‘One of us! One of us!’
Freaks has been on my watchlist forever as it always pops up on horror film lists. Having now watched Tod Browning’s iconic film I would argue that it isn’t a horror film at all. It’s a strange film. A sad film in many ways. Difficult to classify. Almost plotless. It feels very modern in comparison to a lot of 1930s cinema but then it also feels horribly dated in so many other ways. A conundrum…
The plot, such as it is, sees a love triangle involving a ‘normal’ woman and a pair of circus ‘freaks’. Browning, who also directed Dracula, was clearly a pioneer but watching Freaks now feels… wrong. Despite the fact that Browning actually treats his subjects with surprising sensitivity considering the title of the film, the whole concept of it still leaves a sour taste in the mouth. Indeed, the disastrous first screening of the film caused such outrage that thirty minutes was cut from the running time (never to return) and it tanked Browning’s career. Obviously, there is absolutely no way this film could be made today, nor should it be, but there is simply no denying that it remains a landmark of pre-Hays code cinema.
I’ll be honest. I don’t really know what to make of Freaks. It’s so unusual and so out of time that it feels more like staring at a strange painting from a forgotten era than it does watching a film. I’m glad I’ve finally experienced it. I’ll never watch it again though.