SideShow (2000)

Nomination Year: 2008

SYNOPSIS: An old-fashioned morality play from Fred Olen Ray? Very unexpected. At least it had Digestina (the coy woman whose act consists of sitting naked in an opaque broth which bubbles as random things are brought to the surface -- really!).

Five teens (two couples on a double date and the younger wheelchair-bound brother of one of the guys) go to the carnival, where they decide to attend the freak show. They have their fortune told, and the freaky fortune chick (Brinke Stevens) tells them that one will get what she yearns for, one what he deserves, one what he needs, one what she wants, and ... the fortune-teller fades out before telling the fifth teen (our hero?) his fortune. One-by-one, the teens get picked off, and turned into sideshow performers in fulfilment of the fortune (one girl who desires a perfect body gets it ... but without a functional head, the bully is turned into Squeakie the Human Canary, etc). Finally, our dithering hero decides to go back to the sideshow (he waited in the car) and find out what happened to his friends. The performers show him, and then his future is told: he gets what he has earned -- to be alone. The sideshow disappears, and he's alone in an empty field. He gets up and wanders off disconsolately. The end. You're welcome.

Kevin Hogan

Smithee Award Nominations

Worst Cover Copy
Great movie! Wasn't this one. None of the characters on the front of the box are actually in the film (except for Dr Graves). The kids ... are different kids. The monsters? Different monsters. The plot description is kind of lacking in detail (there are teens; there are freaks; you may regret your wishes coming true; enjoy the film!).	Sorry, this cover has not yet been made available!

Directors

Director	Claim to Fame
Fred Olen Ray	If there's a contender for worst, most prolific Bad Director ever to (dis)grace Hollywood, he might be second only to Roger Corman. Oh, AND he wrestles under the name "Fabulous" Freddy Valentine.

Cast

Actor	Character	Claim to Fame
Phil Fondacaro	<Not Yet in Database>	first role was in Under the Rainbow ... stands three feet six inches from head to heel
Peter Spellos	<Not Yet in Database>	Does a lot of voice acting for anime series. Tracy's dad in Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare. Gus on "American Dreams."
Ross Hagen	<Not Yet in Database>	Not only did he play "Rommel" in the Smithee/MST3K "classic" film The Sidehackers, he also produced it.
Brinke Stevens	<Not Yet in Database>	master's degree in marine biology
Richard Gabai	<Not Yet in Database>	writer/director/producer of Assault of the Party Nerds and its sequel, among others....


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