Freaks

Rating:
Summary: What a privilage to be one of them.
Review: I never watched the film The Elephant man, too scared that the Horror of Joseph Merrick's appearance would petrify me, although I read about him, and knew he was a brave and wonderful man. Something told me to give Freaks a shot. I did, and it has changed my life. While I always realised just how lucky I was to be born free from deformity I never considered the wonders of true beauty. I always thought it was cliched to say that beauty is only skin deep. I was right. Beauty make no difference at all to a persons temprament. These people charmed me. I especially fell in love with Freida Earles, the beautiful and enchanting lady dwarf, and the captivatingly sweet natured Microcephalics, Zip and Pip and Elivira and Jenny Lee Snow. Watch it and change your perception of beauty forever.

Rating:
Summary: Like gazing into terrifying mirror of our own cruelties...
Review: This incredible movie, by an equally brilliant director, was banned for many years, not for ANY other reason, than for showing us our own sickening, twisted views of what's normal...& what we fear most about ourselves. This movie may, or may not be exploitative, but regardless,..it STILL packs a HELLUVA punch...IF you understand it's subliminal message. In this "politically correct" society that we now live in, we are STILL being brought up to fear what's different, whether it be the color of one's skin, their choice of religion, their physical appearance, etc...We automatically assume, for example, that a homeless person is a LOSER...or we inadvertently teach our childen racism...We don't want to view the "disgusting", but we will crane our necks to see if a car accident is particularly bloody...We glorify shows like "The Jerry Springer Show" so we can gaze into the lives of the dissillusioned...the FREAKS. THIS is what this movie shows us, & it IS painful to watch...We see OURSELVES as the UGLY, & the DEFORMED...We see these poor unfortunate, special people as the truly innovative, uncomplaining, NORMAL people they really are, & NOT our OWN preconceived notions of what WE THINK they are...This movie was made back in the early '30's, & we STILL have many of these same UGLY prejudices...We STIL fight with each other over skin color...The "Holy Land" could be named for all the bullet-holes from the wars we've fought through history, all in the name of GOD...There are no more sideshows at circuses, because WE have deemed them "EXPLOITATIVE"...not realizing, or even caring, that we've inadvertantly stolen these "FREAKS" only chance at making a living for themselves...Now gaze into a mirror...for Beauty is INDEED in the eye of the beholder...Incidentally, I let my 6yr. old son watch this movie, to teach him the horrors of judging people by their appearance, & not their soul...

Rating:
Summary: A highly controversal film. Is it exploitive?
Review: Tod Browning claimed he made this film to show the human side of "freaks." Yet while they are portrayed compassionately, one senses they are also being exploited. The story line is silly and the acting barely exists, but Browning does succeed in having the viewer feel empathy for the cast. Perhaps Browning really didn't think he was being exploitive. Perhaps that is the worst kind of exploitation.

Rating:
Summary: Possibly the best movie ever made!!!
Review: In my 32 years on the planet I have never watched a more entertaining movie then Freaks. Not only was it filled with many interesting charaters, it also had a great story. I couldn't wait to watch it unfold.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful, scary treasure
Review: This film got the boot when it was cranked through theaters soon after Browning's success with Dracula. But this is far more dark, real and horrific than Dracula. It is a film of sheer beauty, celebrating "freaks," not ridiculing them. It is a one of a kind that gets right under your skin and into your bloodstream.

Rating:
Summary: Creepy, but worthwhile.
Review: This movie is definately not for the faint hearted. Besides some truely terrifying scenes--the freaks crawling in the rain after the acrobat, and the feast scene where they chant "gooble, gobble, gooble, gobble, we accept her, we accept her, one of us, one of us..--it provides an adequate story and presents the circus freaks as people trying to make a living. It is definately worth your time to watch.

Rating:
Summary: Essential viewing for a number of reasons
Review: This is a landmark film. Its history is fascinating, as an exploitation film that was a bit too effectively shocking, leading to its being virtually banned for 35 years in the U.S. It's also a chilling slice of sideshow culture-- a history lesson for today's jaded youth... they think they've seen it all, and they haven't-- here's the evidence. Finally, this is a cultural artifact that's inspired any number of catchphrases that show up everywhere-- The Simpsons, avant garde fiction, really everywhere-- so if you haven't seen Freaks, you won't know what latter-day hipsters are talking about when they start chanting, "Gooble gobble, gooble gobble, one of us...." See it for all these reasons, and you'll find others of your own.....

Rating:
Summary: Let's be a little honest here
Review: I'm amazed by all of the comments reagarding the humanitarian nature of this film. "Freaks" is pure exploitation at it's best (or worst, depending on your viewpoint). That said, I bought this movie based on a comment from Stephen King, that it was perhaps the best horror film ever made. I don't see it. Sure, I couldn't turn away from most of it, largely because I was fascinated by the real-life deformities shown. But please, horror? There is absolutely nothing frightening about this movie, real or psychological. It was a huge disappointment. Of interest as a curiosity only.

Rating:
Summary: ANYONE TO CARNIVAL?
Review: Poignance needed! The only place I found it - and boy did I find it! - was when the armless/legless one suitored me with a seamless way of manufacturing a cigarette from a pile of tobacco and a single paper. Not for the ill of heart.

Rating:
Summary: An interesting social artifact
Review: Despite others' comments, I cannot see this movie as humanitarian. While claiming, both in the opening credits and throughout most of the film, to expose the humanity under the mask of circus side-show freakdom, it merely perpetuates different stereotypes and fantastic exaggerations than its predecessors. Instead of relying on the old image of repulsive "monsters," Browning paints a picture of a vengeful cult of extraordinary people who have begun to resent the society that rejects them. In a sense, it is more of a prototypical Browning horror film than it is a humanitarian project. However, the film is still extremely fascinating as a historical artifact; it illustrates America's struggle to come to terms with its past. In the words of Rosmarie Garland Thompson, "The extraordinary body is fundamental to the narratives by which we make sense of ourselves and our world."