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By
NICK ZEGARAC
After scaring filmgoers with
his tale of the blood thirsty Count Dracula (1931)
over at Universal, Tod Browning migrated to MGM
for an even greater shock fest with "Freaks."
Considered by many to be the most grotesque horror
film ever made, "Freaks" is the story of a
demented lover's triangle that, upon release was
considered so disturbing, it was banned for more
than thirty years in Great Britain. In 1994, the
reputation of this classic finally achieved its
rightful status as a cinematic treasure with the
National Film Registry.
A wealthy midget, Hans (Harry Earles), is smitten
with trapeze artist Cleopatra (Olga Baclanova).
Though advised against pursuing an affair by
fellow midget performer Frieda (Daisy Earles --
Harry's real life sister), who is actually in love
with Hans herself, Hans pursues the high-wire
diva. To everyone's surprise, Cleopatra accepts
her pintsize lothario's advances and very soon the
two become lovers and are married. But all is not
as it seems. Cleopatra is really the secret lover
of circus strongman Hercules (Henry Victor). The
two have concocted a plot to do away with Hans and
steal his money.
Browning's direction ably fosters its morality
play in the dichotomous relationship between the
good-willed and humane "freaks" and the
treacherous and diabolical "normals." Cleopatra
slowly poisons Hans, making it appear as though he
is merely suffering from some sort of malady from
which he will recover. However, when two
sympathetic "normals" Phroso (Wallace Ford) and
Venus (Leila Hyams) discover the truth behind the
sham marriage, the freaks decide to launch into
their own special brand of terror.
Amassing a cavalcade of real life circus
performers for this film, Browning effectively
alienated the top brass at MGM and its stars --
especially during lunch time in the commissary,
where a special table partitioned from the rest
played host to Radian, the living torso, Frances
O'Connor, the armless girl, Olga Roderick, the
bearded lady, and other mutations of mankind. Upon
its release in the U.S., audiences were literally
shocked from their seats, particularly during the
film's climactic revenge on Hercules and
Cleopatra. The freaks emasculate the strong man
and transform Cleopatra by amputation into a
bird-like mute creature.
Warner's DVD is very impressive. Minted from film
elements that have obviously undergone some sort
of restoration, the DVD exhibits a stunningly
handsome grayscale with incredibly sharp images
and a remarkable amount of fine detail. Though
age-related artifacts are riddled throughout and
some softly focused scenes still exist, this is by
far the most satisfying image quality for a film
of this vintage. Blacks are solid and deep.
Contrast levels are nicely balanced. There is an
absence of digital anomalies for a nearly pristine
and very smooth visual presentation that will
surely not disappoint.
(Aside: Originally, "Freaks premiered with the
final shot being that of Cleopatra's hideous
transformation into the chicken woman. However,
Browning originally intended there to be an
epilogue in which Hans and Frieda are reunited.
Since this footage was rediscovered in MGM's
vaults, it has been re-inserted into this version
of the film. But these film elements exhibit
extremely poor contrast and are softly focused,
making the ending of "Freaks" the one let down of
an otherwise impeccably rendered DVD.)
The audio has been cleaned up and is equally
impressive. Extras include a thorough and engaging
audio commentary by noted author, David J. Skal,
an all new almost hour long documentary (which is
heavy and meandering in tracing the lineage of the
real life circus performers, but terribly short on
documenting the production of the film itself), a
prologue added to the film after its initial
release and three alternate endings. |
