The 27 Best ‘Freaky Tales’ Easter Eggs and Cameos for Oakland Locals

The new Pedro Pascal movie Freaky Tales is a wild, over-the-top love letter to Oakland. It involves four interconnected stories, most of which actually happened in the East Bay in 1987. And it’s packed with landmarks, cameos and easter eggs for Oakland locals.

Here, then, are 27 local references and hidden details in Freaky Tales, listed from A to Z.

Be warned: This glossary contains spoilers!

Bitch Fight

The character Tina can be seen wearing a T-shirt of this all-women punk band, which moved from Tuolumne to the Bay Area in 1987. Drummer Michelle Cruz Gonzales would later join Kamala & the Karnivores, drum for Spitboy and write a memoir.

Blue Velvet

Not so much a local reference, but filmmakers Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden like to honor this David Lynch classic by sneaking references to it in their films. It’s mentioned in passing in Freaky Tales twice.

Colonial Donuts

Seen on the clerk’s T-shirt in the video rental store, Colonial Donuts is an Oakland institution that abides by the three magic words: Open 24 Hours. With multiple locations, the beloved donut shop is just about the only thing “colonial” that Bay Area folks agree on.

Danger Zone

The stars of Freaky Tales’ second chapter are Danger Zone, who perform “Don’t Fight the Feelin’” onstage with Too Short at Oakland hotspot Sweet Jimmie’s. The female rap duo of Barbie and Entice made their debut with “Jailbait,” a warning to underage girls about predatory men. Too Short then brought them in the studio for “Don’t Fight the Feelin’,” and history was made. Read the full backstory on Danger Zone here.

Dick’s Restaurant

A handful of scenes in Freaky Tales were filmed at this now-boarded up San Leandro diner and adjoining sports lounge, which originally opened in 1969. This is not the restaurant’s first starring role — it also provided the setting for Radiohead’s “High & Dry” U.S. music video.

The El Cerrito Hills

Where evil lives. In Freaky Tales, the house of the Nazis is also where multiple scenes take place with Angus Cloud, Oakland’s son, in his final role. In real life, the house where filming took place is in the hills of El Cerrito.

Sleepy Floyd

The Warriors point guard is played by Jay Ellis in Freaky Tales, but watch closely and you’ll see the real Sleepy Floyd make a cameo at a post-game hangout. (There’s a famous call by announcer Greg Papa that shows up later in the film, too.)

Freddy B

Too Short’s early rap partner is represented in Freaky Tales as the character “Lenny G.” The rapper Stunnaman02, who plays Lenny, says that he tried to find Freddy B to get pointers for the role, but was unsuccessful. Too Short and Freddy B last appeared together onstage in 2016, and according to reports, Freddy B is now a mission director at Mount Calvary Baptist Church in Fairfield.

1/4 lb. Giant Burger

This Oakland institution — the one at Dimond and Macarthur — provides the after-hours meetup spot where Sleepy Floyd celebrates his record-breaking playoff performance with fans. (Hanging out among the people after a game is a thing for pro athletes from the Town.)

924 Gilman

The venerable all-ages, all-volunteer punk club in Berkeley is the star of Freaky Tales’ first chapter. And, because the filmmakers worked with Gilman volunteers past and present, they got a lot of details right: the basketball hoop, Big Wheels in the pit, the “Animal Liberation” graffiti, the “Meese is a Pig” poster. Gilman regulars like George Hated are portrayed in the film, and logos of bands like Soup, Christ on Parade, Crummy Musicians, MDC and Sewer Trout can be seen. They even got the toilet seat on the wall, and period-correct rules stenciled at the front door. The set re-creation of the club was filmed in a warehouse in East Oakland, not actually at Gilman — but the feeling is accurate, which is hard to do when depicting punk scenes in a Hollywood film. Read about the real-life Nazi beatdown at Gilman here.

Grand Lake Theatre

Seen in several scenes, with the marquee advertising 1987 films The Lost Boys and Elaine May’s famous flop Ishtar. Host to the local premiere in March of Freaky Tales, the Grand Lake needs no introduction — it’s part of every Oaklander’s formative memories and serves as one of the Bay’s last remaining movie palaces.

Gulch

The Santa Cruz hardcore band, now broken up, portrays the headlining band at Gilman after the Nazi brawl. (In reality, the band that played after the fight was MDC.) Credited as “924 Gilman Band,” Gulch is shown playing songs by Black Flag and Negative Approach.

Tom Hanks

The filmmakers have been trying to keep this cameo quiet, but the cat is out of the bag. Hanks, who worked as a concession vendor at the Coliseum when he was 14, goes deep on nerdy film knowledge for a scene in Freaky Tales involving VHS rentals, and that’s all we’ll say.

