History Film / Freaks

Upon release, the film was met with nothing short of extreme backlash from patrons, who reportedly ran out of the theater in fear; one woman attempted to sue MGM under the claim that the film caused her to suffer a miscarriage. As a result, the movie had several of its most disturbing scenes excised and permanently destroyed, cutting its 90-minute runtime down to just over an hour; this didn't do anything to quell the outcry, and it died an undignified death in the box office as a result. Seemingly relegated to Hollywood's dustbin, the film was rediscovered over 30 years later by the midnight theater crowd, leading it to gain a following as a CultClassic and lost gem of [[UsefulNotes/ThePreCodeEra pre-Code]] film history.

* ComicBookAdaptation: A four-issue miniseries came out in 1992, written by ''Comicbook/{{Frank}}'''s Jim Woodring and illustrated by Francisco Solano Lopez. Per UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks, it's DarkerAndEdgier-- and much more graphic about what gets done to Cleo.

* UglyHeroGoodLookingVillain: The titular "freaks" (especially Hans and his lover Frieda) each have nearly every possible body dysfunction one could have, but they're good-hearted and look out for each other, meanwhile, in contrast, there's the beautiful trapeze singer Cleopatra and her handsome lover Hercules who view the "freaks" as abominations and tools to take advantage of, including Hans, who nearly got conned into marrying Cleoparta, who would plan to kill him for his wealth.

* LaserGuidedKarma: Cleopatra, who looked down on the freaks, ends up becoming side-show freak herself. [[note]] In one of the cut scenes, the freaks castrate Hercules, turning him into a falsetto opera singer.[[/note]] Cleopatra is turned into a squawking "Chicken Woman", with her legs amputated, her face scarred, and her vocal chords ruined, along with being stuffed into a humiliatingly silly, sexless chicken costume that removes even the possibility of allowing her to present herself as appealing like some of the female freaks in the rest of the film. [[note]]Her transformation is even more gruesome in the comics adaptation, where the freaks begin by cutting most of her hair off in her trailer then mutilating her hands, feet and muscles of jaw, preventing definitively Cleo to closing her mouth. When she still manages to flee in the storm, they finish the job by shaving her head except for a few wisps left to stand out like clown hair, cutting off her nose and upper lip, burning her skin and ''removing her lower face flesh and most of her tongue, leaving his lower jaw hanging down and unusable ''. Only her beautiful bustline has been left perfectly intact to constantly remind Cleo of her lost beauty. When she's revealed in this state, her new caretaker has been instructed to feed her baby food and merely give her straw to sleep, defecate and urinate in, as though she's been reduced to the mental level of an animal, which the blank stare of her half closed right eye might also bear out- except [[AndIMustScream she's hardly in a position to protest to the contrary]], is she?[[/note]]

* BeautyEqualsGoodness: {{Inverted}} with the titular "freaks" who are actually very friendly and gentle people, despite not portraying the classic "standard" of beauty; the ones who do meanwhile are the antagonists.

''[=Freaks=]'' is a 1932 Creator/{{MGM}} horror film about sideshow performers, directed and produced by Tod Browning (coming off his success with the previous year's ''Film/{{Dracula|1931}}'') and featuring a cast mostly composed of actual carnival performers. The film is very loosely based on Tod Robbins' 1923 short story "Spurs".

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: The deleted scene with Hercules as a soprano - castration of an adult male doesn't create the potential of a soprano voice; that would be a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castrato castrato]], who were castrated ''before'' puberty. Once a man's voice deepens, it never reverses, testicles or not.[[note]]On the other hand, given the modifications the "freaks" were able to do on Cleo, they might have found a way to "adjust" Hercules' voice.[[/note]]

''[=Freaks=]'' is a 1932 Creator/{{MGM}} horror film about sideshow performers, directed and produced by Tod Browning (coming off his success with the previous year's ''Film/{{Dracula|1931}}'') and featuring a cast mostly composed of actual carnival performers. The film was very loosely based on Tod Robbins' 1923 short story "Spurs".

