Freak Out
Review by Mari Lynne Rupp

"Freak Out" is a fun homage to slasher flicks of the late '70's and early '80's, through two best buddies, Merv and Onkey. They hang out, and work blue-collar jobs, living the gen-X dream, watching horror movies and playing violent video games until a socially inept, lisping escaped mental patient befriends him.

Merv decides to live out his movie fantasies through his disturbed guest, and tries to train him in the ways of the slasher.

Things go horribly wrong as our guest shows more animosity towards cheeseburgers than chicks who sin, and what follows is a silly, campy ride through slasher memory lane, as films like "Evil Dead", "Nightmare on Elm Street" and "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" are spoofed and our loveable "maniac" finds his niche among chainsaws, machetes and a mounting body count.

With a movie like this, you know you aren't going to get any oscar-nominated performances, or soul-searching monologues, but if you look real close, I think you can see some resemblance between Onkey's character and Randall's character from the "Clerks" series. Even if you aren't a fan of horror, you can't help laughing at some of the over-the-top jokes in this movie.

I highly recommend it. Especially as a buffer between two "After Dark Horrorfest" entries.