| Director | Alex Winter, Tom Stern, Tom Stern |
|---|---|
| Budget | $12 million |
| Box office | $29,296 |
Skye Daley holds an interview with former child star Ricky Coogin, who recounts a bizarre story that began when he accepted an endorsement with the questionable Everything Except Shoes corporation to promote a fertilizer called "Zygrot 24". While initially hesitant, the corporation's CEO manages to get him on board with a large sum of money, and Ricky and his friend Ernie embark on a journey to a South American town called Santa Flan. During the flight, Ricky encounters a fan called Stuey Gluck who pleads him not to promote the fertilizer, but an accident leads to him falling out the plane.
Ricky and Ernie, upon arriving in Santa Flan, find themselves amidst a group of environmentalists protesting Zygrot, and Ricky becomes smitten with volatile environmentalist Julie. Ricky poses as an accident victim and deceives her into joining him and Ernie on a protest trip, but his true identity is eventually revealed and the three are stuck traveling together. They end up taking a detour to a local freakshow called Freek Land, where they encounter a mad scientist called Elijah C. Skuggs. The scientist and his assistant, Toad, capture them and turn the three into freaks, with Julie and Ernie becoming conjoined twins and Ricky partially transforming into a hideous green monster.
Ricky, struggling to adapt to his new life, finds himself among a group of fellow freaks including Ortiz the Dog Boy, giant arthropod Worm, literal anthropomorphic cow Cowboy, the Bearded Lady, and Sockhead. During their first show, Ricky stuns the audience with a Shakespearean monologue before spotting an E.E.S agent, leaping offstage in hopes of rescue. However, after the agent starts mocking him, an enraged Ricky pulls his head off and scares the audience away.
The next day, Ricky learns that Stuey's alive and trying to sell his story, only for the fan to get captured by E.E.S. businessmen. Ricky then attempts to escape only to be captured by Elijah's henchmen, the Rastafar-eyes, and Elijah reveals that he plans to mutate Ricky and use him to eliminate the other freaks during the next show. Ricky, Worm, Julie and Ernie sneak off to Elijah's lab that night and make a 'good' batch of Zygrot that would keep him in control of himself, with hopes of using it to take down Elijah. However - when the tunnel they got to the lab using starts caving in - Ricky has to discard the batch so he can safely get back through. During a meeting between Elijah and the E.E.S. executives, though, Stuey manages to escape captivity and sneaks off with the good Zygrot.
At the show - Ricky strapped to a chair and the other freaks locked in a cage - Stuey attempts to get Ricky's attention only for a crowd member to pour the Zygrot over his head, turning him into a giant and grotesque troll-like version of himself. However, he remains determined to save Ricky and the other freaks, taking down the Rastafar-eyes and - with Julie and Ernie's help - killing Toad. Elijah uses the Zygrot on Ricky and fully transforms him into a huge monster, and he and Stuey engage in battle onstage. Meanwhile, the E.E.S. executives betray Elijah and attempt to steal his equipment, only for the latter to shoot them with a Zygrot bazooka. The agents and executives melt into a mass of liquid flesh, reforming into a giant, groaning fleshy shoe.
Ricky comes close to killing Stuey, only to snap out of it and spare him after Cowboy reminds him of their soulmate connection. He instead turns to Elijah, breaking his spine. Elijah states that if Ricky kills him, he will never find an antidote that was baked into some macaroons. After he tells Ricky this, Ricky kicks him in the groin, sending him flying into a vat of Zygrot 24. An FBI task force arrive shortly afterwards having learned what was going on from Stuey's article, saving Ricky and the other freaks and gunning down Elijah, who emerges from the vat having taken the appearance of Skye Daley.
Cutting back to the interview, it is revealed that Ricky had returned to normal alongside the other freaks after they all took antidotes in the form of macaroons, excluding Stuey, Worm (who dislikes macaroons) and Ortiz (who had been chasing a squirrel the whole time). It is also revealed that the Skye Daley who had been interviewing him is actually Elijah, and he attempts to rise up again only to be gunned down by Julie and Ernie. Ricky and Julie share a kiss; Ricky, Julie, Ernie, Stuey, and the other former-freaks bid farewell to the audience, and the film ends on a frozen shot of Elijah rising behind them to attack again.