Jasmine African Hair Braiding

This Telegraph Avenue standby is seen adjacent to a video rental store in Freaky Tales. The video store itself is in the former location of Hill’s Shoes, which sold fine footwear to generations of Oakland residents for nearly 100 years before closing in 2020. (Also seen is the nearby sex shop Feelmore Adult Gallery, which didn’t exist in 1987.)

Jewdriver

In Freaky Tales, as the skinheads are getting ready to go out on the town, music reminiscent of the Nazi punk band Skrewdriver plays. But it’s not Skrewdriver — hilariously, it’s Jewdriver, the parody band from Oakland that wrote Jewish-themed lyrics to Skrewdriver’s racist songs. (Nazis getting beaten up and denied sync royalties? Right on.)

Kamala and the Karnivores

This band’s logo is sewn on the back of Tina’s jacket in a diner scene. The band’s namesake, Kamala Parks, cofounded 924 Gilman, drummed for several bands, booked many other bands’ tours and is too nice. Kamala, drummer Michelle and singer Ivy all met with the Freaky Tales film crew and actors on set.

La Peña Cultural Center

It’s not pictured in Freaky Tales, but it’s mentioned in one scene as the host of a hip-hop open mic, which have been a staple of the long-running community space. La Peña celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.

Loard’s Ice Cream Parlor

Sure, there are other Loard’s locations. But the film crew restored the classic look of the now-shuttered Dimond location on Coolidge and MacArthur for Freaky Tales, to great effect. When it appeared onscreen at its Grand Lake premiere, it elicited gasps and cheers from the audience.

Marshawn Lynch

Yep, that’s Beastmode driving an AC Transit bus in a quick cameo for Freaky Tales.

The Mormon Temple

Seen on the hill in a quick cut to Lake Merritt, this East Oakland landmark has been a shining beacon (and photo shoot location) to generations. Notably, the Mormon church excluded its Black members from priesthood ordinances in the temple until a 1978 reversal.

The Oakland Coliseum

The glorious concrete landmark provides the backdrop to a TV commercial for a new age mind-healing program called Psytopics. Director Ryan Fleck explained that Psytopics was based on “these weird spiritual centers that were all over the Bay Area” in 1987. “I just remember lo-fi commercials selling you this kind of spiritual wish fulfillment on television,” he said. The Oakland Arena, next door, can be seen in certain scenes as well.

Operation Ivy

The band that all but defined Gilman in the late 1980s is shown playing two songs in Freaky Tales, and guitarist Lint has a cameo in the film. The members of Operation Ivy also had some say in who got to portray them: the L.A. band Aphids.

Corbett Redford

The mustachioed director of the East Bay punk documentary Turn It Around is seen briefly in the movie’s opening scene — a nice nod, considering his documentary provided a roadmap for the Nazi brawl depicted in Freaky Tales’ first chapter.

Sweet Jimmie’s

The site of the thrilling scene where Too Short and Danger Zone perform “Don’t Fight the Feelin’,” and the place to be in Oakland in the ’80s and ’90s. As Luenell put it at the Freaky Tales premiere, “Sweet Jimmie’s was the hub — the music, the dancing, the food, the fellowship. It was everything.” Now known as the New Parish, the nightclub on San Pablo Avenue actually didn’t host rap shows in 1987, and certainly not Too Short shows. David “Sweets” Ward, the son of owner “Sweet Jimmie” Ward, says his dad was opposed to the profanity common in rap. (MC Hammer recorded a music video at the club in 1988, but of course, Hammer never swore in his songs.) Fun fact: because Saturday nights at Sweet Jimmie’s were broadcast live on Soul Beat, kids at home could watch their parents on TV, partying in real time. The club closed in 2006.

Too Short

He narrates the movie. He’s portrayed by the rapper Symba. He’s an executive producer, and his nearly 10-minute song from 1987 provided the movie’s title. The day of Freaky Tales’ release, he came onto KQED Forum to discuss the film. And yes, he’s got a cameo.

Tower of Power

There’s music from Bay Area icons (Sly Stone, Metallica), punk bands (the Avengers, Black Flag) and ’80s freestyle (Stevie B, Pebbles) in Freaky Tales. This one’s special, though. How can you be mad when you hear “So Very Hard to Go” in the movie theater?

Yeastie Girlz

The character Tina wears a T-shirt of this Berkeley-based feminist acapella rap group, whose 7″ made such an underground splash that Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder sang one of its songs onstage; their song “You Suck” was also sampled by TV Girl.