Customer Reviews

Hideous!

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Okay now, when it comes from Full Moon Pictures and has a title like HIDEOUS!, it should be obvious to any potential customer or renter that the film is not going to be Oscar quality. But it is equally reasonable to assume that connoisseurs of the tasteless and the outrageous are gonna be in for a treat. 1997's HIDEOUS! is another direct-to-video flick from the Full Moon duo of director Charles Band and writer Benjamin Carr, the same pair who gave the public B-movie gems like HEAD OF THE FAMILY (1996), THE CREEPS (1997), and Mystery Monsters (1997), to name but a few.

According to the plot of HIDEOUS!, there is a semi-underground network of the obscenely wealthy who collect "pickled" examples of biological deformities. The more unusual the deformity, the more valuable the piece to the collector. Superbitch Belinda Yost (Tracie May) is an opportunist who earns her very comfortable living by brokering sales of these titular "collectibles." She has connections to unsavories who work in places like sewage processing plants, and these folks seem to find all kinds of, um, interesting samples of biological deformities (both animal and human). And since Ms. Yost also knows the twisted moneyed folks who want these items, she's more than willing to act as the middle man.

When one of Ms. Yost's "suppliers" comes across a grossly mutated human embryo, she knows just who to sell it to and how to get the best price. Unfortunately, she underestimates the intelligence of her ditzy blonde secretary, who herself informs another collector of the bizarre find. And when the two rival collectors engage in a one-on-one struggle to gain possession of the unique freak, things get really weird!

The acting in HIDEOUS! is surprisingly good for a direct-to-video flick. Former soft-core porn star Jacqueline Lovell expertly delivers a lot of hilarious off-color quips and retorts, and the aforementioned Ms. May convincingly portrays Belinda Yost as one of those money-hungry sirens that you just love to hate. Michael Citriniti (a.k.a., J.W. Perra) is wonderfully smarmy as one of the rich collectors, and Mel Johnson, Jr., delivers one of his best performances to date as the prim and proper rival collector. Genre fans will recognize Mr. Johnson from his role as Benny, the mutant traitor, in 1990's Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle TOTAL RECALL.

The production design is fabulous, providing a deliciously dark ambiance. Most of the story is set inside of an old gothic castle owned by one of the collectors, and the sets, props, and set dressing are as fun to look at as the actors. The little mutant creatures look pretty cool, too, when they are not moving. Unfortunately, bugetary restrictions reduce the special FX to mere human-hand puppetry, and it is very noticeable when the "hideous" little buggers come to life. Nonetheless, this doesn't detract from enjoyment of the film whatsoever. (Indeed, some B-movie fans are known to admit that poor FX actually enhance the fun.)

Though HIDEOUS! is not nearly as witty or satirical as Full Moon's previous offering HEAD OF THE FAMILY, it is still pretty entertaining fodder for movie watchers who love the bizarrely burlesque, the lusciously ludicrous, and the truly tasteless. And for those film fans who watch horror solely for the gratuitous T&A--and you know who you are--the scene where the shapely Ms. Lovell runs around in the snow wearing nothing but a leather skirt and a gorilla mask is must-see video!

The DVD edition of HIDEOUS! is of the standard quality that one would expect from Full Moon. The film is offered in its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1, and digital transfer is pretty good (the colors seem a bit too saturated, but not unbearably so). There is also a featurette with some behind-the-scenes footage, and as usual, there are several trailers for other Full Moon offerings. Well worth the reasonable price for collectors of "hideous" B-movie fare.

NOTE: If amazon.com allowed the use of half-stars in their rating system, HIDEOUS! would get 3.5 stars. But it's just not quite good enough to justify rounding up to 4 stars, hence the 3-star rating.

The plot is simple: biological freaks vs collectors-- freaks 4, collectors 0.

I loved this movie. In fact, as soon as I saw it I ran right back to Amazon and lost no time buying HEAD OF THE FAMILY, which is isn't as good, but still amuses. Jacqueline Lovell picks up this movie and walks off with it. Watch it with friends. We laughed, we groaned, we pointed out mistakes, and we all fell in love with Lovell's Sheila character. Anyone can be a highwayperson but how many do it in the dead of winter amidst a snow covered landscape dressed ONLY in hiking boots, leather shorts and a gorilla mask? Definately a first for me. However erotic many may have thought this scene, I found it full of fun and was one of those 'touches' that make a movie better.

