SYNOPSICS
She Freak (1967) is a English movie. Byron Mabe,Donn Davison has directed this movie. Claire Brennen,Lee Raymond,Lynn Courtney,Bill McKinney are the starring of this movie. It was released in 1967. She Freak (1967) is considered one of the best Horror movie in India and around the world.
Claire Brennen stars as a waitress who leaves the greasy-diner business for the excitement of the carnival. She quickly discovers that she despises freaks and human oddities.
Same Actors
Same Director
She Freak (1967) Reviews
"Freaks"(1932) gets a deliciously ghetto makeover....
Rotgut updating of Tod Browning's carny horror classic is actually not nearly as awful as it could have been...still, just about any quotidian viewer will refuse to endure it til the closing credits. Gorgeous, blonde Claire Brennan(sadly lost to cancer early in her life)portrays a complete and total bitch with a distinct "Bad Seed" approach to getting whatever she wants. When she brings her unscrupulous shenanigans to the mechanical wheel of a roadside carnival, she fitfully receives her come-uppance at the hands of the sideshow attractions. Her beauty is given way to monstrosity, as she is mysteriously transformed into a half-woman/half-beast with a fried egg eyeball, salaciously fondling a large snake(nice touch!). Examine the names associated to this one, then reference their other works...I'm sure you'll find that "She Freak" is a cut above most of those other entries. It's overall a fun bit of grindhouse nonsense, but could have benefited greatly from the more gratuitous sex and violence one might expect from a Mabe/Friedman epic. 5.5/10
Interesting but Weak Entry in Exploitation History
_She Freak_ is certainly one of the more accessible of Friedman's post-HG Lewis movies. Obviously intended to target drive-ins, it lacks the more objectionable (and usually dull) `adult' material of his other pictures, and spends more time on the plot. Other strengths include actors that know their lines and location footage (at a carnival) that offers a bit more visual diversity than is usual in the extreme low-budget 60's field. That said, however, the film is deeply flawed and far from a classic. It is frequently billed as a `remake' of Tod Browning's _Freaks_, which is true to an extent, but not in the way one would hope. Clearly the writer took the concept of a selfish carnival girl who is punished by the freaks for her ill-treatment of one of their number and ran with it. Unfortunately, it did not inspire him to particular heights. The most notable difference between this film and its inspiration is the aspects of carny life upon which they focus. _Freaks_ focused on the title characters showing their lives and loves, how sideshow freaks were people with feelings who banded together against a world that despised them. _She Freak_, by contrast, seems mostly concerned with the people behind the scenes: the concessioners and `ride boys' and the Grips (or whatever their called in carny talk) that set up and tear down the big show. Something like 10 minutes of footage is sweaty guys working with tent poles, so if that's your thing As far as sideshow acts are concerned: there's a coochy-dancer (who goes `as far as the law allows,' evidently in a bible-belt state), a sword-swallower, a snake charmer and a fortune-teller. Even the one real `freak' of the film, the unfortunate `Shorty' the midget, gets very little screen time and never performs whatever act he is supposed to have. The other glaring flaw is the character development. The main character, Jade, starts the movie as a bitch, then is re-introduced as a sympathetic character with high hopes, then spends the rest of the movie bouncing back and forth. It got so bad that I started to regard the movie as a Jekyll-and-Hyde tale, with the `bad' Jade progressively screwing up the aspirations of the `good' Jade. But, unlike Stevenson's story, there is no explanation for Jade's dual personality, and no way to predict which side of her would emerge. A more interesting take, had the writer and director been up to the challenge, would have been to portray Jade as starting out nice, but gradually becoming `jaded' (sorry, couldn't help that pun) over the course of events and hard knocks in the carnival, until she went too far and had to be destroyed. Frankly, the `crime' for which she is punished (firing Shorty) does not fit the punishment she earns, and there are other characters in the film that have far more justifiable grievances than the freaks do. One interesting hallmark of the low-budget Friedman approach deserves note. The extended silent sequences, in which the audience is treated to musical montages of images that are supposed to suggest action. Aside from the aforementioned set-up, tear-down sequences, the entire courtship of Jade and her prospective husband is handled in this way. Up until his last two or three scenes, pretty much the only thing this actor says is `Hello.' On the whole, this is actually a good thing. Overall, it's worth it for exploitation completists, and is a watchable film, but not generally recommended.
Sporadically entertaining rip-off of classic film
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.
Unacceptably disgraceful
A truly diabolical 60's remake of the legendary Tod Browning movie Freaks. Unlike the original film, this ultra low budget affair does not feature real 'freaks'. Also, unlike the original version, this film does not feature anything that can be vaguely described as interesting. An alarming percentage of the running time seems to be spent watching people putting up and taking down tents and other fairground attractions. We have seemingly endless scenes showing fairground rides and people frequenting side-stalls. We have a hugely unerotic striptease and many other sequences so tedious my mind has blocked them out as a suppressed memory. The acting talent and production values are nil. This movie must've been shot in a couple of days tops. The she-freak of the title only rears her ugly head in the last few seconds of this dreck and, needless to say, it isn't worth the wait. This is exploitation cinema at its worst. It exploits the viewer in such a way that it promises something and delivers less than nothing. This is as close to a non-movie as you can get. It's so bad I would wish it on my worst enemies. Absolute gash.
A Treat
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.