Extras. There is a nice selection of extras providing some wonderful background for the film:
-First there is a text prologue that was added for it's theatrical reissue. It explains some of the setting, and the code of the freaks.
-Next up is a selection of 3 alternate endings, hosted by author David J. Skal. Sadly they did not include the video for the original ending, probably lost to time, but it is described by Skal, I would have liked to have seen this version.
-Freaks: Sideshow Cinema featurette. This extra is excellent, running a little over an hour it takes us into the production of the film, and more specifically, the lives of each of the sideshow performers involved. This a wonderful documentary with interviews with Skal, other historians, and other performers. It was interesting to note some of the other films they appeared in, the star, Harry Earles, was in The Wizard of Oz as one of the Lollipop Guild, and Angelo Rosito was Master in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. Overall this is a wonderful piece that puts the film into better perspective.
-Finally, we get a commentary from David Skal. This is a good commentary, but it does duplicate a lot of information that is provided in the documentary, as if they spliced elements of the interview over the film.
Bottomline. A great film that has aged well. It is also way ahead of it's time with it's treatment of the sideshow performers. A fantastic ensemble cast, a story that is very personal, and some incredible moments, this is not to be missed. I cannot recommend this enough. On top of it's importance as a film, MGM has done an excellent job presenting it, right down to the use of the original art for the cover.
Highly Recommended.
Article comments
1 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
I'm gonna be importing this later in the month, and it looks like it'll be worth it. Good job, Chris. Freaks is a brilliant film.
Hopefully they'll give Browning's The Devil Doll similar treatment.
2 - Chris Kent
The Devil Doll is only fair and does not deserve half the treatment of Freaks, one of the most influential horror films of all time. Browning was a fascinating madman, as most of the great horror film directors were from this period (James Whale, Fritz Lang, FW Murnau). I believe Browning got the idea for this nightmare from his teen years working with a traveling carnival. You think HBO's Carnivale is weird, watch Freaks to get an idea where such peculiar inspirations sprung from.
Imagine David Lynch, Ed Wood and a soused Peter O'Toole mixed together in a morbid milkshake from hell to get a slight idea as to the personality of this classic flick. If memory serves (and it rarely does) wasn't the strongman castrated during the final scene? Perhaps that was cut out (pun intended)? Or maybe the scene was rewritten?
Any film that has a midget slicing the gonads off Mr. Universe is at the top of my Greatest Films of All Time list....Browning has very few films available as much of his work was silent and is long lost - but Dracula, The Devil Doll and Mark of the Vampire (a favorite of mine as it has Bela Lugosi in a comedic role before sliding down the slippery slope of drug addiction) can be found....
3 - Chris
I'd like to see THe Unholy Three, also by Browning and also starring Harry Earles. Not sure if it is available though.
That ending you describe is apparently lost, David Skal describes it though, I would have liked to have seen that version. THe ending in the film proper is the one that was used theatrically. Plus two athers are included on the disk.
4 - Chris Kent
Stephen King has some great pages devoted to Freaks in his fantastic nonfiction tome Danse Macabre. It was where I first heard of the film (among many others), having read the book as a youngster in junior high.
King's work covers some great films and books of the supernatural which influenced American culture.
I lament the loss of Browning's London After Midnight, one of the first vampire films ever made (I believe Murnau's Nosferatu came out a couple of years before). It was a silent classic starring Lon Chaney, Sr. in the role of the vampire. Publicity photographs exist of Chaney's creation, including protruding teeth, wide eyes, long hair and top hat, but the film has disintegrated. It's loss was one of several major reasons why there was a movement during the 1980s to restore and preserve film. Unfortunately, most of Browning's silent work has been lost, though we will always be able to sit back and enjoy Dracula and Freaks.
Lon Chaney, Sr. - a friend of Browning - was actually set to star in Dracula, but he died, thus opening the door for the then-unknown Bela Lugosi to step into the role.