[Movie] Freaks

Director Tod Browning has been called "the Edgar Allan Poe of cinema," known for his pioneering films of horror and the macabre. His groundbreaking career spanned the silent and sound film eras, including the genre-defining Dracula (1931) and the reputation-ruining Freaks (1932).

Freaks features an unforgettable cast of real-life sideshow performers, portraying a circus troupe on the fringes of mainstream society. 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die says "No mere plot summary can do justice to this alarming yet profound movie.... It is a supreme oddity (freak?) of world cinema considered by many to be the most remarkable film in" Browning's remarkable career.

The film was received with revulsion upon release, and is today regarded as a cult classic. It only survives in a softened (expurgated) form that, nevertheless (and even with age), remains provocative and unmistakably unsettling. It "truly must be seen to be believed": is it horror or dark melodrama? Exploitative or sympathetic?

About the movie:

• Runtime: 1h 4m
• Year: 1932
• Unrated Content Advisory
• Language: English
• Starring: Wallace Ford, Leila Hyams, Olga Baclanova, Roscoe Ates
• Director: Tod Browning
• Trailer: Freaks

This meetup will consist of a live viewing, accompanied by discussion and analysis.

Supplemental:

• The Twisted World of Tod Browning video essay

Extracts:

• "Here, helping himself along with two crotched roots, hobbled a dwarf without legs; another stalked before, one arm fixed in the air, like a lightning rod; a third, more active than any, seal-like, flirted a pair of flippers, and went skipping along; a fourth hopped on a solitary pin, at every bound, spinning round like a top, to gaze; while still another, furnished with feelers or fins, rolled himself up in a ball, bowling over the ground in advance." (Mardi, 2.70)
• "“who are the monsters, we or the cripples?” “You yourself are a monster, for asking the question,” said Mohi." (Mardi, 2.71)
• "Gogle-goggle, fugle-fi, fugle-fogle-orum!" (Mardi, 2.71)

This meetup is part of the series Circuses and Snake Oil.