By MICHAEL GINGOLD
The war heats up between the evil and the unusual.
VMI Releasing brings the spectacular genre-blender FREAKS VS. THE REICH to theaters (in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Tampa and Orlando) and VOD/digital platforms this Friday, April 28. Nominated for 16 David di Donatello Awards (of which it won six) among many others, it was previously known as FREAKS OUT and directed by Gabriele Mainetti from a script he wrote with Nicola Guaglianone. Mainetti produced with Andrea Occhipinti (star of ’80s Italian genre films like THE NEW YORK RIPPER, A BLADE IN THE DARK and CONQUEST), and the cast is headed by Claudio Santamaria, Aurora Giovinazzo, Pietro Castellitto, Giancarlo Martini, Giorgio Tirabassi, Max Mazzotta, Franz Rogowski, Sebastian Hülk and Anna Tenta.
The synopsis: “During World War II in occupied Rome, a group of circus performers endowed with supernatural powers band together to fight the oppressive Nazi regime’s occupation of Italy. Looking to flee the Nazi menace for the shores of America are four super-powered circus performers: There’s beautiful, young, electrically charged Matilde [Giovinazzo], Cencio [Castellitto], an albino with the ability to control insects, Mario [Martini], a dwarf graced with magnetic powers, and Fulvio [Santamaria], a strongman covered from head to toe with hair. On their heels is the psychotic Franz [Rogowski], an ether-addicted, six-fingered Nazi who runs the nearby circus and believes that the supernaturally gifted quartet will help him turn the tide of the war, delivering the ultimate victory for Hitler and the Reich. Will the ‘freaks’ be able to escape the grasp of the brutal Nazis or will their incredible powers be harnessed in a way that could change both their destinies and the entire course of history forever?”
