Freaks (1932)
Directed by Tod Browning
So, another movie from that scratch off poster. This movie isn’t a horror movie, I think I can safely say that. IMDB has it listed as “body horror” which honestly, is just kind of morbid because the actors in this have legit birth defects lol.
Freaks is about a traveling sideshow attraction made up of people with abnormalities and deformed features. A trapeze artist named Cleopatric agrees to marry Hans, a man that looks to be perpetually 7 years old, just to get his money. Soon the rest of the “freaks” find out her plan, and they take vengeance into their own hands.
Most of the movie, I would consider a drama. You see the people in the sideshow, living their lives and dealing with the ridicule and pointed fingers they receive on a daily basis. They all have different relationships with the group and with outsiders. Cleopatra decides she will marry Hans for his large inheritance and of course he thinks she loves him, which she doesn’t. The other sideshow participants are a close knit family and when you mess with one, you get the wrath of the others. That is really the only true horror part of the movie, and it doesn’t come along until the last 10 minutes.
The acting is pretty decent all around. Most of the actors are just real life sideshow “freaks” and people with abnormalities. We get a wide array of characters, some little people, a bearded woman, strong man, clown, trapeze artists, a man with no legs or arms rolling cigarettes, and “pin heads”. I’m not sure how else to say that and I really dislike saying “freaks” as well, but this movie was made in the 30s, what do you expect? The run time is short, it clocks in at 1 hour and 4 minutes. It is easy to digest and moves along at a quick pace. Probably the most famous scene in the movie, is the group of sideshow performers all coming for Cleopatra, even the limbless guy has a knife in his mouth! The rain is pouring down and seeing all these people in this state is unnerving at best.
Freaks is a decent enough movie. I wouldn’t truly regard this as horror, more of a drama. I do commend Browning for using actual people with abnormalaties in the movie instead of using tons of makeup, and the cast does a good job. I give Freaks a C+.
