When
Tod Browning directed Dracula in 1931, he was on top of the world,
tremendously successful, and had a blank check to make whatever film
he wanted. So he chose Freaks! Browning actually spent much of his
youth working in a circus freak show, as a contortionist then as a
barker. So it was a natural to make a film that focused on his own
wacky origins. Casting real circus freaks in the film, Browning's
finished product was a horrific masterpiece. Unfortunately, the
fickle audiences and critics of the time were completely repulsed by
the film, who's subject matter was a bit too extreme for the average
moviegoer. The film was a huge bomb. The studio even re-released it
with a new title, Nature's Mistakes, in order to give it one more
shot, but it didn't work. From the unheard of success of Dracula, to
the disaster of Freaks within 1 year, Browning was unable to direct
any film of note for years that followed.
The ending of "Freaks" with some
alternative versions discussed.
Anyway,
the closing sequence of Freaks is incredibly creepy. A sexy and evil
trapeze artist marries the midget Hans to get control of the
carnival. At a party she gets drunk, humiliates her new husband by
openly flirting with the strongman. Another midget grabs a giant
glass of champagne and proposes a toast, professing, "We accept her,
ONE OF US!". The rest of the freaks begin chanting "ONE OF US!" and
then make gobbling sounds. In the final scene, you see that they've
enacted twisted revenge by performing a bizarre disfigurement that
turns into half woman/half duck.