Browning had previously worked as a contortionist in a traveling circus, and much of the film was drawn from his personal experiences. He also took the exceptional step of casting real people with deformities as the eponymous sideshow "freaks", rather than using costumes and makeup on conventional actors. In the film, the deformed "freaks" are generally kind, well-meaning people. This contrasts with two of the "normal" performers in the circus (Cleopatra the acrobat and Hercules the weightlifter), who conspire to murder one of the freaks (a dwarf named Hans) and steal his large inheritance.

''[=Freaks=]'' is a 1932 Creator/{{MGM}} horror film about sideshow performers, directed and produced by Tod Browning (coming off his success with the previous year's ''Film/{{Dracula|1931}}'') and featuring a cast mostly composed of actual carnival performers. The film was very loosely based on Tod Robbins' short story "Spurs".

* AffectionateNickname: Hans, in one scene, calls his fiancée Frieda "Friedchen," which is a portmanteau of her real name and the German word ''liebchen'' (beloved).

* LaserGuidedKarma: Cleopatra, who looked down on the freaks, ends up becoming side-show freak herself. [[note]] In one of the cut scenes, the freaks castrate Hercules, turning him into a falsetto opera singer.[[/note]] Cleopatra is turned into a squawking "Chicken Woman", with her legs amputated, her face scarred, and her vocal chords ruined, along with being stuffed into a humiliatingly silly, sexless chicken costume that removes even the possibility of allowing her to present herself as a DisabledHottie like some of the female freaks in the rest of the film. [[note]]Her transformation is even more gruesome in the comics adaptation, where the freaks begin by cutting most of her hair off in her trailer then mutilating her hands, feet and muscles of jaw, preventing definitively Cleo to closing her mouth. When she still manages to flee in the storm, they finish the job by shaving her head except for a few wisps left to stand out like clown hair, cutting off her nose and upper lip, burning her skin and ''removing her lower face flesh and most of her tongue, leaving his lower jaw hanging down and unusable ''. Only her beautiful bustline has been left perfectly intact to constantly remind Cleo of her lost beauty. When she's revealed in this state, her new caretaker has been instructed to feed her baby food and merely give her straw to sleep, defecate and urinate in, as though she's been reduced to the mental level of an animal, which the blank stare of her half closed right eye might also bear out- except [[AndIMustScream she's hardly in a position to protest to the contrary]], is she?[[/note]]

* LaserGuidedKarma: Cleopatra, who looked down on the freaks, ends up becoming side-show freak herself. [[note]] In one of the cut scenes, the freaks castrate Hercules, turning him into a falsetto opera singer.[[/note]] Cleopatra is turned into a squawking "Chicken Woman", with her legs amputated, her face scarred, and her vocal chords ruined, along with being stuffed into a humiliatingly silly, sexless chicken costume that removes even the possibility of allowing her to present herself as a DisabledHottie like some of the female freaks in the rest of the film. [[note]]Her transformation is even more gruesome in the comics adaptation, where the freaks begin by cutting most of her hair off in her trailer then mutilating her hands, feet and muscles of jaw, preventing definitively Cleo to closing her mouth. When she still manages to flee in the storm, they finish the job by shaving her head except for a few wisps left to stand out like clown hair, cutting off her nose and upper lip, burning her skin and ''removing her lower face flesh and most of her tongue, leaving his lower jaw hanging down and unusable ''. Only her beautiful bustline has been left perfectly intact to constantly remind Cleo of her lost beauty. When she's revealed in this state, her new caretaker has been instructed to feed her baby food and merely give her straw to sleep, defecate and urinate in, as though she's also been reduced to the mental level of an animal, which the blank stare of her half closed right eye might bear out- except [[AndIMustScream she's hardly in a position to protest to the contrary]], is she?[[/note]]

