10 Original Cuts Of Horror Movies We'll Sadly Never See

Audiences in 1932 were simply not ready for a film as downright bizarre as Freaks.

The story of scheming trapeze-artist Cleopatra and her muscle-bound lover Hercules who conspire to poison a circus performer in order to steal his fortune was a tad unconventional for the time. As was Browning's use of real-life circus performers, many of whom had some form of physical impairment or deformity that was put on centre stage - albeit never in a manner anyone could call exploitative.

Freaks was incredibly controversial for its time, so much so that Tod Browning's original cut almost saw the studio in a legal dispute after an attendee claimed the film had caused her to miscarry. Scenes such as Cleopatra being set-upon by the freaks and strong-man Hercules being castrated by his fellow circus performers were deemed too shocking and outrageous.

Much of the film was reshot after the overwhelmingly negative reaction from audiences, which served to pad out the story and give the film a much less macabre tone. Although, it's still a pretty disturbing film all things considered.

Sadly, the excised footage is no more, and many have long thought that it was burnt by the studio following the massive uproar.