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FREAKS |
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Set in the world of a travelling circus and featuring real-life human oddities, Freaks tells the story of Hans (Harry Earles), a "little person" who falls in love with long-legged trapeze artist Cleopatra (Olga Baclanova). Discovering that Hans is heir to a fortune, Cleopatra entices him into a marriage, all the while planning to bump off her new husband and run away with brutish strongman Hercules (Henry Victor). What she doesn't reckon with is the code of honor among circus freaks: "offend one, offend them all." Among classic horror films, Freaks stands alone as one of the most grotesque and controversial. Quickly shelved by MGM after its original 1932 release and banned in Britain for thirty years, it has since achieved legendary cult status as the masterpiece of the macabre. | ||||
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ISLAND OF LOST SOULS |
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Based on H. G. Wells's "The Island of Dr. Moreau," this 1933 adaptation remains a genuinly unsettling film due to its menacing atmosphere and Charles Laughton's malevolent performance as Dr. Moreau. Shipwrecked sailor Edward Parker (Richard Arlen) finds himself stranded on an island run by the mysterious Doctor. Gradually, Parker learns of Moreau's horrific surgical experiments to transform animals into humanlike creatures. These beast men, led by Bela Lugosi, are particularly memorable creations, not least when they chant together, ready to revolt against their maker. One of the best horror films of its era, Island of Lost Souls has been remade but never bettered.
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Island of Lost Souls is that rarity, a horror film from the 1930s that still seems scary."