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Freaks / The Unknown / The Mystic: Tod Browning’s Sideshow Shockers DVD

Tod Browning (Director), Lon Chaney (Actor) Format: DVD
4.8 out of 5 stars 262 ratings
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Oct. 17 2023 		—
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Genre Horror
Format NTSC, DVD-Video
Contributor Tod Browning, Lon Chaney
Language English
Number of discs 2
Runtime 204 minutes
Publication date Oct. 17 2023
Colour Color
UPC 715515287913
Manufacturer Criterion Collection

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From the manufacturer

Freaks Mystic Unknown Tod Browning Sideshow Shockers cover

A trio of twisted pre-Code shockers by Tod Browning, a master of the morbid and early Hollywood’s edgiest auteur

Freaks cover

The Unknown cover

Mystic cover

Freaks

The Unknown

Mystic

Product description

The world is a carnival of criminality, corruption, and psychosexual strangeness in the twisted pre-Code shockers of Tod Browning. Early Hollywood’s edgiest auteur, Browning drew on his experiences as a circus performer to create subversive pulp entertainments set amid the world of traveling sideshows, which, with their air of the exotic and the disreputable, provided a pungent backdrop for his sordid tales of outcasts, cons, villains, and vagabonds. Bringing together two of his defining works (The Unknown and Freaks) and a long-unavailable rarity (The Mystic), this cabinet of pre-Code curiosities reveals a master of the morbid whose ability to unsettle is matched only by his daring compassion for society’s most downtrodden. TWO-DVD SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES • New 2K digital restoration of Freaks • New 2K digital restoration of The Mystic, with a new score by composer Dean Hurley • New 2K digital reconstruction and restoration of The Unknown by the George Eastman Museum, with a new score by composer Philip Carli • Audio commentaries on Freaks and The Unknown and an introduction to The Mystic by film scholar David J. Skal • New interview with author Megan Abbott about director Tod Browning and pre-Code horror • Archival documentary on Freaks • Reading of “Spurs,” the short story by Tod Robbins on which Freaks is based • Prologue to Freaks, which was added to the film in 1947 • Program on the alternate endings to Freaks • Video gallery of portraits from Freaks • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing • PLUS: An essay by film critic Farran Smith Nehme

Product details

  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Parcel Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 19.1 x 13.6 x 1.5 cm; 145.15 g
  • Director ‏ : ‎ Tod Browning
  • Media Format ‏ : ‎ NTSC, DVD-Video
  • Run time ‏ : ‎ 204 minutes
  • Release date ‏ : ‎ Oct. 17 2023
  • Actors ‏ : ‎ Lon Chaney
  • Studio ‏ : ‎ Criterion Collection
  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0CC6M2RJF
  • Country of origin ‏ : ‎ USA
  • Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 2
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.8 out of 5 stars 262 ratings

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4.8 out of 5 stars
262 global ratings

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Top reviews from Canada

  • Brad M.
    5.0 out of 5 stars classic
    Reviewed in Canada on November 6, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    misunderstood but a classic and surprisingly sensitive horror movie
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  • Leslie
    5.0 out of 5 stars I love freaks
    Reviewed in Canada on December 23, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    I love freaks
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  • Karel
    5.0 out of 5 stars Happy with product and delivery
    Reviewed in Canada on December 16, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    Three good classics
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  • Roadwarrior
    5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible.
    Reviewed in Canada on November 7, 2023
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    Highly recommend this for a glimpse at the past!
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Translate all reviews to English
  • Andrew Mercer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous restoration. One of my favourite all-time classics
    Reviewed in Australia on December 31, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    I was so thrilled to see Criterion release this - and very happy that they released a UK Region B version that plays natively in Australian bluray players. I admittedly have so far only watched Freaks, and not the other two presentations. Freaks was a movie for which I've been waiting an HD release for ages.

