This masterpiece of macabre remains one of the timeless enduring classics of the genre. Director Tod Browning was nearly ruined by the film because it was so shockingly ahead of its time.

Neither audiences nor critics were ready for something quite like Freaks and MGM the studio that released the film reacted as if it had given birth to Rosemary's Baby and distanced themselves from Freaks at all cost.

The film was banned in Britain for over 30 years until finally better sense prevailed. The film is an example of Browning's rich talent as a director, a talent that was exhibited so vividly in Dracula, Devil-doll and The Unknown.

Freaks is a dark allegory about how the vain and beautiful are actually the real freaks. Olga Baclanova, the gorgeous trapeze artist gives one of the most memorable performances of all horror movies - the scene where she has a little too much to drink at her wedding celebrations is just one of her many moments during the film.

The gruesome, surreal climax is a cinematic wonder to behold, a scene as marvelously twisted and macabre as ever put on film. It's a masterwork of major proportions and earns Todd Browning a very special pedestal within the echelons of horror.