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Inspired by childhood recollections of running away with the circus and befriending the sideshow freaks, Tod Browning's vision of sideshow life is both bizarre and disturbing. On its release in 1932 Freaks was greeted with revulsion and disgust by critics and public alike, losing $164,000 dollars in just a few weeks before being withdrawn by MGM. It would appear that Browning's use of real-life 'freaks' was just too much for audiences to stomach. In fact, the movie caused such outrage in the UK that it was banned and remained unseen for fifty years. Now regarded as one of the greatest cult classics of all time, Freaks is not seen as a study of deformity but rather an old-fashioned tale of morality where the defenceless and hopeless triumph over evil. The grotesque actually come across as much more appealing than most of the 'normal' people in the production. This aside, however, the final ten minutes are amongst the most chilling scenes in horror movie history.
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