sexuality." In other words, every fan's fantasy. Keanu spent four hours each morning in the make-up chair as each hair on his face was individually attached. He's all latex and fur as he rallies the freaks as milkmen for their escape, runs a Hollywood Squares game show, shares a bed with Julie...and Ernie, since they are attached, and as he abandons the cause half-way through the movie, scampering off chasing his next meal (he reappears briefly at the end of the movie.) Winter calls Ortiz "a hyper-theatrical Shakespearean rogue." I would add, who could scratch his head with his foot. Perhaps that's how he got Keanu to sign.
The special effects took a year to develop after the production wrapped. In the meantime a new regime, headed by Peter Chernin, came to Twentieth Century Fox who saw Freaked as "too dark and unsuitable for mainstream audiences." After its premiere showing on September 11, 1993, at the Toronto Film Festival, the studio abandoned it. It was given a limited release in NYC and L.A. in October with no advertising or press screenings. One critic remarked "to find it you practically had to be psychic." Some critics who did find it, found it to be "juvenile, uninvolving, and unappealing," and "too deliberately wacky for its own good." But others thought it filled a niche for horror fans with its "riotous mix of political satire, scatalogical humor, and bad taste antics." Where else could you find Morgan Fairchild as a stewardess calmly closing the plane's door after passengers were sucked out, or large armed eyeballs patrolling the area, or a toad guard snatching passing airplanes out of the sky with his tongue?
The movie found an audience after its video release in Europe in June, 1995, when it was retitled "Freaked." The American version did not include the game show sequence, which further reduced Keanu's screentime. "Freaked" was honored with two awards for "fanastic arts" at two festivals and its title song, "Freaked" was written and performed by none other than Henry Rollins, the doctor in JM! One critic said this movie was "Mel Brooks on a bad day." It reminded me, instead, of the twisted, offbeat, dark humor found in movies like the Coen brothers' "Raising Arizona," one of my favorite comedies.
Perhaps "Freaked" was closer to what Alex and Keanu envisioned for Bill and Ted's real bogus journey.
The balcony is now open.