"Dracula" director Tod Browning's horror movie "Freaks" might freak you out unless you're a connoisseur of either Browning or the genre. Based in title only on Tod Robbins' short story "Spurs," this memorable revenge melodrama takes place in a circus touring in Europe. When MGM made this creepy little chiller, they wanted to reap the whirlwind of wealth that Universal Studios had with "Dracula" and "Frankenstein." This horror movie doesn't concern supernatural creatures or people, but there are three genuinely deformed individuals. Browning didn't rely on prosthetics or camera tricks. The two most impressive of the 'freaks' is Prince Randian and Johnny Eck. Randian is designed as The Living Torso, while Eck is The Half-Boy. The Living Torso has neither arms nor legs, but he does have a normal size head. The Half-Boy uses his hands to walk around with because he has no legs or even a set of buttocks. The other 'Freaks' are three pinheads and a couple of armless women. The main one of the bunch is a German fellow named Hans (Harry Earles of "The Unholy Three") who is basically a pint-sized little guy who dresses himself in formal apparel. He has had a relationship with another circus performer, Frieda (Daisy Earles of "The Wizard of Oz"), but he breaks it off after he becomes infatuated with high-wire trapeze artist Cleopatra (Olga Baclanova of "A Dangerous Woman") who preys on him for his wealth. Eventually, Cleopatra makes a fool out of Hans when she marries him, but prefers to kill him so she can get her inheritance. Once they are man and wife, Cleopatra wages a campaign to poison Hans. Happily, Hans discovers her skulduggery before she can kill him. The sideshow circus carve her up and they go after her muscle-headed accomplice, Hercules, who wrestles bulls in the circus. Clocking in at a learn 63 minutes, this classic horror movie will live on in your conscious mind withhold holding up Zorro. When the film was released after extensive editing, "Freaks" flopped at the box office, but it qualifies as a surefire, gross-out classic that you won't forget.

an eccentric film. a definition who could be enough for give the right verdict in this case. a horror. or an experiment. a crazy idea. awful. cruel, chaotic, crazy, bizarre, absurd. each word about it is correct. but, for me, it is one of the most touching films of all the times. a splendid love story. and a delicate poem about the small details who are so easy ignored. the world of circus. and few great characters. the courage of Tom Browning to give to the public the life, emotions and spirit of justice of a group of people not so different by the majority of us. and this does Freaks a masterpiece. because it is a kind of mixture between Romeo and Juliet and Titus Andronicus. because it is a film about innocence. sure, few scenes are not comfortable but , in the time of cries, special effect and symbolic stories who are ingredients of many horrors, Freaks has a coherent and charming and powerful story. and it represents source of profound reflection. about us. like each parable .

Freaks is a shocking film. What makes this film so shocking is the fact that these are REAL people with REAL disabilities. You have to keep in mind when watching this film these people were real circus acts before they turned into actors for the film.As far as the story goes, it's fairly interesting. It's not a great story but it is somehow interesting - I would say due to the actors. If this movie was made with average actors then the film would not be nearly as interesting to watch (if I'm explaining it right).Horror? I think the real horror lies in living the way the actors in the film had to live. The ending provides extra shock and horror that is unimaginable.This is a movie you would have to see to get the full understanding of how shocking it is... even by today's movie standards.7/10

Is Tod Browning's 1932 film "Freaks" really a horror film? Well, somewhat. Some scenes towards the ending are really chilling, and the entire film has a haunting and unsettling atmosphere. Actually, the movie would be even better if it was a bit longer, which it originally was. There's thirty minutes that were cut out of this film and no ones been able to see it since a test screening in 1932. It was cut because the audience seemed to be disturbed and shocked by the footage. A woman even threatened to sue MGM because of how disturbing it was for her.And even without this so called shocking missing footage, "Freaks" is still genuinely haunting and even disturbing at times. "Freaks" is certainly a film that is far ahead of it's time, and that explains why it was very under-appreciated back in its day. It destroyed director Browning's career, and was a box office bomb! But, luckily, its gotten a second chance with film goers and is one of the ultimate cult classics.The film really does deserve the cult status, it truly is one of the best films of the 30s and definitely deserved some recognition! The freaks, themselves add quite a bit to the film, as well. Real circus performers were cast, including a man with no arms or legs and a half man/half woman, among plenty of others.Although some of the acting is pretty bad, it was the 30s, most films had some pretty bad acting, and a lot of the people in this film were, as I said, not actors, but actual circus performers.Browning's film is a masterpiece of the creepy and absurd, with touches of humour and heart.