Freaks

This is for the misfits the freaks and the runts.

Tod Browning's Freaks is as infamous today as it was back in the 30s when it shook film watchers to the core. Of course time has diluted some of its impact, you can imagine that a modern day horror fan drooling over torture porn et al being completely bemused by the reputation afforded Freaks. Yet it still remains a unique and nightmarish piece of film making, the sort of picture that if someone like David Lynch had made it in the modern era it would be heralded as a masterpiece of daring and genius like artistry.

Browning pulls us the viewers into this bizarre carnival society of oddities who are genuinely portrayed by real people. Their codes and ethics are laid bare, but not in some sort of yearning for sympathy, but in a factual way of life. Browning toys with his audience, planting suggestive images of sexual dalliances and role reversals, then he completely pulls the rug from under us to deliver his flip-flop finale.

The messages aren't deep, but they need to be thought about. For even as the freaks of Browning's play terrifyingly pursue their quarry through the rain and mud, as the blood freezes and the macabre imagery strikes the senses, it would be a shame if themes such as love and loyalty be forgotten. 9/10

If I have to be honest, I'd say that I have uncertain opinions concerning this film on the whole. On the one hand, I can't say that I didn't enjoy 'Freaks', mainly because of its nice display of bizarre cast members. On the other hand, I can't help feeling slightly at fault, considering that these were real people who probably suffered a lot in their lives because of their malformations, something they obviously couldn't help. Here's a movie that basically became popular precisely because it's about real life 'freaks' (?) and here's the audience that somehow takes pleasure from a film that consciously makes profit out of unfortunate human beings. Being aware of this, I can't lie and say that I didn't enjoy this movie, because… I honestly did!. I'm not going to say that 'Freaks' fascinated me because of the plot, or the locations or the unspoken moral, because even though all those things were fine too, I mostly wanted to see the film because of its characters, that's the reality. However, I suppose it is not so bad to enjoy this movie because of this reason, considering that these people actually agreed to appear in the movie and the fact that they appeared here, didn't make their lives any better or worse, so in the end… it's not really a crime, but I can't help having vague ideas about it. As the movie begins, we see a scrolling prologue, which pretty much encourages the audience to root for the side-show performers and incite us to feel terrible for them, since people with deformities has been always predestined to the most awful chastisements and degradations… which worked for me!. I felt really bad at first, but in the end, it was comprehensible that this film clearly tries to give a message in a far-reaching and yet hideously pleasurable approach. Therefore, my personal opinion, is that the title 'Freaks', doesn't necessarily have to be a reference to the side-show performers with malformations and perhaps, it may be an allusion to the fully grown characters w...