Freaks Review by Cameron McCasland

Tod Browning's Freaks
A Review by Cameron McCasland

Freaks. The title alone can change the persona of someone who has viewed
it. You can always tell who has really seen this when it comes up in
conversation. Eyes widen a bit, and the thought of it holds the tongue
silent until the brain can push the images away. Tod Browning made more
than a movie in 1932, he created a cult phenomenon.

It has been well over seventy years since Freaks initial run and people are
still "stepping right up" to see one of the most beloved and reviled movies
in the history of motion pictures. In that seventy years, horror movies
have pushed the limits far beyond the sinister sideshow of what Freaks
contained. However, the darkest minds of makeup artist could never match
the real life monstrosities of Freaks.

The history of Freaks has been well maintained over the years by horror
writers such as Forrest Ackerman, rock bands like the Ramones, and committed
to memory by Kevin Smith and episodes of the Simpsons. The movie is cited
as being one of the main reasons for Hollywood to adopt a national ratings
code, and its status as a major cult film is argued by no one. The story of
Freaks may never have seen the light of day if not for Hollywood's thirst
for horror films in the early 1930's. Pictures like Frankenstein, and Tod
Browning's own Dracula starring Bela Lugosi had created an onslaught of
green lighting pictures for production deemed to frightening only a few
years before.

It was (Irving Thalberg) who let Tod Browning show the world the tale
behind the tents, of a traveling sideshow in its day to day life. Thalberg
had brought Browning over from Universal after he had parted ways with the
daughter of the Universal founder (Carl Laemmle). Metro Goldwyn Mayer,
wanted into Universal's Niche horror market and saw Thalberg and Browning as
the way in. Browning had been a success throughout the silent era with
films like (London After Midnight, the Unknown, and The Blackbird) all
starring Horrors most classic icon (Lon Chaney). Chaney's untimely death in
1930 kept him out of Browning's step into talkies with Dracula and Freaks.

Rather than "The Man Of One Thousand Faces" we are treated on screen to
more real life sideshow attractions than P.T. Barnum ever brought on any
tour, in any country, at one given time. We meet Hans (Harry Earles) whose
attraction to trapeze artist Cleopatra (Olga Baclanova) nearly brings him to
his end. Cleopatra means to rob Hans of his fortune and poison him, leaving
her and strongman lover Hercules (Henry Victor) with his riches. This
forbidden love triangle was the basis of most of the advertisements, the
tagline read "Can a full grown woman truly love a midget?" In the end, it
was that full grown woman who met her doom. The plethora of physical
deformities is enough to turn heads to this day. You are introduced to
Schlitze the Pinhead, The Human Skeleton, a Bearded Lady, The sensational
Siamese Twins the Hilton Sisters, and countless others who haunt moviegoers
nightmares.

Browning treats the misfortunes of these characters with great compassion.
This has been credited to the fact that when Browning was only sixteen he
ran away from his home in Louisville Kentucky, to join the traveling circus.

As a sideshow barker calling in the crowds, he befriended "circus folk".
In his later years as a film director, he would come back to the circus on
several occasions on screen. Freaks has been viewed as an exploitation
film, and no doubt that is what MGM saw it as in the thirties. It however
did not make them the fortune they so greatly desired. Freaks opened to
mixed reviews and was banned or shut down in several cities across the
nation. Deemed unfit to be seen by several people in the media it was
outlawed on several continents for over thirty years. Not until the 1960's
was this film rediscovered by a new generation deemed "Freaks" in the Hippie
movement. Through 16mm reels and college screenings, the movie was
embraced by a generation twice removed from the newspaper men who had saw
fit to banish it to the archives. In years past it has had several revivals
both theatrically and in the home video market. The Museum of Modern Arts
in New York has accepted it as part of their permanent collection, one of
the finest collections in the world.

Warner Brothers DVD presentation of Freaks is packed with Special Features,
both insightful and entertaining. It has been meticulously restored from
the best elements available for superb picture and sound. David J. Skal
provides a scripted commentary that emphasizes the technical end of Freaks
more so than the lifestyles of the real life performers. He has collected
some of the best reviews from the time of its release and presents them in
this truly insightful look into the film. Alternate ending sequences are
provided and explained for your home viewing pleasure. The film is well
paired with the Documentary Tod Browning's Freaks: The Sideshow Cinema. At
sixty four minutes it is two minutes longer than the feature film, and
covers everything you wanted to know about the performers (that Skal didn't
mention in his commentary). It also has interviews with modern day circus
performers and side show attractions including a bearded lady.

This title is a must own for the classic horror library. It transcends
time ia a true cult classic to be proudly displayed with the likes of
Universal's most famous monsters. If you haven't seen it, I invite you to
become "One of us, One of us".