* LaserGuidedKarma: Cleopatra, who looked down on the freaks, ends up becoming side-show freak herself. [[note]] In one of the cut scenes, the freaks castrate Hercules, turning him into a falsetto opera singer.[[/note]] Cleopatra is turned into a squawking "Chicken Woman", with her legs amputated, her face scarred, and her vocal chords ruined, along with being stuffed into a humiliatingly silly, sexless chicken costume that removes even the possibility of allowing her to present herself as a DisabledHottie like some of the female freaks in the rest of the film. [[note]]Her transformation is even more gruesome in the comics adaptation, where the freaks begin by cutting most of her hair off in her trailer then mutilating her hands, feet and muscles of jaw, preventing definitively Cleo to closing her mouth. When she still manages to flee in the storm, they finish the job by shaving her head except for a few wisps left to stand out like clown hair, cutting off her nose and upper lip, burning her skin and ''removing her lower face flesh and most of her tongue, leaving his lower jaw hanging down and unusable ''. Only her beautiful bustline has been left perfectly intact to constantly remind Cleo of her lost beauty. When she's revealed in this state, her new caretaker has been instructed to feed her baby food and merely give her straw to sleep, defecate and urinate in, as though she's also been reduced to the mental level of an animal, which her blank stare of her half closed right eye might bear out- except [[AndIMustScream she's hardly in a position to protest to the contrary]], is she?[[/note]]

* LaserGuidedKarma: Cleopatra, who looked down on the freaks, ends up becoming side-show freak herself. [[note]] In one of the cut scenes, the freaks castrate Hercules, turning him into a falsetto opera singer.[[/note]] Cleopatra is turned into a squawking "Chicken Woman", with her legs amputated, her face scarred, and her vocal chords ruined, along with being stuffed into a humiliatingly silly, sexless chicken costume that removes even the possibility of allowing her to present herself as a DisabledHottie like some of the female freaks in the rest of the film. [[note]]Her transformation is even more gruesome in the comics adaptation, where the freaks begin by cutting most of her hair off in her trailer then mutilating her hands, feet and muscles of jaw, preventing definitively Cleo to closing her mouth. When she still manages to flee in the storm, they finish the job by shaving her head except for a few wisps left to stand out like clown hair, cutting off her nose and upper lip, burning her skin and ''removing her lower face flesh and most of her tongue, leaving his lower jaw hanging down and unusable ''. Only her beautiful bustline has been left perfectly intact to constantly remind Cleo of her lost beauty. When she's revealed in this state, her new caretaker has been instructed to feed her baby food and merely give her straw to sleep, defecate and urinate in, as though she's also been reduced to the mental level of an animal, which her blank stare might bear out- except [[AndIMustScream she's hardly in a position to protest to the contrary]], is she?[[/note]]

* LaserGuidedKarma: Cleopatra, who looked down on the freaks, ends up becoming side-show freak herself. [[note]] In one of the cut scenes, the freaks castrate Hercules, turning him into a falsetto opera singer.[[/note]] Cleopatra is turned into a squawking "Chicken Woman", with her legs amputated, her face scarred, and her vocal chords ruined, along with being stuffed into a humiliatingly silly, sexless chicken costume that removes even the possibility of allowing her to present herself as a DisabledHottie like some of the female freaks in the rest of the film. [[note]]Her transformation is even more gruesome in the comics adaptation, where the freaks begin by cutting most of her hair off in her trailer then mutilating her hands, feet and muscles of jaw, preventing definitively Cleo to closing her mouth. When she still manages to flee in the storm, they finish the job by shaving her head except for a few wisps left to stand out like clown hair, cutting off her nose and upper lip, burning her skin and ''removing her lower face flesh and most of her tongue, leaving his lower jaw hanging down and unusable ''. Only her beautiful bustline has been left perfectly intact to constantly reminded at Cleo her lost beauty. When she's revealed in this state, her new caretaker has been instructed to feed her baby food and merely give her straw to sleep, defecate and urinate in, as though she's also been reduced to the mental level of an animal, which her blank stare might bear out- except [[AndIMustScream she's hardly in a position to protest to the contrary]], is she?[[/note]]

