Freaks (1932)
Treachery is discovered amongst a traveling circus sideshow. (imdb)
Cast and Information
Directed By: Tod Browning
Written By: Clarence Aaron 'Tod' Robbins
Starring: Wallace Ford, Roscoe Ates, Leila Hyams, Henry Victor, Olga Baclanova, Rose Dione, Harry Earles, Violet Hilton, Daisy Hilton, Daisy Earles, Schlitze, Josephine Joseph
Genres: Drama, Suspense/Thriller, Horror
AKA: Forbidden Love
Country: USA
Where to Stream
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Freaks belongs to 88 collections
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Browse the full list of collections
| Stars | User | Rating | |
| 5 |  |
Mentaculus | 95 95th |
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There are few things as uniquely disturbing as that chase in the rain. It doesn't matter if the guy with no arms or legs can't do anything with that knife in his mouth. He (and his friends) will eventually find you, and you'll be sorry for thinking you're better than them.
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| 4 |  |
Alex Watkins | 4 70th |
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Never thought I'd see a man with no arms or legs squirming through the mud with a knife in his teeth on his way to castrate a strongman, but here we are.
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| 4 |  |
KasperL | 80 86th |
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Not exactly scary - but really good. The fact that the deformed people we're watching are actual people, not special effects, makes for a very unique experience.
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| 3 |  |
Kojiless | 50 55th |
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Sure, it took balls of steel to even consider making this in 1932 (and as it turns out, it ruined Tod Browning's remaining career), but that doesn't change the fact that the acting is terrible, the pacing is atrocious, and the ending feels rushed (though, I suppose you could blame those last 2 faults on the studio chopping off 30 minutes of the movie and tacking on a sappy ending that would make Daddy Warbucks retch). On the other hand, it was pretty satisfying to see the freaks get revenge!
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| 3 |  |
Darren | 81 78th |
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Like seeing Night of the Hunter late in life you get to piece together this flicks place in cinematic history. The compassion and love for the down trodden for the outsider decades before it became en vogue in American cinema. Great performances. Love it!
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| 3 |  |
Jasongirl67 | 75 69th |
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I don't know what's more disturbing the storyline, the special effects ? The real life circus performers The terrible "real life" way the performers were treated by the studio At any rate a disturbingly good movie A must watch for scary movies fans
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| 2 |  |
Pickpocket | 1 12th |
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Tod Browning really didn't know how to make a film, did he? The acting is atrocious, directing is weak, writing is embarrassing and they really needed to give this thing a score of some sort. Overpraised and dated as hell, avoid at all costs.
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| 2 |  |
Barthalen | 88 95th |
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The fact that this was made in '32... wow. Quite ballsy for its time. Even though it won't shock anyone the way it must have once done, what's left is a surprisingly engaging (if predictable) film with some inspired moments.
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| 2 |  |
Luna6ix | 48 7th |
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Browning made a bold decision to cast actual circus performers in his movie, and it pays off horribly as you would have guessed. It's bad acting the whole way around, and without trying to sound mean or prejudiced, I really couldn't understand anything that the little people said. Even putting all of that aside, it's still pretty boring.
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| 2 |  |
billkerwin | 91 86th |
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The direction is sometimes unbearably slow, but Browning's compassion for the whole group of circus freaks makes me forgive him everything. Nobody is exploited here in this harrowing tale of human diversity, evil and revenge.
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| 1 |  |
x-human | 69 27th |
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Slightly disapointed, the narration's a bit flat with a pretty straight forward story. I guess the freaks were to be "shocking" enough, but perhaps the director's cut would have added to the story because this was pretty much cookie cut around the horror.
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| 1 |  |
CloseFriend | 55 28th |
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I respect a lot about this film: I love the way Browning pulls the audience in, making the viewer sympathize with the "freaks" to the point that by the end, even to us, the "normal" characters look like outsiders. Browning did a brilliant job with the finale as well, making ingenious use of a cast of actual sideshow performers with a touching final scene. I just wish the movie had better editing; even accounting for differences in pacing over 80 years, the film feels extremely sluggish.
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| 1 |  |
Nathan S | 5 93rd |
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It's astonishing to consider just how radical this reproach of standardized normality was and in many ways remains. Fuck you, Hollywood.
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| 1 |  |
parcaliham | 85 77th |
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20 Mayis 08 & kabul, gunumuzde bile curetkar olarak sifatlandirilabilinecek bir film.Browning bir kac korku filmiyle yaptigi patlamasi ardindan, bir duzene kadar gercek "freaks" i almis ve ortaya korkudan cok dram filmi cikarmist.duygu somurusu amacli yapildigini dusunmuyorum.Daha cok insani zorlamak ve soke etmek amaciyla yapilmis.Fakat o donemin insanlari bu tip bir "sinirlari zorlayan" filme alisik olmadigindan, film Browning'in kariyerindeki son filmi olmustr.Film 30 dk. kesilmistr.