The effects were laughable, which made the movie even more fun although I would like to have seen what they could have done with a bigger budget. I was totally impressed with the acting. Tracie May was fantastic as the 'middleman' in the genetic oddity business. Her customers, Michael Citrinti and Mel Johnson, Jr. were perfect fanatics. "Elvina" and the P.I. were great in their roles and, once again, surprisingly good actors. The castle in which most the action takes place was also impressive.

The only lack in this little flick was the special effects, but the fun more than made up for it.

Hideous! is another fun horror flick from Full Moon Pictures. Like most of the movies in their cannon, this one isn't scary in the slightest, but it is entertaining, campy, and humorous. There are a lot of fun performances here, and the dialogue is great. The monsters don't get to do much damage in this movie, but they do look good. Watch this one if you are a Full Moon fan, or if you like horror movies with way more comedy than horror.

i am not and have never been a big fan of full moon. most of the films ive seen of theirs have been very dissapointing. hideous is one of the few exceptions, another being the gingerdead man (yes i'm serious). hideous is about a couple collectors of biological oddities who's latest catch has decided to break free and along with a couple other little freaks get revenge. while nothing special, hideous is enjoyable and fun to watch. the little mutants are fun and sometimes funny. one of them steals the show in a very disturbing and hilarious sexual encounter. hideous is not without its problems. it drags on alot in the middle and takes about 40 minutes to get going and i was hoping for a little more action near the end. the only other real problems come from the overall cheesiness of the film but this isnt a huge problem because the whole movie is fun. if you like absurd and funny horror films then hideous will not dissapoint. its enjoyable and funny, just dont go in expecting a masterpeice. 3 1/2

This story from Full Moon Pictures is about little creature who are made of and born in Toxic Waste.Killing starts and terror begins.Rated R fro nudity,violence,and language.

When I was in the process of watching this movie, I only hoped it would live up to some great B-movies like Dead Alive or Deadly Advice. While this movie really tried, it was missing some elements. First of all, I wasn't afraid or even in some small fear of the monsters. Though they killed a few people, they didn't do it like other monsters would. I don't mean to sound psychopathic, but one key element to sci-fi/horror is fear.

this is good four star unless you like freaky things and weird stuff then maybe you would think its a five star, butt if dont like freaky weird kinda sick stuff you wont like this one, butt i liked it and it has new twist making it different a little from all other movies and the actors seem all likeable and goofy. its good gore

When I first saw this movie, I didn't know whether I should laugh, scream, or just throw up. The little critters in this movie are nauseating, to say the least. Anyway......

Hard to believe that there were characters in this shockfest who were willing to waste perfectly good money buying what was basically medical waste. But it takes all kinds, doesn't it? Two of the characters spend most of their onscreen time arguing over who has the best claim to the four-eyed specimen, one woman goes topless for pretty much the whole thing, the private detective has no clue what's going on, and the critters are offing the hapless humans one by one in some admittedly ingenious ways.

As for the critters themselves, I cooked up my own names for them: the smallest one with the quills, Needles; the lumpy-looking greenish one, Lugnut; the freakishly muscular one, Strongarm; and the leader, Brainchild. These are my own nicknames for them; feel free to come up with your own if you so desire.

I enjoyed this movie a lot, and I recommend it to anyone looking for some cheap gross-out fun.

HIDEOUS! is one of my favorite Full Moon classics, w/ everything I love in a movie. I mean, how many movies begin w/ three guys skimming "artifacts" from out of a raw sewage vat? In this wonderful film we get freakish-mutant-fetus', and the greedy/insane men who collect them! Plus, there's Shiela (Jacqueline Lovell from Head Of The Family), in her gorilla mask and leather shorts (topless of course) in the snow! If that's not enough, there's even a gloomy castle full of trapped victims! This huge place has lots of room for the little baby-mutants to run around in, planning their vengeance! If any of this sounds like heaven to you, then you just might be as demented as I am! Weird is good...

Outrageous and funny. Perfect for those in the deformed gendre. I recommend it.