Review of Freaks (1932) by Kyle B — 11 Sep 2014

One of the most controversial films ever made, I suspect many more people have heard of Tod Browning's 1932 horror flick Freaks than have seen it. Apparently critics at the time saw it as little more than an exploitative shocker, and at times it becomes difficult to defend it as anything other than that. Firmly out of its tree from start to finish, the campy performances and bonkers dialogue make for plenty of cherishably deranged moments. To the horror movie, a genre he helped create, he brought a taste for Victorian melodrama and an understanding, which he must have gained in the circus, for the isolated lives of weird and deformed outsiders. It's really pretty hard to categorize this one, as it has it all: shocks, scares, humor, sweetness, and an undeniable "message". The film is a marvel of weirdness and oddity, a whirlwind of every definition that could possibly be printed under the word "strange." None of the sideshow performers in the film are actors by trade. In fact, most of them read their lines with stiffness that would rival that of a local newscaster. Freaks presents some elements like that, but instead it seems most concerned with gawking at the unusual characters. One side effect that comes with casting actual deformed people means that we find many amateurs in the film, and their acting lives up - or down - to that status. One of the oddest and most notorious films ever made, I can't call Freaks a good movie, but it's undeniably an interesting one. Marred with poor acting and a thin story, it still is intriguing and unusual enough to make it watchable.

VERDICT: "In The Zone" - [Mixed Reaction] These kinds of movies are usually movies that had some good things, but some bad things kept it from being amazing. This rating says buy an ex-rental or a cheap price of the DVD to own. If you consider cinema, ask for people's opinion on the film. (Films that are rated 2.5 or 3 stars).