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| 1 |  |
caiman | 83 72nd |
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I love how ballsy this movie is. I've never seen a movie that showcases physically deformed people with such nonchalance. You could tell most of the players hadn't had much acting experience, but that didn't bother me too much. I loved the climax. Very unique and unsettling film.
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| 1 |  |
Stain | 80 68th |
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The "normal" humans hadn't learned to act for sound films yet, but this movie remains a subgenre of one. Recommended
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| 1 |  |
Optimus_mike | 75 59th |
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Freaky shit.
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| 1 |  |
elmakebabi | 50 21st |
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A shameless and weak movie (Just like other Browning movies). Horror? Don't make me laugh! (Unless you don't call disabled people ''freaky''.)
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| 1 |  |
janus | 70 51st |
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Singular pre-Code madness. It's a tragedy it's incomplete.
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| 1 |  |
graveyardtan | 90 84th |
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Somehow both extremely exploitative and heartrendingly honest, Freaks is a cinematic gem. Harry Earles is fantastic.
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| 1 |  |
moraesfelipe | 85 92nd |
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One of the most bizarre horror films ever made, yet it's actually fun and oddly touching, because we see the world through the freaks' eyes and notice that the ordinary people are the most grotesque. And I guess I don't need to mention its finale, which is, wow... you just have to check it! Freaks is a cult favorite, but I find it very hard to like.
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| 1 |  |
Piglet | 60 29th |
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Interesting look at a freaky circus, but not much more.
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| 1 | synthono | 75 30th |
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An odd case of a film that's both ahead of its time - just showing most of the cast on screen must have been shocking in '32, especially while portraying the "freaks" in a positive light - while completely and uncomfortably of its time - they're still called freaks, and that ending, while memorable, keeps them frightening. But, in all honesty the biggest problem is the actress who plays Frida, who just plain isn't very good, and has a substantial and important role that needs her to be.
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| 1 |  |
SirStuckey | 75 67th |
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A movie that if you are a movie buff of any kind you have to watch. The leaps that it took when it was made in 1932 have very little shock value with people now, but it's still an effective as a bizarre and eerie horror film. There are some very memorable scenes and a truly unsettling climax, but overall this is a movie where the whole is greater than the individual parts. I recommend this to almost everyone, but there are many who won't like it.
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| 1 |  |
DavidBlast | 80 80th |
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The end shot is horribly dated, but the rest of it stands up pretty well to the test of time. Not so much a shocker as a film that oozes with uneasy tension. Classic scene: "One of us, one of us! Gooble Gobble Gooble Gobble!"
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| 1 | forehead1 | 50 47th |
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So the film quality's not great, the acting is dodgy at best, and there doesn't even seem to be much of a story until the final third, but Freaks has a certain charm to it that means you won't regret giving it 64 minutes of your life. Of course - despite the ahead-of-its-time ideology - you come to see the titular oddities, and the final act allows them to please their baying punters with a genuinely eerie climax (until it all ends rather abruptly).
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| 1 |  |
overrated | 43 37th |
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Okay, beyond having people with disabilities in the film and portraying them sympathetically - what the hell is so good about it to warrant these high scores? Even the "one of us" scene was more memorable than the climax.
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| 1 |  |
hellboy76 | 82 95th |
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Fucking spooky. The pinheads haunted my dreams for months. To this day when I change someones mind and scream "One of us! One of us!" in their face, I feel kinda bad.
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| 1 |  |
Paxton | 85 93rd |
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I think the intentions here were honorable enough. The title referenced actors aren't exploited any more than anyone else necessarily is in the movie business and their characters are treated with a certain amount of dignity. Can we say the same about the Wayans Brothers?
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| 1 |  |
mattorama12 | 63 43rd |
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In some senses it's one of those classics you appreciate more than you like. At the same time, though, it's really memorable and it's really effective. Opens too many threads for its short run time, but the central story is done well.
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| 1 |  |
P u l p | 64 59th |
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May I call it "overrated"?
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| 1 |  |
Yiannos | 75 84th |
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While mangled in post, Freaks' power derives from its moral ambiguity which surely would have been even more pronounced in Browning's original cut. Nevertheless, it cunningly plays with our fascination and revulsion with the 'other', complicating the problem of identification at crucial narrative turns. Browning also has a knack for capturing the unique physiognomy of his unusual subjects, and it's amazing that he was able to populate a studio project with them. Seminal.
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| 1 |  |
NathanBates | 80 77th |
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Holy jumping Christmas! The plot is very thin, but it still provides enough structure for an ongoing parade of deformed characters (almost all of whom were true "freaks" from circus sideshows) that keeps going even through the climax. Incredibly daring, and well worth watching.
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| Average Percentile 66.12% from 1969 Ratings |  |