    The video quality is great. It shows its age and there are limitations due to the age of the source material, and resolution of the original film stock ... but it looks as good as (if not better than) most other bluray releases from the same era, and you can tell that a lot of love has gone into this. The audio is crisp and clear ... and the packaging is pretty cool too. Packaging the film with two other similarly themed films, and the included booklet, make this all pretty special. I previously had Freaks in a digital-only SD release - and am thrilled to get this in a HD physical media release as it's sooooo much better.

    However, for me it's the film itself that's the true value here. I always loved the story and the insights of life behind the scenes of an old-time sideshow carnival. Although there's a "horror" aspect to things - particularly with the come-upance of the two villains, the carnival players are treated with respect by this film. Despite their physical differences and the prejudices against them, they're depicted as regular and very relatable people. They have dreams and emotions like the rest of us, and shows that trampling on those can you into trouble. It's a basic morality play showing that everyone is worthy of respect. The performances are also all pretty good. The players are a mixture - some with little or no acting experience, and others who later went on to relatively successful Hollywood careers.

    Highly recommended overall. It's a pity that this package is so expensive - but it's good to keep it on your watch list as you can sometimes pick it up with a special deal that makes it more affordable.
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  • The Movie Man
    5.0 out of 5 stars A superb collection of Browning films
    Reviewed in the United States on November 6, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    Tod Browning is best known today as the director of Dracula (1931), the film that started a series at Universal featuring all types of monsters, from mummies to wolfmen. His background working in sideshows, circuses, and vaudeville was instrumental in other pictures he directed, collected in the set Tod Browning’s Sideshow Shockers. Disc 1 contains the film Freaks (1932) and related extras. Disc 2 contains The Unknown (1927) and The Mystic (1925) with related extras.

    The most notorious of the three is Freaks, set in a small traveling circus whose performers include human oddities. We see these individuals engaging in everyday activities, having overcome physical limitations to become self-sufficient. The midget Hans (Harry Earles) is enamored of the beautiful, normal-sized trapeze artist Cleopatra (Olga Baclanova), much to the chagrin of his midget girlfriend, Freida (Daisy Earles). Cleopatra initially regards Hans’ affections as a joke. But she changes her attitude on learning that Hans is wealthy. She and boyfriend Hercules, the strongman (Henry Victor), hatch a plan for her to marry Hans and gradually poison him to death. She will inherit his money and live happily ever after with Hercules.

    In a festive wedding celebration, the performers gather around a table to welcome Cleopatra into their community. The guests include Siamese twins Daisy and Violet Hilton; Josephine/Joseph, Half Woman, Half Man; Johnny Eck the Half Boy; Prince Randian, the Human Torso; Human Skeleton Pete Robinson; Koo Koo the Bird Girl; Frances O’Connor, the Living Venus de Milo; and various Pinheads. As they chant, “We accept her, one of us,” and drink from a communal loving cup, Cleopatra’s mood changes from joy to horror and she angrily yells at the well-meaning celebrants, “Dirty, rotten freaks!”

    The film takes a dark turn as the freaks, relying on the Code of the Freaks, discover Cleopatra’s nefarious plot and band together to protect Hans.

    Director Tod Browning portrays the freaks as honorable people and Cleopatra and Hercules, the “normal” humans, as monsters. It is this approach that makes Freaks such an interesting film. Browning isn’t showing these deformed individuals as horrific creatures, but as kind innocents who will come together when harm is visited upon one of them.

    Freaks faced many problems with the censors, and scenes in the original shooting script were either never filmed or were cut after adverse initial public reactions. Even in its current form, however, the movie is still quite powerful.

    Browning and Lon Chaney made ten films together. The Unknown stars Chaney as Alonzo, an armless knife thrower in a circus who has become the confidant of his assistant, Nanon (Joan Crawford). Secretly, Alonzo loves her. Circus strongman Malabar (Norman Kerry), in contrast, is direct and blunt with Nanon about his affection for her. Knowing that Nanon has come to find the touch of a man frightening and repulsive, Alonzo encourages Malabar to take her in his arms and make love to her. He does, and she recoils in disgust.

