Freaks - A Cult Film by Tod Browning

Freaks, a 1932 American pre-Code horror film produced and directed by Tod Browning, was considered too shocking for audience viewing at its initial time of release, so several scenes were cut, resulting in an abridged runtime of 64 minutes. Based on a cast of real sideshow circus performers, the film chronicles the lives of these entertainers, driven by one character in particular, Cleopatra, a convincing trapeze artist, and her plot to seduce and marry the sideshow midget after learning of his hefty inheritance. Woven throughout the film’s alarming plotline are suggestions of the honorable, trusting nature of the physically deformed cast members, while the two ‘normal’ members of the circus troupe are proven to be the true monsters. Decades after its initial release, Freaks has come to be a cult classic, standing alone in its own subgenre.