Clearly attempting to borrow a page from the crass playbook of South Park and Meet the Feebles, filmmaker John Roecker's Live Freaky! Die Freaky! aims to be the ultimate in animated bad-taste family comedy. And what better family to evoke than the Manson clan? Yes, Charles Manson and company are brought back in this self-described “outrageous stop-motion animation musical” about a nomad in the post-apocalyptic year 3069 who discovers a copy of Helter Skelter and theorizes that Manson (or Hanson, as he is called here) should be adopted as the new savior. But that's just a framing device, after which the film quickly flashes back to 1969 to recreate the Tate-LaBianca massacre (staged as the equivalent of a slapstick tunefest) and its aftermath. Nothing is sacred here (for that matter, nothing is particularly funny either) as the animated puppets (voiced by Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day, Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Go's, and actress Asia Argento, among others) engage in all manner of unrated sex and gore. But ultimately Roecker's exercise is less about bad taste than it is about bad filmmaking: the animation is amateurish, the songs are puerile, and the concept of turning the murder of Sharon Tate into a sick comedy is painfully stupid. DVD extras include an audio commentary, deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes featurettes, and a bonus soundtrack CD. Not recommended. (P. Hall)
Live Freaky! Die Freaky!
Wellspring, 80 min., not rated, DVD: $29.98 Volume 21, Issue 2
Live Freaky! Die Freaky!
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