FREAKS

Aka FORBIDDEN LOVE; THE MONSTER SHOW; NATURE'S MISTAKES.

"Gooble-gobble! We accept her … one of us! One of us!"

The film opens with a carnival barker rounding up passers-by to witness his prized curiosity piece: a sideshow freak known as the Feathered Hen. The onlookers gasp in horror as the man begins to tell the story of how his attraction met her fate.

In flashback, we see Cleopatra (Olga Baclanova), a beautiful trapeze artist with a travelling circus. As she thrills spectators in the big top, she is adored from behind the curtains by midget Hans (Harry Earles, THE UNHOLY THREE). Cleopatra, despite engaging in a very public affair with the drunken 'strongman' Hercules (Henry Victor), encourages the attentions of her diminutive admirer.

Frieda (Daisy Earles), Hans' fiancée - also a midget - warns him that Cleopatra is only interested in him because she has learnt of his impending inheritance. Hans ignores the advice of his true love and falls hook, line and sinker for Cleopatra's flirting. As plotted between the gold-digging bitch and her muscle-bound beau, Cleopatra and Hans arrange to marry as soon as possible.

During the wedding reception Cleopatra drinks far too much and openly cavorts with Hercules. Despite this, Hans' close-knit circle of friends - various sideshow attractions such as human 'pinheads', Siamese twins and a bearded lady - accept Cleopatra into their world, greeting her with the now-famous "one of us!" chant.

Cleopatra becomes revolted with the notion that she - one of the 'beautiful people' - has been welcomed into a world of "freaks", and brings the party grinding to a halt by screaming insults at her physically challenged guests.

Cleopatra and Hercules' conspiracy is now apparent to the 'freaks', including Hans, and a brutal revenge is planned for the scheming lovers …

Banned in the UK for over 30 years, Tod Browning's (DRACULA; DEVIL DOLL) FREAKS remains to this day, more than 70 years since it's conception , a horror film of startling power and relevance.

Surprisingly brutal in not only it's finale but also the acerbic script which feels way ahead of it's time, FREAKS seems incredibly contempary even when viewed in 2004. And dark. Very, very dark …but it also offers so much more.

For one, this a story of dual morals - the very notion that the title may allude to the conspiring lovers and not their unfortunate sideshow attractions illustrates this. But the ending is so cruel that even under the guise of demonstrating a clan with a 'code of honour', you cannot accuse Browning of overdoing the 'freaks are justified in their actions' bit.

And just watching how Browning lingers almost lovingly on casual interaction between the supposed anomalies within the cast is testament to the fact that he never intended this film to be selling them as spectactle: the director clearly had nothing but the utmost respect and admiration for his cast.

Previously available on DVD in the UK courtesy of Visionary (long since out of print), the film's digital debut was unfortunately nothing more than tolerable in presentation, and bare-bones to boot. Many feared this US release from Warner Bros would tread a similar path. Thankfully, this is not the case.

FREAKS is presented in it's original 4:3 theatrical aspect ratio and looks better than it ever has. There are the odd edit-jumps evident, as there are in almost any film from it's era, but overall the picture quality on offer is miraculous: clear, well-contrasted and sharper than ever. Unfortunately the fabled 20 minutes or so of footage that was cut by the studio when the film was first made appears to have vanished forever. Shame. This print is 62 minutes long (NTSC) and remains the longest existing print - the same one anyone who's ever captured this classic on TV or video will already be familiar with.

The audio holds up well, and is presented in mono with a distinct absence of hiss or dropout. Again, a massive improvement on previous presentations. Easily readable subtitles are available in English, French and Spanish.

Drumming up any worthwhile extras for a film of this age is never going to be easy, but WB have done us proud.

First up is a feature-length commentary track from Browning biographer David Skal. Admittedly, this takes a while to pick up steam (there's an unhealthy amount of pregnant pauses in the early stages) but offers a wealth of information as regards to individual cast members' backgrounds, former circus contortionist Browning's personal life and how modern the film's approach remains to this day. Although Skal is clearly reading most of his commentary from a script, it's worthy of your attention.

FREAKS: SIDESHOW CINEMA is a brand new documentary focusing on the extraordinary lives of the film's colourful cast members. With contributions from both film critics and actual circus performers of old, it's an interesting look at a bizarre world - even if there are times when you wish it offered a little more insight into the making of the film itself. This lasts a satisfying 50 minutes.

The cover promises 3 alternative endings - sadly these are discussed, rather than shown in the form of 'lost' footage.

Finally, the 'educational' pre-credits disclaimer that preceded the film upon it's 1963 theatrical re-release is presented for the sake of prosperity.

This unrated disc is Region 1 NTSC encoded, and comes packaged in a black keepcase. MGM's original theatrical poster artwork makes for a very attractive cover.

Brilliant film: a true classic of the genre. And now that Warner Bros have saved the day with a disc to equal the film's merit, there's no excuse for abstaining from purchasing this gem any longer.

Review by Stuart Willis