Originally known as Freaks Out, this Italian film is directed by Gabriele Mainetti (They Call Me Jeeg Robot), who co-wrote it with Nicola Guaglianone (The Legend of the Christmas Witch). It’s heroes are the stars of the Mezza Piotta Circus: the albino insect commanding Cencio (Pietro Castellitto), human magnet Mario (Giancarlo Martini), super strong wolfman Fulvio (Claudio Santamaria), the electric Matilde (Aurora Giovinazzo) and their ringmaster Israel (Giorgio Tirabassi).

A Nazi ringmaster named Franz (Franz Rogowski) — with twelve fingers — has seen visions of the circus under the influence of drugs and wants to take them. The first step is sending Israel to a concentration camp, then making them work at his Berlin Zircus. He believes that they can stop Hitler from killing himself and saving the Third Reich.

This movie is totally up my alley, because it is all at once a war movie, a superhero film, a movie about sideshow performers and filled with magical realism, as well as strange moments like Franz playing Radiohead’s “Creep” and Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child ‘O Mine” nearly half a century before they were released. Well, he can see the future when he huffs ether, as in his drawings at the end, you can see the Jeeg Robot, a movie that both Mainetti and Guaglianon created together.

It’s also overloaded with both ideas and running time, clocking in at around two hours and twenty minutes. That said, Mainetti is a creative force, someone who is at once an actor, writer, director and composed. And he even made a Tiger Mask-influenced short, Tiger Boy. This movie may be kind of all over the place but it looks amazing and I’d love to see these characters return.

You can watch this on Tubi.