Live Freaky! Die Freaky!

[MacGuffin]

Manson film lets 'Freak' flag fly

It is a war-torn 3069: Tattered survivors are hungry, ravaged, neglected. Enter Charles Manson, played by Billie Joe Armstrong, as the messiah.

The frontman for punk rock trio Green Day brings to life this controversial premise as the voice of a puppet likeness of the infamous killer in the stop-motion animated movie musical, "Live Freaky! Die Freaky!"

"After a bottle of wine -- for each of us -- he did the whole thing in one take. It was one of those magical, mystical nights," the film's writer/director John Roecker jokes. Armstrong "just turned into this monster."

The movie, which details a young man stumbling across a battered copy of Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry's book "Helter Skelter" in the 31st century and interpreting it as a biblical tome, has riled critics and cult fans alike since its festival release earlier this year.

"A lot of people are saying this is morally irresponsible and that I've gone too far this time, but the whole point of the movie is to tell people to wake up and question what's going on around us," Roecker says.

The movie is the debut production from Tim Armstrong's Hellcat Pictures. The Rancid/Operation Ivy singer also narrates the story and scored the film.

"It's definitely something you've never seen before," says Marie Therese Guirgis, head of acquisitions for New York-based indie distributor Wellspring Media, which will release the film in North America. "(Roecker) is someone who has worked under the punk ethos for some time, so the film itself is unfettered from any commercial restrictions."

The dark, theatrical tunes were written by Faith No More/Imperial Teen's Roddy Bottum. They are performed in the film by Green Day's Armstrong, Jane Wiedlin and actress/singer Theo Kogan of Lunachicks.

The songs and score are on the soundtrack, which comes out January 31, 2006, as part of a DVD/CD combo through Wellspring. The CD will not be a stand-alone release.

The film will have a limited theatrical release January 27-28 via midnight showings in 15-20 major markets. It will also be available in the Universal Mini Disc format, which is compatible with Sony's PlayStation Portable device.

Additionally, Wellspring is counting on heavy online sales, with amazon.com already onboard. The film "has a lot of potential in the cult/horror/B movie universe. This Manson angle never ceases to attract interest," Guirgis says.

http://www.filmjerk.com/nuke/article598.html

http://www.livefreakydiefreaky.com/

[mutinyco]

Although I can't find the thread, I'm reasonably sure this was posted about 2 years ago: http://movienavigator.org/freaky.htm