Overview
A haunting tale of betrayal and revenge unfolds within the confines of a circus.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Moderate
- grotesque
- nightmarish
- morally unsettling
- classic horror night
- cult film viewing
What critics said
Critics broadly regard the film as a singular, disturbing, and formally daring cult classic whose compassion for its performers is inseparable from its exploitative spectacle.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The sideshow performers form a collective bond and retaliate against Cleopatra after her contempt and betrayal.
Cleopatra courts Hans for his inheritance while maintaining an affair with Hercules and plotting against him.
The film presents real sideshow performers within stark circus tableaux, making spectatorship itself morally uncomfortable.
Infidelity, attempted murder, revenge, and unconventional bodies appear in an unusually direct 1932 studio production.
Films like Freaks, and why
The Unknown
shared pre-code horror atmosphere, carnival setting, moral grotesquerie, and outsider solidarity
The Elephant Man
shared expressionistic horror, physical difference, exploitation anxiety, and tragic melodrama
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
shared black-and-white horror, circus imagery, social outsiders, and unsettling body-centered spectacle
The Masque of the Red Death
shared carnival horror, grotesque transformation, revenge, and sympathy for marginalized characters
Movie Details
- Director
- Tod Browning
- Release Date
- 1932-01-01
- Runtime
- 64 min
- Rating
- 7.8 / 10 (1343)
Cast
- Harry Earles
- Olga Baclanova
- Daisy Earles
- Henry Victor
- Wallace Ford
- Leila Hyams
- Roscoe Ates
- Angelo Rossitto
- Jerry Austin
- Daisy Hilton
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- YouTube TV, Bloodstream
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Freaks about?
- A predatory romance inside a traveling circus unleashes a grotesque and unsettling reckoning by the performers society rejects.
- What is Freaks like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Freaks as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is Freaks violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in Freaks as moderate.
- What did critics think of Freaks?
- Critics broadly regard the film as a singular, disturbing, and formally daring cult classic whose compassion for its performers is inseparable from its exploitative spectacle.
- Which films are like Freaks?
- Films with a similar feel include The Unknown, The Elephant Man, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, and The Masque of the Red Death.
- How long is Freaks?
- Freaks runs 64 minutes.
- Where can I watch Freaks?
- In United States, Freaks streams on YouTube TV, Bloodstream.