* LaserGuidedKarma: Cleopatra, who looked down on the freaks, ends up becoming side-show freak herself. [[note]] In one of the cut scenes, the freaks castrate Hercules, turning him into a falsetto opera singer.[[/note]] Cleopatra is turned into a squawking "Chicken Woman", with her legs amputated, her face scarred, and her vocal chords ruined, along with being stuffed into a humiliatingly silly, sexless chicken costume that removes even the possibility of allowing her to present herself as a DisabledHottie like some of the female freaks in the rest of the film. [[note]]Her transformation is even more gruesome in the comics adaptation, where the freaks begin by cutting most of her hair off in her trailer then mutilating her hands, feet and muscles of jaw, preventing Cleo to closing her mouth. When she still manages to flee in the storm, they finish the job by shaving her head except for a few wisps left to stand out like clown hair, cutting off her nose and upper lip, burning her skin and ''removing her lower face flesh and most of her tongue, leaving his lower jaw hanging down and unusable ''. When she's revealed in this state, her new caretaker has been instructed to feed her baby food and merely give her straw to sleep, defecate and urinate in, as though she's also been reduced to the mental level of an animal, which her blank stare might bear out- except [[AndIMustScream she's hardly in a position to protest to the contrary]], is she?[[/note]]

* LaserGuidedKarma: Cleopatra, who looked down on the freaks, ends up becoming side-show freak herself. [[note]] In one of the cut scenes, the freaks castrate Hercules, turning him into a falsetto opera singer.[[/note]] Cleopatra is turned into a squawking "Chicken Woman", with her legs amputated, her face scarred, and her vocal chords ruined, along with being stuffed into a humiliatingly silly, sexless chicken costume that removes even the possibility of allowing her to present herself as a DisabledHottie like some of the female freaks in the rest of the film. [[note]]Her transformation is even more gruesome in the comics adaptation, where the freaks begin by cutting most of her hair off in her trailer then mutilating her hands feet and jaw. When she still manages to flee in the storm, they finish the job by shaving her head except for a few wisps left to stand out like clown hair, cutting off her nose and upper lip, burning her skin and ''removing her lower face flesh and most of her tongue, leaving his lower jaw hanging down and unusable ''. When she's revealed in this state, her new caretaker has been instructed to feed her baby food and merely give her straw to sleep, defecate and urinate in, as though she's also been reduced to the mental level of an animal, which her blank stare might bear out- except [[AndIMustScream she's hardly in a position to protest to the contrary]], is she?[[/note]]

* LaserGuidedKarma: Cleopatra, who looked down on the freaks, ends up becoming side-show freak herself. [[note]] In one of the cut scenes, the freaks castrate Hercules, turning him into a falsetto opera singer.[[/note]] Cleopatra is turned into a squawking "Chicken Woman", with her legs amputated, her face scarred, and her vocal chords ruined, along with being stuffed into a humiliatingly silly, sexless chicken costume that removes even the possibility of allowing her to present herself as a DisabledHottie like some of the female freaks in the rest of the film. [[note]]Her transformation is even more gruesome in the comics adaptation, where the freaks begin by mutilating her hands and feet and cutting most of her hair off in her trailer. When she still manages to flee in the storm, they finish the job by shaving her head except for a few wisps left to stand out like clown hair, cutting off her nose and upper lip, carving her ears to points and ''removing her lower face flesh and most of her tongue, leaving his lower jaw hanging down and unusable ''. When she's revealed in this state, her new caretaker has been instructed to feed her baby food and merely give her straw to sleep, defecate and urinate in, as though she's also been reduced to the mental level of an animal, which her blank stare might bear out- except [[AndIMustScream she's hardly in a position to protest to the contrary]], is she?[[/note]]

* LaserGuidedKarma: Cleopatra, who looked down on the freaks, ends up becoming side-show freak herself. [[note]] In one of the cut scenes, the freaks castrate Hercules, turning him into a falsetto opera singer.[[/note]] Cleopatra is turned into a squawking "Chicken Woman", with her legs amputated, her face scarred, and her vocal chords ruined, along with being stuffed into a humiliatingly silly, sexless chicken costume that removes even the possibility of allowing her to present herself as a DisabledHottie like some of the female freaks in the rest of the film. [[note]]Her transformation is even more gruesome in the comics adaptation, where the freaks begin by mutilating her hands and feet and cutting most of her hair off in her trailer. When she still manages to flee in the storm, they finish the job by shaving her head except for a few wisps left to stand out like clown hair, cutting off her nose and upper lip, carving her ears to points and ''removing her lower face flesh and most of his tongue, leaving his lower jaw hanging down and unusable ''. When she's revealed in this state, her new caretaker has been instructed to feed her baby food and merely give her straw to sleep, defecate and urinate in, as though she's also been reduced to the mental level of an animal, which her blank stare might bear out- except [[AndIMustScream she's hardly in a position to protest to the contrary]], is she?[[/note]]

