Frank Henenlotter doesn’t get the chance to make a lot of movies, but when he can manage it, he TOTALLY gives you your money’s worth when it comes to bizarros and jaw-droppers in a neatly entertaining package. Henenlotter makes you question your taste and your sanity. He’s GOOD.
The brilliant stroke of this sequel to one of the weirdest 1980s gore flicks is that it essentially re-tells the story of the 1932 Tod Browning classic, Freaks. It’s the closest thing we’ve gotten to remake. Henenlotter here shares it across the campfire like it’s old folklore. The dorky guy and his deformed brother, Belial, in a basket are back and on the run from the law due to the pile of mutilated corpses from the first movie. Our anti-heroes get scooped up by Dr. Annie Ross (giving it her all with her richly toned old singer’s voice), who’s genuinely sympathetic to the plight of the deformed. Her house is a sanctuary for people whose left eye is about two feet away from their right eye. It’s a regular Star Wars cantina scene of imaginative make-up jobs. The arrangement is imperfect, but they seem to be doing all right.
UNTIL some journalists who are chasing after Belial take an interest in the place and aim to expose it.
Then it’s time for these misfits to show their monstrous side. The results aren’t pretty.
Most of the people you know would hate this movie, but it’s great.