8. Freaks (1932)
Conniving trapeze artist Cleopatra finds out that sideshow midget Hans has inherited a large fortune and she contrives to seduce him, make him fall in love with her and ultimately marry her. The other 'freaks' accept Cleopatra as one of their own and hold a bizarre welcoming party for her. Cleopatra is freaked out by this and reveals she has been busy having an affair with Hercules the Strong Man. She throws wine over the freaks and mocks them. Despite her infidelity and boorish behaviour, Hans stands by Cleopatra who is also slowly poisoning him. She plans to kill Hans and run off with his fortune with Hercules in tow. Word of this gets back to the freaks. In a menacing climax, the freaks attack Cleopatra with a variety of weapons. She is turned into a fairly freaky looking human duck thus joining the ranks of those she had once spurned so viciously. The director of Freaks - Tod Browning had helmed 1931's classic Dracula - and proved himself to be master of the macabre. When he was given license to make whatever horror film he wanted to make, he came up with Freaks, which revolted and scandalised both the studios and film audiences in 1932. The use of real life circus freak show participants was definitely not appreciated, even though Browning set out to demystify the freaks and bring humanity to them rather than exploit them. The freaks are the good guys in the film who live by a strict moral code and look out for each other. The 'normals' are arrogant, vain, opportunistic and evil murderers. Cleopatra gets what is coming to her at the end of the film. Browning's film is actually very innocent in its treatment of the freaks, he had himself once belonged to a circus so he knew what he was doing with his treatment of the freaks. Unfortunately, it was too avant garde in the 1930s. It remained lost until the 1960s when a new generation got acquainted with it. With all bans rescinded by the 1990s, the whole world can enjoy the bizarre but heartwarming 'freaks' and they can reflect on the concept of disability and what it means for people today. It also happens to be a black and white film.