* LaserGuidedKarma: Cleopatra, who looked down on the freaks, ends up becoming side-show freak herself. [[note]] In one of the cut scenes, the freaks castrate Hercules, turning him into a falsetto opera singer.[[/note]] Cleopatra is turned into a squawking "Chicken Woman", with her legs amputated, her face scarred, and her vocal chords ruined, along with being stuffed into a humiliatingly silly, sexless chicken costume that removes even the possibility of allowing her to present herself as a DisabledHottie like some of the female freaks in the rest of the film. [[note]]Her transformation is even more gruesome in the comics adaptation, where the freaks begin by mutilating her hands and feet and cutting most of her hair off in her trailer. When she still manages to flee in the storm, they finish the job by shaving her head except for a few wisps left to stand out like clown hair, cutting off her nose and upper lip, carving her ears to points and ''removing flesh from her lower face and most of his tongue, leaving his lower jaw hanging down and unusable ''. When she's revealed in this state, her new caretaker has been instructed to feed her baby food and merely give her straw to sleep, defecate and urinate in, as though she's also been reduced to the mental level of an animal, which her blank stare might bear out- except [[AndIMustScream she's hardly in a position to protest to the contrary]], is she?[[/note]]

* LaserGuidedKarma: Cleopatra, who looked down on the freaks, ends up becoming side-show freak herself. [[note]] In one of the cut scenes, the freaks castrate Hercules, turning him into a falsetto opera singer.[[/note]] Cleopatra is turned into a squawking "Chicken Woman", with her legs amputated, her face scarred, and her vocal chords ruined, along with being stuffed into a humiliatingly silly, sexless chicken costume that removes even the possibility of allowing her to present herself as a DisabledHottie like some of the female freaks in the rest of the film. [[note]]Her transformation is even more gruesome in the comics adaptation, where the freaks begin by mutilating her hands and feet and cutting most of her hair off in her trailer. When she still manages to flee in the storm, they finish the job by shaving her head except for a few wisps left to stand out like clown hair, cutting off her nose and upper lip, carving her ears to points and ''removing her lower jaw and most of her tongue''. When she's revealed in this state, her new caretaker has been instructed to feed her baby food and merely give her straw to sleep, defecate and urinate in, as though she's also been reduced to the mental level of an animal, which her blank stare might bear out- except [[AndIMustScream she's hardly in a position to protest to the contrary]], is she?[[/note]]

* TheUnintelligible: Schlitzie, on account of his microcephaly (a common complication of which is neurocognitive impairment).

->With your silicone hump\\

Tod Browning's freak, you was

* AnAesop: Just because someone has a physical deformity doesn't mean you should treat them as sub-human, and anyone who does has a ''spiritual'' deformity and is the ''true'' "freak" in the room.

One bit of influence the film has had: The "Gooble gobble, we accept her, one of us" chant with which the freaks welcome Cleo (not that she appreciates it) was worked into the songs "[[RefrainFromAssuming Pinhead]]" by Music/TheRamones, "Donkeytown" by Music/DoctorSteel, and "Separated Out" by Music/{{Marillion}}, and has long since eclipsed the film itself in pop-culture prominence. Music/DavidBowie also namedropped the movie and its director in the title song on his album ''Music/DiamondDogs''.

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: The deleted scene with Hercules as a soprano - castration of an adult male doesn't create the potential of a soprano voice; that would be a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castrato castrato]], who were castrated ''before'' puberty. Once a man's voice deepens, it never reverses, testicles or not.