#1194a: BROWNING, Tod: Freaks (1932)

BROWNING, Tod (United States)
Freaks [1932]

Spine #1194a

Blu-ray

The most transgressive film produced by a major American studio in the 1930s, Tod Browning’s crowning achievement has haunted the margins of cinema for nearly one hundred years. An unforgettable cast of real-life sideshow performers portray the entertainers in a traveling circus who, shunned by mainstream society, live according to their own code—one of radical acceptance for the fellow oppressed and, as the show’s beautiful but cruel trapeze artist learns, of terrifying retribution for those who cross them. Received with revulsion by viewers upon its initial release, Freaks effectively ended Browning’s career but can now be seen for what it is: an audacious cry for understanding and a singular experience of nightmarish, almost avant-garde power.

64 minutes
Monaural
Black and White
1:37:1
Criterion Release 2023

Director/Writer

Tod Browning was 52 when he directed Freaks.

Other Browning films in the Collection:

#1194b: The Unknown (1927)
#1194c: The Mystic (1925)

The Film

a

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

Commentary

Video tribute

Documentary 1

Documentary 2

Documentary 3

Controversial altered ending

Theatrical trailer

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

99

By Director

By Spine #