Freaks (1932) Review - Dylan McCully
- Dylan McCully
- Oct 2, 2023
- 2 min read
Written by Dylan McCully, 10/26/22
Dylan McCully's Cinema: https://www.imdb.com/list/ls521125877/
Tod Browning's controversial film Freaks contracted legendary reactions from 1932 audiences. They ran out of theaters in fear and disgust. It was critically panned and cut down immensely by the studios. In later years, critics revered it as an all-time classic. Either way, it is a film that will shock you, yet also make you sympathetic to the unusual characters.
The plot of Freaks converns a trapeze artist named Cleopatra who tries to seduce a little dude named Hans and then have him killed for his inheritance money. Cleopatra and Hans eventually get married and Cleopatra will try to poison Hans. In one of the most memorable scenes from the movie, the freaks hold an initiation ceremony for Cleopatra. "We accept her, one of us. We accept her, one of us. Gooble-gobble, gooble-gobble." Cleopatra is having an affair with the strongman of the group, Hercules, and after he accuses the freaks of trying to turn Cleopatra into one of them, a drunken Cleopatra belittles them as Hans succumbs to the poison. What will the freaks do to take revenge now that they know the truth about Cleopatra?
Freaks gives a quite honest and human portrayal of these so-called "Freaks" and can be interpreted as a symbolic representation of class struggle or as an anti-eugenics film. I wish the full version was still availiable so we could truly experience what the original audiences did, and maybe it would be more horrific. Freaks is marketed as a horror movie, but really the only scene I found scary was the amazing climax which I won't spoil. As a filmmaker, Tod Browning doesn't stand out to me to much compared to many of his peers, but keep in mind I've only seen a handful of his films. Freaks is a brief and intriguing watch, so I'd highly recommend it for those who want to get into classic cinema. It would probably be four stars if it was completely intact. 7.5/10
Tod Browning Ranking
Freaks (1932) - 7.5./10
Frankenstein (1931)
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