She Freak (1967)

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Jade Cochran(Claire Brennan), a sexpot stuck in a dead-in job at some nondescript café in the middle of nowhere Texas, desires more out of life than her tired mama who had nine kids, didn’t graduate high school, worn out at 42, life unfulfilled, opportunities nil. Jade vows to herself in a monologue heard by her café owner slob(Claude Earl Jones, familiar to many because he was in lots of television and the made for tv horror classic, Dark Night of the Scarecrow) that she will do whatever it takes—cheat and steal if she has to—in order to escape a mundane existence where expectations weren’t reached.

“From here it’s all the way up.”



Jude leaves her waitress job at the diner with designs on *higher livin’*, winding up waiting tables at the traveling carnival. Jade makes friends fast—the “ferris wheel foreman"(Lee Raymond), a stripper(Lynn Courtney), and specifically St. John(Bill McKinney, whose notoriety derives from making Ned Beatty squeal like a pig before raping him in the backwoods in Deliverance), a wealthy man with the carnival who woos her with little effort because Jade is eyeing his pocketbook. Jade loves attention and gets it. She walks past as heads turn and Jade shakes her ass a little so that the boys get an eyeful of her curvaceous figure. You’d think she casts a spell, her essence causes practically every man to look her direction, to view her caboose and have that moment of reflection as they ponder what it’d be like to land her in the sack. She gets one look at “the freaks” and is instantly repulsed—so sickened, that she flees, as if Jade were about to vomit. Jade is looking for a sugar daddy, someone loaded who will provide all her heart could desire, a life of luxury.



She Freak is every bit the carnival movie. If you have a fascination with carnivals, this movie is for you. It shows the construction of the carnival, those who work in the industry and the locals who populate it when the show comes to town. Celebrated producer David F Friedman, who recently passed, shows his love for the carnival business in every way using She Freak as a tool to exploit his passion for the business. The plot, rather tepid and dull, plays second fiddle to the carnival’s inner workings. The pacing isn’t exactly a priority to the filmmakers, either. I have to admit that I wanted a reason to really embrace the picture, but I was rather indifferent towards it. I would be lying if I didn’t admit that I was bored a bit, but the insider look into a carnival in the 60s I imagine will be of interest to those who are fascinated in “time capsule” movies which give us a peek into a way of life at a certain time.



Right out of Tod Browning’s Freaks comes the ending as Jade has gained a certain amount of power within the carnival after marrying St John, mistreating the human oddities, parading her advantage over them with a wicked grin and haughty attitude, eventually getting her comeuppance with a hideous makeover which was the main reason I rented it besides Friedman’s association with She Freak. We also witness the return of the café owner she scorned at the beginning, Jade’s fate a reason for him to gloat as his stuffs his face with popcorn.

I think the Something Weird dvd of She Freak is worth pursuing just because of David Friedman's audio commentary; he's far more interesting than the movie, to tell you the truth, and has a million stories. I definitely was curious of the film's backstory and fascinated with Friedman's life and career.