Horror lovers are almost by definition crazy about anthologies. This particular horror fanatic personally also believes that a horror anthology can only be great if the wraparound story is equally compelling, and even a kind of additional segment on its own. I can assure you "Freakshow" has a splendid wraparound story. Considering the title and the year of release (late 80s), the main influences for this film were obviously "Creepshow" and "The Twilight Zone";- not coincidentally two anthologies that were tremendously popular in the 80s. This certainly doesn't mean, however, that "Freakshow" is an inferior and uninspired rip-off. Quite the contrary, it's hugely entertaining and, in my humble opinion, vastly underrated. It can easily stand next to, say, "From a Whisper to a Scream", "After Midnight" and "Screamtime" as one of the 80s horror anthologies that deserve to be wider known and appreciated.
The wraparound story introduces an arrogant and emotionless female news reporter, who prefers to cover the story of a mass-shooting live on television rather than to prevent it from happening. Her cameraman is so disgusted by her sensationalism that he leaves her behind downtown, and during her search for a cab she gets lured in a museum called "The Freakshow", where the oddish curator takes her on a (very) personalized tour. As you can probably guess, the exhibits she sees here lead in the individual segments.
In the first story, a desperate junkie gets trapped in a sort of "Home Alone" situation where the Kevin McAllister role is played by a poodle with a bag of cocaine in its mouth. It's nothing special, but nevertheless entertaining. In segment two, the newly recruited delivery boy of an Italian restaurant has to bring a pizza - with positively no garlic - to an address on 1313, Bram Stoker Avenue. He's welcomed by a house full of vampire brides, but the boy has a secret identity of his own. The idea behind this short story is original, but poorly handled. Also, even though featuring a lot of scantily clad 80s beauties, the erotic vampire dance rituals last far too long. Besides, the vampires here wear the most ridiculous and unconvincing sets of fake teeth I have ever seen. The third and shortest segment is definitely the best. A girl who OD'd witnesses her own embalming process because her mind isn't quite as lifeless as her body yet. I'm pretty sure I've seen this concept before somewhere, probably in "The Twilight Zone", but it nevertheless remains terrifying. Last but not least, segment four stars two punk grave diggers who think they stumbled upon a profitable business by selling the dirt from underneath the tombstones as fertilizer. However, the dead don't approve of their final resting places being desecrated. The tone of this zombie story is mainly comical and silly, but it has a handful of ingenious moments and terrific make-up effects.
