1972’s The Freakmaker (AKA The Mutations) is one of those movies that I really wish was better than it is. The film has a lot of good things that work in its favor. The film is directed by Jack Cardiff, the wonderful cinematographer that worked with the likes of Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles and John Huston. The movie stars Donald Pleasence and Tom Baker, two of my absolute favorites. And it’s partly influenced by Tod Browning’s Freaks. Yet with all these positives working in favor of the film, it ultimately falls a bit short.

Pleasence stars as Professor Nolter, a professor at a London university specializing in genetic science. When Nolter isn’t teaching, he uses human guinea pigs to experiment with intent to crossbreed plants with humans. What purposes this serves I’m not really sure and we never find out.

Assisting Nolter is Lynch (Baker), a large man dubbed the “ugliest person in the world.” Lynch earned this title due to a hideous face deformity. Because of the issues with his face Lynch is part of a traveling circus freak show. The freak show is filled with the likes of the bearded lady, the pretzel man and the alligator woman. Lynch doesn’t see himself as a freak. He’s helping Nolter with hopes that Nolter will soon be able to fix his face. Although you never really get the sense from Nolter that he even intends to help Lynch. He seems to have his own motives. Again, what those motives are we never really know.

The Freakmaker serves no purpose. There’s little to no story. You watch some freaks at a circus and that’s about it. There are some mildly entertaining effects along the way, the best being when Nolter turns some poor man into some half plant-half man thing. They’re not great effects, but they are fun and practical.

The Freakmaker would have worked better had it went weirder and crazier. You can get by without much of a story if you offer up something truly bizarre. That never happens here because there are similar movies that are far more interesting. For example the best part of this film is a dinner scene which is something that is pulled straight out of Freaks. So while that scene is fun, we’ve seen it before.

The film is available on DVD straight from Cyclone, the company that produced it. The DVD isn’t the best looking DVD, but it’s passable. I have to think that maybe the original elements aren’t in the best of shape. It does come with some interesting special features. There is a making of that gives you some insight into the behind the scenes aspects. Also included are three interviews with Robert Weinbach, Cardiff and Brad Harris. My favorite feature is an image gallery of lobby cards. I’m a big fan of the old lobby cards and The Freakmaker had some good ones.

I’d say The Freakmaker is a mostly unnecessary film that is ok. You can find some fun in it with some enjoyable moments here and there; it’s just nothing you haven’t seen before.

The Freakmaker is now available on DVD from Cyclone Productions/Vidcrest. Purchase directly from CycloneHorror.com and receive a combo pack that includes The Last Horror Movie.