A lady trapeze artist marries a circus midget, then poisons him for his money. The midget’s friends then take revenge by turning her into a freak. This film was banned in the UK for 50 years but is now regarded as one of the greatest cult classics of all time. Rather than a study in deformity it is now seen as an old fashioned morality tale where the weak and defenceless triumph over evil.
One of the most extraordionary films ever made, Freaks is a legend in the annals of motion picture horror. It is the story of a traveling circus which exhibits a uniqu... more >
One of the most extraordionary films ever made, Freaks is a legend in the annals of motion picture horror. It is the story of a traveling circus which exhibits a unique collection of 'freaks' - human beings with all kinds of physical deformities. Yet despite their unhappy lot as outcasts, these people maintain an unbreakable bond among themselves. The joy and sorrow of any one is shared by all. But it is the apparently normal members of the circus who are the real monsters, and when the beautiful trapeze artist Cleopatra discovers that one of the troupe - a midget - has inherited a fortune, she lures him into marriage. Only when she and her strongman lover plot to murder her husband for his money, do the freaks exact their terrible revenge by turning the woman into the most hideous attraction of all. Tod Browning's Freaks is a wonderfully atmospheric film and a greatly compassionate vision by this poet of the horror genre. < less