    As in Freaks, the story turns quite dark. Alonzo has a sordid past and has found the circus to be the perfect hiding place from the authorities. But an altercation with the circus owner turns violent. Alonzo’s desperation to elude the police and his sadomasochistic obsession with Nanon lead to deception, blackmail, murder, and disfigurement.

    The Unknown is one of Chaney’s best films. Although he became famous for his character make-up creations, he doesn’t wear much facial make-up here. It’s the way he bound his arms tightly against his body that makes the armlessness of his character believable. In some scenes, he wears a cloak to hide his arm bulges, but most of the time, he convinces us that his character’s disability is real.

    Though Chaney was known for putting himself through physical discomfort for his roles, the knife throwing with his feet was accomplished by an actual armless knife thrower serving as body double. Other feats such as lighting a cigarette, playing guitar with his toes, pouring and drinking tea from a cup, and picking up a shawl were also performed by the double.

    Joan Crawford, who would go on to become one of MGM’s biggest stars of the 1930s, does a fine job as Nanon — sexy with a good deal of bruised innocence, repelled by the touch of men’s hands, and unafraid to be the human target for Alonzo’s knives. She adds a nice touch of glamour to the tawdry sideshow milieu.

    The Unknown offers an ironic denouement in its circus melodrama. Browning and Chaney obviously had an excellent working relationship. Under Browning’s direction, Chaney was at his peak.

    The Mystic, unavailable up until now, takes place in a small Hungarian circus sideshow. Zara (Aileen Pringle) is a phony psychic who easily fools the locals. Con man Michael Nash (Conway Tearle) has been following the traveling sideshow. He admires the scam of Zara and two associates and convinces them to go to America, where the big money lies. His plan is to bilk the wealthy by playing on their emotional attachment to deceased loved ones, using an assortment of mechanical, electrical, and lighting effects to “conjure” spirits of the dead.

    Seances and psychics were popular after World War I. Many people had experienced losses and longed to reach out to those taken from them. Browning was fascinated with unmasking the devices employed by such psychics and has created some eerie, atmospheric moments. Though we know there is nothing actually supernatural about the seances, it is nonetheless intriguing to see how expert Nash, Zara and company are at making their tricks seem authentic. Much depends on the subject’s desire for communications from their dear departed for the orchestrated illusions to convince.

    Bonus features on the 2-disc Criterion Collection release include audio commentaries, interview, archival documentary, alternate endings, reading of the short story, “Spurs,” video gallery’s and booklet.

    The three films in Tod Browning’s Sideshow Shockers are all set in a circus or sideshow, a milieu well known to Browning. They all portray the underbelly of what is traditionally a place for entertainment and good times, and reveal deceit, greed, cruelty, and the dark side of human nature. Browning directed many films of various genres between 1915 and 1939 but he is best known for horror, though relatively few of his films can be truly classified as horror. Most deal with those apart from society’s norms, such as criminals, the disabled, scam artists, and exotic foreigners. The films in this set showcase the work of a man who dared to deal with material beyond the mainstream.
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  • José Antonio
    5.0 out of 5 stars IMPRESCINDIBLE PARA AMANTES DEL CINE FANTÁSTICO
    Reviewed in Spain on November 8, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    Excelente edición que incluye una nueva restauración digital en 2K de los dos títulos fundamentales (The Unknown y Freaks) más otro menor (The Mystic) de uno de los directores más importantes del género fantástico. La imagen de Freaks supone un importante avance en relación con su edición en DVD. La del resto fluctúa entre la notable de The Mystic y la más que aceptable de The Unknow. El pack se complementa con unos excelentes extras. El diseño de la caja de cartón es fantástico. Otra edición de referencia de Criterion que por desgracia sólo lleva audio y subtítulos en inglés.
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  • N. R. Reekie
    5.0 out of 5 stars A CLASSIC
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 15, 2024
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    A macabre classic
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  • Helder Antonio Dias dos Reis Videira
    5.0 out of 5 stars A rare movie!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 19, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    This movie is like no other, forgotten by many and a treasure for collectors like myself!
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