10 More Horror Movies That Got Banned From Certain Countries

After the blinding success of Tod Browning's Dracula, it looked like the director was about to become a Hollywood powerhouse. One year later, the iconic filmmaker released his follow-up, Freaks, which centred around a troupe of abnormal sideshow performers.

Freaks may have been the talk of the town, but it wasn't for the reasons Browning was hoping for. Although modern viewers mightn't think the movie is controversial, that's because they haven't watched the original version.

In fact, nobody alive today has seen the first cut of Freaks, since 30 minutes of content was removed and destroyed shortly after its release. As a result, scenes depicting Hercules being castrated and the troupe mutilating Cleopatra have been lost forever. As far as we know, the truncated 64-minute cut is the only version that exists.

This abridged edition wasn't good enough for the British censors, who believed the film's reputation had been tainted beyond repair. When a woman tried suing MGM on the grounds that watching Freaks caused her to suffer a miscarriage, it makes sense why the British censors wanted nothing to do with the film. Due to the controversy, Freaks didn't see distribution in the UK for 30 years.